Karan Sarpal

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

“A strategic thinker driven by passion for people, love for music, and mental health advocacy.”

Hometown: New Delhi, Delhi

Fun Fact About Yourself: I trained in Indian classical music for over 13 years and love fusing different genres of music. I formed Beats & Strings, an Indie-Rock fusion band, along with colleagues at work and performed for over 60,000 people. Music keeps me sane, and I love to jam with friends and record & post song covers on Instagram.

Undergraduate School and Major: VIT University, Vellore, India; Bachelor of Technology – Chemical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Reliance Industries Limited; Senior Manager – Corporate Planning & Strategy, Chairman’s Office.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Ahmedabad’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? What truly drew me to the program was the exceptional faculty at IIMA. The world-class professors on campus bring not only academic excellence, but also years of diverse experience from consulting for organizations and serving on the Boards of companies of national & international prominence.

While working on corporate strategies at Reliance Industries, I came across Professor Saral Mukherjee’s widely-acclaimed book and his course titled Elephants and Cheetahs. It explores the idea and importance of organizational ambidexterity: the ability of large firms to balance the efficiency and scale of “elephants”, with the agility and speed of “cheetahs. I aim to lead large scale business units in the future and wanted to get a real flavor of what it takes to make strategic choices for achieving long-term visions and balancing them with execution sharpness.

Professor Viswanath Pingali (Vishy) who teaches Microeconomics and Game-Theory, brings years of strategic consulting experience with the government and global giants such as Google, Apple and pharmaceutical organizations. He bridges academic concepts such as pricing strategies and decision-making with real-world, industry-relevant examples. While I had worked on analyzing potential partnerships at work, I wanted to learn structural academic frameworks to back my analysis. This course now equips me with sharper and effective tools to analyze economic and investment decisions better.

IIMA’s strength lies not just in the academic rigor, but in professors like these – who bring years real-life experience of working with leading firms. This helps push students to challenge the status-quo, think from first principles, and apply ideas to complex real-world problems through the case method pedagogy.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Ahmedabad? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it? It has to be Strategic Management, hands down. A blend of Business and Corporate strategy, the course is jointly taught by Professors Sunil Sharma and Professor Amit Karna, both stalwarts in the space. What made this course my absolute favourite was how it made me analyze real-time strategic dilemmas faced by organizations (through the case method approach). The course gave me an opportunity to reflect back on various formulations and decisions that I had aided in, as part of my role in Corporate Planning & Strategy at Reliance Industries Limited.

One of the biggest takeaways was the “Haves mindset” discussed as a part of Tactical Strategy. In a highly competitive market, a strategist needs to have Killer Instincts, must think big and out of the box, and be proactive and believe in their capabilities – critical learnings required to lead large and successful businesses.

What made the course extremely engaging was the “Simplay” (Simulation + Role play) for a case on Colgate v/s P&G. Volunteers from the class took up roles of CEOs of Colgate and P&G and institutional analysts. The experience required the class to think on our feet, anticipate competitor response, and devise & defend strategies – skills critical for business leaders. This gave me the perfect platform to put myself in such situations and simulate business scenarios.

What makes Ahmedabad such a great place to earn an MBA? Ahmedabad has emerged as a powerhouse and fast-emerging industrial hub to pursue an MBA. Home to the enterprising Gujarati community, known for eating & breathing business, the city emits the entrepreneurial spirit of India. The city offers not only a vibrant and culturally immersive environment to blend in but also hosts a range of established as well as emerging corporates in sectors such as Chemicals, Energy and Power. The government’s active investments in major infrastructure projects, such as the GIFT city and railroad corridors, has positioned the city at the center of growth in Real estate. To be a part of such a dynamic and immersive learning environment beyond the classroom is something one wouldn’t miss while pursuing their MBA.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My journey from the Control Rooms of Jamnagar Manufacturing Division – the world’s largest, integrated, single location refining complex – to the Boardroom at Chairman’s office at India’s largest conglomerate has been my biggest career accomplishment so far. In this high-impact role, I was privileged to work directly with our Chairman, Mr. Mukesh Ambani, to program manage the functioning of the Executive Committee and institutionalize group-wide review mechanisms. This role also gave me the opportunity to work with the organization’s top management and aid strategic decision making via analysis of growth opportunities such as new products, potential national & international partnerships and acquisitions, and expansion of existing portfolio. Added to this, my deep involvement in designing long-term organizational architecture, business operating models, and people strategies for an organization of this humungous scale and complexity has been transformative in shaping my strategic & cognitive thinking.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: IIMA provides its community with countless opportunities. These include formal learning through guest lectures and competitions in areas of product & operations management, marketing, general management, and entrepreneurship, and informal engagements such as cultural nights, section wars, sports challenges. Add to this the rigor of academics, stringent deadlines, and case-prep creates an intense and immersive environment.

My biggest learning has been prioritizing effectively. Amidst the abundance of opportunities & pressure, often called “FOMO – Fear of Missing Out” I’ve developed the discipline to manage my days well, which often requires me to ‘say no to the good and say yes to the best”. These are skills that I will carry beyond the classroom and apply in all facets of life.

What is your class’s favorite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? Well, our favorite hangout spot is LKP – Louis Khan Plaza in our heritage campus. After a long day packed with lectures, assignment submissions, and case prep for the next day, LKP came to our rescue to unwind. It’s where countless memories are made and stress fades away. The charming spot, set against the backdrop of the iconic Vikram Sarabhai Library, is the perfect place to be, often as EARLY as 3 am in the morning. My class has countless memories of playing frisbee, laughing our lungs out, battling over Jenga, or simply lying back and staring at the clear, starry sky with our favourite songs playing in the background. It’s the heart of the campus since it is where the convocation happens.

What do you hope to do after graduation? I am pursuing my MBA on 1-year study leave from my organization, Reliance Industries Limited. I am grateful to the organization for placing their utmost faith in me and helping me upskill myself. Post this transformative year at IIMA I plan to return to Reliance’s chairman’s office, equipped with an arsenal of broader perspectives, sharper tools, and renewed conviction to contribute to the next phase of growth for my organization and India.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Ahmedabad? My advice would be to have the utmost clarity of thought on why you want to pursue the MBA and articulate that with conviction. As the most coveted program in the country, IIMA attracts millions of applications from across the globe. What stands out would be the ability to covey your story authentically and convince the 2 coveted faculty members in the interview. Secondly, be real and honest – the admissions team is seasoned enough to smell ingenuity from a mile away. Spend time reflecting on your personal and professional journey and identifying your strengths and weaknesses, and then craft your application and stories that help you put across the uniqueness that you bring to your cohort.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AHMEDABAD MBA CLASS OF 2026

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