Sai Abhishek Lolla

Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Calcutta

“Engineer, sports and auto enthusiast, exploring the adrenaline-filled business world.”

Hometown: Guntur, Andhra Pradesh

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m an ambivert person, but at the same time highly social with close friends and love to explore new places. I’m also a bike/car enthusiast, and enjoy restaurant hopping for tasty foods.

Undergraduate School and Major: Chemical Engineering from National Institute of Technology Karnataka

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Manager – CQA (EA to CQO) at Glenmark Pharmaceutical

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Calcutta’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Aside from the classroom, the major weights for my decision were the perception and feedback about the professors, placements, and the obvious nature-bound campus with seven lakes, which drew me towards the program. Others include the significant ROI offered by the program, as well as the feedback about the intensity and pace of the terms and the placement of the international immersion term towards the end of the program. These perfectly aligned with my expectations from my one year of business education and my career aspirations.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Calcutta? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? It’s difficult to pinpoint one as all the courses are heavily interdependent and boundaries are permeable across courses. To choose one, I would choose Macroeconomics. The most important lesson I have learnt is, “Never do something out of FOMO or avoid herd mentality.” It’s always important to recognise that one can get the most out of the program by tailoring the approach towards the program that suits oneself first rather than a group.

What has been the best part of studying business in Kolkata? The best part of studying business in Kolkata is off course, the campus. I have been fortunate to be part of nature-loving campus during my undergraduate and graduate courses and the same nature-loving campus of JOKA would always be part of me.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: This has to do with my period as a Plant Project Manager. I was tasked with setting up an NPI MIS for a new manufacturing facility with a new team. I had to quickly get accustomed to people, places and manufacturing technology to build a custom MIS. I built up the system within 6-7 months, standardized it over one year, and automated the business processes so that it could be in autopilot mode by removing personal dependency. The two-year stint in that role can be attributed as my biggest career accomplishment, with lots of first-time learnings.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: Getting selected to represent the cohort in your esteemed website so far is my biggest accomplishment so far. In addition to this, I was elected to a position of responsibility to represent the batch in the Alumni Engagement Committee and successfully initiated an alumni engagement newsletter have also been significant achievements.

What is your class’s favorite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? It depends on the time of the hangout, for a city experience park street is a famous hang out spot for my batch, hovered having a seven-lake campus comes with its perk as most of the hangout spots are within the school, few to mention are the: lake view benches adjacent to the academic building, The iconic red auditorium and the campus’s personal Howrah bridge, the last one being my favorite.

What do you hope to do after graduation? I always had a passion towards Supply Chain / Operations management and plan to join a multinational conglomerate in the FMCG / Pharma or Chemical space. By going back to manufacturing space in the prevailing condition, I could deliver significant strides using my analytical skills to optimise complex supply chains, factory operations, and ultimately contribute to efficient product delivery.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT CALCUTTA MBAEX CLASS OF 2026

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