Simran Rahman

INSEAD

“Global AI strategist who spots trends early, builds enduring relationships, and connects innovation across markets.”

Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas

Fun fact about yourself: I’m a top 1% election market trader on Manifold Markets, a prediction market platform for making bets on political and social events. Like sports betting, but for world events.

Undergraduate School and Degree:
Rice University, Houston, Texas
Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology – Sports Medicine, Minor in Neuroscience

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Irruption, Founder & AI Consultant

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024?
Fall of 2024 (before program) – Executive Policy Research Program Fellow in AI & Semiconductors, selected by the Former United States Ambassador and Director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy, the #1 university-affiliated policy think tank in the country.

Where will you be working after graduation?
N/A

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:
MBA Section Academic Representative – Supporting communication between students, faculty and academic office.
INSEAD Women’s Scholarship Recipient
Member of Lorong AI Singapore, a Singapore GovTech initiative
Member of B/deshi, Bangladeshi Diaspora Community

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? My proudest achievement spans two contributions that enhance INSEAD’s educational ecosystem. First, it was serving as elected Section Academic Representative, where I create feedback channels between faculty and students to optimize our learning experience. This service role allows me to amplify peer voices while collaborating with professors to implement improvements that benefit the entire section.

Second, I developed a teaching case for Organizational Behavior that examines workplace dynamics in emerging markets. The case explores how organizational structures and leadership approaches affect team performance across cultural contexts. By translating real-world challenges into structured learning material, I’ve created a legacy that will benefit future INSEAD classes while deepening my own understanding of organizational frameworks.

Both contributions reflect my commitment to strengthening INSEAD’s collaborative learning environment – immediately for current classmates and sustainably for future students.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Launching Irruption, my AI consultancy, in the early innings of the generative AI adoption revolution in 2023 represents my proudest achievement. I identified a critical market gap: startup founders needed strategic guidance balancing technological capabilities with business fundamentals and ethical implementation.

I intentionally established my practice in Texas, anticipating the state’s emergence as an AI development hub – foresight validated by the subsequent hundreds of billions in public and private investment now flowing into the region. As an advisor to early-stage ventures, I developed frameworks that helped clients evaluate when and how to deploy AI effectively, aligning technological possibilities with market needs while prioritizing responsible innovation.

This first-mover advantage positioned Irruption as a trusted partner for founders navigating the rapidly evolving AI landscape across international markets. My INSEAD MBA now provides the foundation to scale this expertise to the next level of impact.

Why did you choose this business school? INSEAD offered the ultimate international platform for my professional vision at the intersection of technology and cross-border business. After working in Silicon Valley, I sought an education that would fundamentally transform my perspective beyond Western tech ecosystems – not just discuss international business, but immerse me in it daily.

The school’s unique positioning creates unparalleled advantages. Its multi-campus structure across Singapore, Fontainebleau, Abu Dhabi, and soon expanded presence in San Francisco provides direct access to distinct innovation hubs. The accelerated 10-month format with classmates from 75+ nationalities creates an intensity and connectivity impossible to replicate elsewhere.

Here, AI and technological transformation aren’t theoretical concepts but lived experiences, with opportunities ranging from cutting-edge research access to connecting with entrepreneurs reshaping industries across continents. My goal isn’t merely understanding different markets but creating bridges between them – and INSEAD uniquely enables this level of strategic thinking and network development.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Organizational Behavior with Professor Eric Uhlmann equipped me with an entirely new toolkit for understanding leadership dynamics. Through case studies and role-playing exercises with international classmates, we explored negotiation strategies and power dynamics across cultural contexts. The course transformed my perspective on workplace challenges, providing frameworks that illuminated past professional experiences while preparing me for future leadership roles.

Professor Uhlmann creates a learning environment where contrasting perspectives generate productive tension, pushing us to reconsider assumptions and develop nuanced approaches to organizational challenges. This exemplifies INSEAD’s approach to leadership development – combining analytical rigor with practical application and cross-cultural fluency.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? Launch Week perfectly encapsulates INSEAD’s distinctive value proposition. From day one, you’re immersed in a truly international experience, collaborating with peers from dozens of countries on challenges that transcend cultural and professional boundaries. The Personal Leadership Development Programme’s team challenges on Kusu Island particularly stand out, creating immediate bonds while developing essential leadership capabilities.

What distinguishes this experience is the deliberate balance between academic foundation, leadership development, and strategic relationship-building. Activities aren’t simply social – they’re designed to cultivate cross-cultural communication skills essential for leading international teams.

For someone focused on market expansion across borders, this introduction affirmed INSEAD as the ideal choice – combining rigorous business education with an exceptional international network in an intimate setting designed to foster collaborations that extend far beyond the program.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?
I would implement a more strategic approach to networking. INSEAD’s concentration of exceptional talent – from visiting executives to diverse classmates – is extraordinary, but the program’s intensity makes it challenging to capitalize on every opportunity.

