Derek Adam

Ivey Business School at Western University

“Steady, loyal, competitive, and calm when the pressure is highest.”

Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Fun fact about yourself: Before starting my MBA, I spent three months solo traveling through Australia and New Zealand, including a 440-foot bungee jump in Queenstown.

Undergraduate School and Degree: McMaster University, Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Management.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school?
Before enrolling at Ivey, I worked at ArcelorMittal Dofasco, part of a global steel manufacturing company, as a Coach in Product Quality. In this role, I led a technical team within a large-scale steel operation, responsible for overseeing product performance and supporting both production and customer initiatives.

The position required balancing analytical rigor with people leadership. I partnered closely with operations and engineering teams to improve process capability, led root cause investigations, and worked directly with customers to resolve performance concerns. It was an environment where safety, quality, and delivery standards were uncompromising, and accountability was clear.

That experience shaped my leadership foundation. It strengthened my interest in structured problem solving, operational excellence, and leading teams in complex environments, ultimately motivating my decision to pursue an MBA and broaden my impact.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? N/A

Where will you be working after graduation? After graduation, I will be joining Partners in Performance, part of Accenture, as a Senior Associate.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Executive Director – The LEADER Project
• Assistant Captain – Ivey MBA Hockey Team
• Ivey Cup Hockey Tournament Planning Committee
• Richard Ivey Excellence Award Recipient

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school?
As Executive Director of The LEADER Project, I am most proud of leading our expansion into Kenya, a decision that will shape the organization’s impact for years to come.

Founded in 1991, LEADER is a fully student-run initiative delivering two-week entrepreneurship programming in emerging markets. With eight established sites across Europe and Asia, expansion is approached with discipline. This year, I led a visit to rural Kenya to evaluate a potential partnership with Legacy College. Our assessment extended beyond logistics to governance capacity, financial sustainability, and long-term alignment with our alumni board.

Meeting local entrepreneurs navigating infrastructure constraints and limited access to capital reinforced that our responsibility is not to teach and leave, but to build partnerships that strengthen local ecosystems over time. After returning, I presented a structured recommendation outlining risk mitigation, performance metrics, and operational safeguards. The Board approved Kenya as our newest site, now operating this year. I am proud not because we added a new location, but because we stewarded a thirty-plus-year legacy forward with discipline and accountability.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? The professional achievement I am most proud of is stepping into the Coach role in Product Quality at ArcelorMittal Dofasco. It was a position I had been working toward since joining the company as a Quality Engineering Coordinator. From early on, I knew I wanted to move beyond technical execution and into leading performance through people.

In the role, I led the quality performance across three major production assets representing approximately four million tons of annual steel output. It was a large-scale manufacturing environment where safety, quality, and delivery standards were uncompromising. I guided a technical team, led complex root cause investigations, partnered cross functionally with operations and engineering, and worked directly with customers to resolve performance concerns. On the plant floor, credibility had to be earned daily through consistency and clarity.

What makes me most proud is not simply earning the role, but growing into it. I learned that sustainable operational performance is driven by alignment, accountability, and trust under pressure. That experience shaped how I approach leadership today and ultimately influenced my decision to pursue an MBA and continue building toward leading operations at greater scale.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Ivey for three main reasons: personal connection, the case method, and the strength of its network. Friends, family, and colleagues who had gone through the program spoke about it with such conviction that it gave me real confidence in stepping away from my role and committing to the MBA.

The case method was a major differentiator. It felt completely different from my undergraduate experience. Sitting in a room with driven peers and working through real decisions in real time forces you to think on your feet, defend your perspective, and stay open to challenge. It mirrors the ambiguity and pressure of professional life, which made the learning feel both practical and energizing.

Most importantly, the Ivey network felt genuine from the start. Student ambassadors reached out personally, and the admissions team spoke about joining the alumni community as both a privilege and a responsibility. That idea of paying it forward resonated with me. Community has always mattered to me, and Ivey felt like a place where that value was real, not just part of the brochure.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? One of Ivey’s greatest strengths is its faculty and the way professors bring the classroom to life through the case method, so choosing just one is not easy. That said, Scott Loveland stands out.

