Ananya Padhi

Indian School of Business

“Foodie disguised as a driven, resilient and empathetic product manager.”

Hometown: Bhubaneswar, Odisha

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a national-level artist with paintings showcased in 2 exhibitions. I even painted a canvas and gifted it to our dean.

Undergraduate School and Major: B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I was a Product Manager at Goldman Sachs.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the Indian School of Business’ PGP programming that led you to choose this school, and why was it so important to you? Honestly, the faculty slate sealed it for me. ISB isn’t just great professors on paper; it’s people who push your thinking in class and then linger after to hash out your half-baked ideas. What really sold me was the mix: world-class resident faculty plus visiting profs who fly in from top schools. They bring fresh cases straight from industry and the stream of guest sessions from CXOs, founders, and VCs during ILS. It felt like every week I could connect the theory to someone who’s lived it. In a one-year program, that kind of access isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s the difference between studying business and learning how to do it.

What has been your favourite course or extracurricular activity at the Indian School of Business? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? Leading Self and Teams by Prof. Hemant Kakkar was the class that hit home for me. With 4.5 years of cross-functional work behind me, I kept seeing my past play out in the cases and simulations: the rushed first instincts, the overreliance on a few “go-to” voices, and the blind spots I didn’t notice in the moment. The course taught me about the various kinds of biases and group think which have altered my decisions in the past. I even caught my own confirmation bias, which is seeking data that agrees with me and started actively hunting for disconfirming evidence. The impact was immediate: I began prioritising smarter at ISB, and my core team ran smoothly because I created space for challenge and clearer roles. It felt less like a class and more like upgrading how I lead and how I think.

What makes Hyderabad/Mohali such a great place to earn your PGP? With ISB just minutes from HITEC City and the Financial District, my dream-company list is basically next door: Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, — plus T-Hub’s startup buzz. As a self-confessed “biryani-paglu”, there’s no better city for authentic chicken biryani. Bawarchi, Shah Ghouse, and Mehfil are my go-tos, both for celebration fuel on good days and a warm reset on tough ones. That twin engine consisting of world-class opportunities and world-class biryani makes Hyderabad the perfect place for my PGP.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: At Goldman Sachs, I got the opportunity to lead a firm-wide payroll transformation across 25+ countries for 40K+ employees. As part of the compensation and benefits team, I automated nearly $20M in annual payouts, cut approval TAT by ~55%, lifted customer satisfaction by 70%, and eliminated $8M in vendor costs. I scoped the product, built the business case, and drove change management by partnering with Controllers, Engineering, HR Ops, and external vendors.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as a PGP student so far: I still remember sitting in Khemka Auditorium during Orientation Week, listening to former student leaders demystify elections. As a Round-2 admit who’d missed most pre-ISB meetups, I felt a step behind. When I told my quaddies I wanted to run for Director, Marketing & Communications Council (GSB), they didn’t just cheer. They connected me with others contesting and showed me the ropes. That unlocked my first win: breaking out of my introvert shell and engaging widely.

The second came during the campaign itself—late-night poster design sprints, endless feedback loops, and friends who stayed up to tweak every pixel. The third was the result: earning the mandate. More than a title, it proved that listening to classmates’ pain points, showing up consistently, and leaning on a generous community can turn a newcomer into a contributor.

What is your class’s favourite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? Rameswaram Café is our 5 a.m. sanctuary. After an all-nighter, we tumble into autos, the cold breeze slapping us awake, and order on muscle memory: ghee podi idli (extra podi, always) and steaming filter coffee. First bite and the assignment jitters melt; first sip and the slides suddenly make sense. It’s part refuel, part ritual and that tiny counter chatter is where half our best ideas are born.

Post-exams, we switch to True Black. Clean, bright coffee, ridiculous toast, and a calm vibe that says, “Breathe, you survived.” For me, it’s the perfect bookend to ISB life: Rameswaram at sunrise to power through, True Black after to slow down, debrief, and laugh about the beautiful chaos we just lived.

What do you hope to do after graduation? After graduation, I want to apply ISB’s learning to messy, real-world problems and become a sharper, more empathetic product manager, turning frameworks into shipped features, data into decisions, and user insights into delight. I’m excited to carry that momentum forward by building products that are useful, inclusive, and scalable, while leading teams with the clarity and confidence ISB instilled in me.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE INDIAN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PGP CLASS OF 2026

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