A deliberate plan with dedicated time for industry events and connections beyond my immediate section would maximize the value of INSEAD’s remarkable network. While academic demands require significant focus, the school’s greatest asset lies in its connections spanning industries and countries. Fortunately, this insight from my first months has allowed me to develop a more intentional strategy for the remainder of the program.

For professionals in emerging fields like AI, where partnerships can exponentially accelerate growth, this strategic approach to relationship cultivation is particularly valuable.

What movie or television show best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? Blackberry brilliantly captures innovation’s rollercoaster through the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie. The film portrays how Lazaridis’s technical brilliance in creating the first mobile email device, combined with Balsillie’s aggressive sales strategy, initially drove remarkable success. The movie maintains an urgent pace throughout, mirroring the intense pressure of running a technology company.

Through scenes of strategic pivots and high-stakes negotiations, the film illustrates how a company’s greatest strengths can rapidly become its most dangerous blind spots. It powerfully demonstrates how market leaders grow complacent, particularly in their myopic response to disruptive innovations like the iPhone.

Throughout my career in venture and innovation, I’ve observed that sustainable value emerges from challenging existing paradigms and continuously reimagining possibilities. The film’s key insight resonates deeply: long-term success demands continuous reinvention, especially in technology sectors where today’s breakthrough becomes tomorrow’s obsolete offering.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? Rather than treating AI as a specialized elective, INSEAD has woven it throughout its strategic vision and curriculum. The school’s expansion of its San Francisco Hub exemplifies this commitment, with plans for students to spend two months in Silicon Valley by 2026, placing them at the epicenter of AI development.

Before enrollment, I connected with the INSEAD Alumni-Led AI Community, engaging with industry leaders driving technological transformation across sectors and regions. This network continues to provide insights into how AI implementation varies internationally – essential knowledge for developing effective cross-border strategies.

INSEAD’s distinctive approach integrates technical understanding with leadership development, preparing us to navigate the complex ethical, strategic, and cultural implications of AI across diverse markets. This comprehensive perspective has significantly enhanced my ability to identify how adoption patterns differ between regions and develop strategies to bridge these variations effectively.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Anders Brotherus, a family venture entrepreneur from Finland, exemplifies mission-driven leadership. As co-founder and chairman of a humanitarian foundation, he demonstrates how entrepreneurial thinking can create meaningful social impact beyond conventional business boundaries.

What distinguishes Anders is his nuanced understanding of group dynamics and individual potential. He possesses an exceptional ability to read situations, identifying precisely when discussions need redirection or when teammates might benefit from additional support. From contributing critical insights to offering timely encouragement, he consistently creates environments where everyone can contribute optimally. His approach transforms classroom interactions from transactional exchanges to genuinely collaborative experiences, facilitating unexpected growth for everyone involved.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? My primary professional goal is creating an AI venture studio focused on emerging markets in South and Southeast Asia. Beyond traditional investment models, this platform will identify and accelerate startups addressing critical regional challenges. By combining targeted funding, operational support, and cross-border networking, I aim to transform promising local innovations into globally scalable solutions. The studio will serve as a catalyst, bridging technological gaps and creating pathways for entrepreneurs to develop transformative technologies tailored to specific market needs.

My second objective is establishing a practical AI localization program that develops region-specific tools and training resources. Drawing from my experience as a Bangladeshi-American woman in technology, the program will provide concrete assets like language-specific datasets, technical workshops, and collaborative platforms enabling local innovators to build AI solutions precisely calibrated to their communities’ requirements.

These goals reflect my core belief that technological innovation must be internationally representative, strategically implemented, and driven by diverse perspectives. My mission is dismantling barriers—geographic, linguistic, and systemic—that currently limit AI’s transformative potential worldwide.

What made Simran such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Simran brings a remarkable blend of analytical rigor, strategic insight, and leadership to the classroom. As an INSEAD Women’s Scholar, she draws from her experience founding an AI consultancy and her background in Silicon Valley to enrich discussions with thoughtful and innovative perspectives. Texas-born with Bangladeshi heritage, she is deeply passionate about investing in emerging markets and mentoring women in technology. She is a star in the classroom, distinguished not only by her intellectual curiosity but also by her ability to synthesize diverse insights with clarity and depth. In her role as MBA Section Academic Representative, she fosters an engaging and collaborative learning environment and, in doing so, has earned the deep respect and admiration of her peers. Simran is an outstanding MBA student and a natural leader who elevates discourse, challenges those around her to think more critically and ambitiously, and fosters a culture of respect for diverse perspectives. She truly exemplifies the excellence that defines the MBA experience!”

Professor Lite Nartey
Affiliate Professor of Strategy at INSEAD (Fontainebleau campus)

DON’T MISS: THE 100 BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS: CLASS OF 2025