Scott is an Ivey MBA graduate from the Class of 2017 and shares a similar professional and educational background to mine. That connection made his teaching style particularly relatable. He brings practical experience into the classroom and consistently challenges students to think beyond surface level analysis. His classes reinforced the importance of structured thinking, sound judgment, and accountability in decision making.

As someone with a background in engineering and operations, I appreciated how he pushed us to move beyond technical answers and consider stakeholder impact and long-term consequences. His approach reflects the kind of leader I aspire to be: thoughtful, analytical, and steady when faced with complex decisions.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course in the MBA program was Managing Operations, taught by Scott Loveland. While I may be in the minority, it reflects my background in manufacturing and operations prior to business school.

The course allowed me to draw directly from my experience at ArcelorMittal Dofasco and contribute meaningfully to class discussions. Many of the tools and frameworks we studied were concepts I had encountered in practice. In several instances, I found myself connecting real operational challenges I had faced with the structured theory we were learning in the classroom.

What made the course particularly rewarding was that it bridged experience with reflection. I had lived many of the decisions we were analyzing, and the MBA gave me the language and structure to better understand them. It reinforced my appreciation for disciplined execution and thoughtful process design, and it deepened my interest in performance improvement at scale.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? The Ivey Cup Hockey Tournament is easily my favorite MBA tradition. It brings together Ivey alumni teams and fellow business schools such as Rotman and DeGroote, and has been running for decades. Held in early March, it marks the overlap between the outgoing and incoming MBA classes and serves as a powerful moment of connection across cohorts.

I participated in my first Ivey Cup as an incoming student, playing on one of the alumni teams. Looking back, that experience was a catalyst for my entire MBA journey. It introduced me to the strength of the Ivey community, shaped the extracurriculars I pursued, and influenced the career path I am now following.

This year, I had the opportunity to help plan the tournament. It felt like a full circle moment to support the incoming class in the same way I had been welcomed and to give back to the alumni who have remained engaged and supportive. The Ivey Cup reflects what makes the program special: tradition, community, and a network that extends well beyond the classroom.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently during my MBA, I would stress less and be more intentional about enjoying the moments along the way. As a thirteen-month program, it moves incredibly fast, yet the daily demands can make each week feel long and intense. I often joked that it was one of the fastest, but longest years I have experienced.

Looking back, it feels like it passed too quickly. I spent more time than I should have worrying about outcomes, particularly around post MBA plans, rather than fully appreciating the experience in front of me. The pace and ambition of the program can make it easy to focus on what is next instead of what is now.

The biggest lesson I take with me is to focus on controlling the inputs and let the outcomes follow. That mindset would have allowed me to be more present and grounded throughout the year. It is something I will carry forward, both professionally and personally.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? One of the most impactful cases for me in our Operations Strategy class was not about optimization. It was about survival. A food manufacturer had just lost major customers representing nearly half of its revenue, putting its production plant at real risk. During our case preparation and early discussions, we debated cost structure, manufacturing flexibility, and whether the company should pivot its business model. It was a rigorous operational analysis.

That perspective shifted when the chief executive, who stepped into the role after those losses, joined us as a guest speaker. He inherited a fragile organization and made two defining decisions. He committed not to dismiss employees despite financial strain, and he pivoted the business model while personally leading global customer acquisition efforts. He strengthened discipline on the plant floor while rebuilding revenue from the outside. The company ultimately became one of the fastest growing businesses in Canada.

What stayed with me was the choice he made. He could have pursued an easier opportunity, but instead chose to lead through uncertainty. I have seen steady leadership matter in operational settings, but witnessing it at that scale clarified something deeper. Leadership is not built in calm moments. It is forged in crisis, when conviction must match strategy.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? 

London is everything you want in a university town. I had visited before through friends who attended Western and family who lived nearby, but spending a full year there myself gave me a different appreciation for it. From London Knights hockey games to evenings on Richmond Street to long walks along the city’s trails and parks, the experience extended well beyond the classroom. The city offers the energy of a student community while still feeling approachable and connected. What made it especially meaningful was having family just five minutes away. Being able to see them regularly during such a formative year was a gift. I will truly miss London after the program.

What business leader do you admire most? I would say Jeff Bezos. My admiration is less about Amazon’s scale and more about how, under his leadership, it became one of the most sophisticated logistics networks in the world.

