From Master’s In Global Business To Apple: Why The Most Valuable MBA Lesson Was Learning To Evolve

If you had asked me during my engineering days at PES University where I saw myself in five years, my answer would have been confidently wrong.

I thought careers followed straight lines. Study engineering. Get a technical job. Build expertise. Keep climbing. Life, thankfully, had other plans.

Growing up, I found joy in solving little puzzles whether it was a tricky math problem, a Rubik’s Cube, or simply figuring out the easiest way to get something done. That curiosity naturally led me to pursue engineering at PES University, where I learned to approach problems with logic, structure, and analytical thinking. But as I progressed through my studies, I noticed my curiosity beginning to shift. I was no longer just fascinated by how machines worked; I found myself increasingly drawn to understanding why businesses made the decisions they did and how those decisions shaped industries, economies, and people’s lives.

That curiosity led me to SP Jain School of Global Management’s Master of Global Business program.

THE REAL CLASSROOM WAS THE AIRPORTS

When I chose to pursue a Master’s in Global Business at SP Jain, I wasn’t chasing a job title I was chasing perspective. I wanted to understand how businesses operate across cultures, how leaders make decisions in different markets, and how stepping outside my comfort zone could shape the way I think.

The real classroom wasn’t the finance or supply chain lectures. It was the airports.

It was arriving in a new country and realizing that everything from the food to the classroom culture was unfamiliar. It was working on projects with classmates who challenged every assumption I had. It was learning that the way I communicated in India wasn’t always the way someone from another part of the world interpreted it.

Studying across three countries sounds glamorous when you put it on LinkedIn. Living it is different.

Every move meant embracing a new culture, a new classroom, and a new way of thinking. What initially felt like constant change gradually became an opportunity to broaden my perspective. With each transition, I became more adaptable, more open-minded, and more confident working with people from different backgrounds. In hindsight, those experiences shaped me just as much as the curriculum itself.

A CALL WITH THE DEAN

One conversation from my MBA journey has stayed with me ever since. A few days before my interviews, I had a virtual conversation with Dr. Balakrishna Grandi, dean of SP Jain. Throughout my time at SP Jain, he consistently encouraged us to look beyond grades and job titles and focus on becoming adaptable, lifelong learners. While being recognized as a Dean’s Merit Lister was a proud milestone, he reminded me that what would truly define my career wasn’t an academic achievement it was the ability to keep learning, embrace change, and remain authentic to who I was.

Before we ended the call, he shared a thought that has stayed with me ever since. He reminded me that confidence comes from trusting your journey and being authentic to who you are. It was a simple piece of advice, but one that has continued to shape the way I approach every new chapter in my career.

BUSINESS IS ULTIMATELY ABOUT PEOPLE

Some of the most important lessons weren’t found in textbooks they came from collaborating with people who approached problems differently, communicating across cultures, and learning to appreciate perspectives beyond my own. I realized that business is ultimately about people, and the ability to connect, communicate, and adapt is just as valuable as technical expertise.

Working at Apple reinforced another lesson that no textbook had taught me technical skills might get you hired, but curiosity keeps you growing.

There were countless moments when I didn’t know the answer. Instead of seeing that as a weakness, I learned to ask better questions.

The people who grow the fastest aren’t the ones who pretend to know everything.

They’re the ones who are comfortable saying, “Teach me.”

That mindset completely changed the way I approached work.

CAREERS ARE BUILT ON INTEGRATION

If there’s one thing my journey has taught me, it’s that careers today are built less on specialization and more on integration.

Engineering taught me analytical thinking.

Finance and Supply Chain taught me commercial thinking.

Living across three countries taught me adaptability.

Working at Apple continues to teach me how to connect all of those skills into solving real business problems. Each experience made the next one possible.

ADVICE TO MY YOUNGER SELF

If I could go back and give one piece of advice to my younger self, I’d simply say this:

Stop trying to have your entire career figured out at 21. Some of the best opportunities you’ll receive won’t look anything like the plan you originally made.

Be willing to pivot.

Be willing to start over.

Be willing to be a beginner again.

Because every time I stepped into something unfamiliar whether it was moving countries, switching disciplines, or entering a completely new industry, I discovered a version of myself that I never would have met by staying comfortable.

REFUSING TO FIT IN ONE BOX

Today, when people ask me whether I’m an engineer, a finance graduate, or a functional consultant, I smile because I no longer think those labels matter.

The future belongs to people who refuse to fit into just one box.

My MBA didn’t simply teach me international business. It taught me that the most valuable skill isn’t finance, technology, or engineering. It’s the ability to keep evolving. And if my journey from an engineering classroom in Bengaluru, to business schools across three countries, to Apple’s global ecosystem has taught me anything, it’s this:

Your career is rarely defined by the plan you make.

It’s defined by the courage to change it.

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Shivani Mahesh Tambralli is an alumna of the Master of Global Business program at SP Jain School of Global Management and an SAP Functional Consultant for Apple.

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