In our Global Supply Chain class with Fraser Johnson, we explored how supply chains are not support functions but strategic assets. Amazon exemplifies that principle at extraordinary scale. Long before the payoff was obvious, the company invested heavily in fulfillment infrastructure, data systems, and delivery capabilities. Those capital-intensive decisions were often scrutinized in the short term, yet they created speed, reliability, and network control that competitors struggled to replicate.

With my background in manufacturing and operations, that approach resonates deeply. Logistics was not treated as a cost center, but as a core strategic capability. Under Bezos, disciplined long term investment in operations became the foundation of sustained competitive advantage. That mindset continues to shape how I think about building resilient systems and leading performance at scale.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Prior to starting the MBA, I had limited exposure to AI. At Ivey, I quickly realized fluency across our cohort spanned the spectrum. That diversity accelerated my learning.

One of the most impactful integrations was a mandatory three-day AI workshop where teams built a new software application to address a market need using available AI platforms. The experience was practical and immersive. By the end, each team produced a working concept and a pitch video, with the class voting on the strongest solution.

Two insights stayed with me. First, the range of AI tools is broader than most appreciate, and knowing when to use each one matters. Second, AI should not simply be layered onto existing processes. To create measurable impact, organizations must redesign workflows and redeploy talent intentionally. I now view AI not as a tool to experiment with, but as a capability that requires disciplined integration and thoughtful leadership. The advantage will belong to organizations that redesign around it rather than simply adopt it.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Choosing just one classmate I admire is difficult, as our cohort is filled with driven, thoughtful, and accomplished individuals. That said, May El Damatty stands out.

May and I spent significant time preparing for case interviews together and were in the same section during the first six months of the program. Through that experience, I saw firsthand her humility, intellect, and work ethic. She approached every classroom discussion with preparation and intention, consistently adding depth to the conversation and elevating the learning for those around her. She never sought attention, yet her contributions were always impactful.

What makes May particularly admirable is that she excelled in the program while raising a family. She balanced competing priorities with grace and determination, setting a powerful example for our class. She is deeply respected by her peers, and I feel fortunate to have learned alongside her.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Lead operations at scale as a Chief Operating Officer, driving sustainable performance improvement across complex organizations.

2. One day return to the classroom as a lecturer in operations and strategy, sharing practical leadership experience with the next generation of leaders.

What made Derek such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Derek combines exceptional academic performance with a commitment to uplifting others, doing the hard implementation work, and building community.

Academically, Derek is exceptional, but what distinguishes him most is the way he uses his capability in the service of others. A memorable example of this was in our statistical process control and process capability simulation work. During this class, he consistently leveraged his expertise to guide the discussion in a way that brought classmates along with him. He understood what was needed in the room, who was tracking, when there were pain points, what concepts needed to be clarified, and was able to bridge the gap to ensure no one was left behind. Ivey is a case-based school, so it’s not unusual to have strong contributors, but in this class in particular Derek’s approach stood out because it materially changed the dynamic; he helped classmates develop confidence and competence. This willingness to help others has been on full display the entire year.

Derek also has a clear bias for action. He deliberately pursued opportunities tied to implementation and performance improvement, landing roles in the program where he could translate insights into execution. His leadership has been equally meaningful outside of the classroom. As Executive Director of The Leader Project, a student-run, international economic development initiative aiming to empower entrepreneurs in emerging markets, Derek travelled to Kenya to evaluate a new site partnership. After a thorough review, he ultimately recommended opening a new site through a partnership with Legacy College, which is set to begin operations this year. This will create meaningful impact for future participants.

Finally, Derek is a community builder, recognizing that strong programs are built not only through academics and recruiting outcomes, but through belonging and shared experience. He contributed meaningfully to the MBA experience, playing a central role in organizing both the Ivey Cup Hockey Tournament and MBAA Golf Tournament. Both events were a platform that helped connect alumni, the incoming class, and current students, which strengthened the program’s culture and sense of belonging. It is always a pleasure for me to attend these events as well because I get to share in the community building and celebrating alumni success.

Derek is the kind of MBA who excels personally while making everyone around him better. I recommend him enthusiastically for Poets & Quants’ Best & Brightest MBAs of 2026.”

Scott Loveland
Lecturer, Operations Management
Ivey Business School

 

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