Meet The HEC Paris MBA Alumni

An MBA is a huge investment of time, energy, and attention. For many young professionals today, it is a chance to step back from the momentum of their careers, challenge how they see the world, and build the skills and relationships that will shape what comes next.

For HEC Paris MBA alumni, that experience can look quite different from one person to the next.

We spoke with 12 HEC Paris MBA alumni whose experiences span industries, countries, career paths, and graduating classes.

CHOOSING HEC PARIS

Choosing an MBA is a major decision, particularly when there are countless highly ranked programs to consider. For these alumni, HEC Paris stood out for reasons beyond rankings.

For Sara Eraso Lasso, HEC Paris Class of 2021, the deciding factor was the people and the connection she felt with the HEC Paris community from the very beginning.

“Of every school I interviewed with, HEC was where I felt the most genuine connection: warmth, candor, and real opinions. That came through with alumni and recruiters alike,” Lasso says. “Beyond the people, HEC’s network across Europe, my target geography, was decisive. Five years out, I can say that network is still one of the most valuable things the program gave me.”

For Vincent Mahloko, Class of 2024, HEC Paris offered the international environment and entrepreneurial ecosystem he was looking for as his career interests evolved.

“I entered HEC with a strong background in financial services and a growing interest in entrepreneurship, but I certainly did not have a clear vision of becoming a Founder & Managing Partner building across startups, capital allocation, and the Europe-Africa corridor,” Mahloko says.

What ultimately made HEC Paris stand out was its combination of community, geography, and flexibility.

“HEC Paris offered something I found difficult to replicate elsewhere: a truly international environment, a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem, and access to a community that was incredibly diverse in both background and ambition,” he says. “I also wanted to be in Europe. Having grown up in South Africa and spent my career in financial services, I was increasingly interested in understanding the European market and how it connected with the rest of the world.”

Amandine Simoni, Class of 2022, says the appeal was the combination of academic rigor and international exposure.

“HEC Paris offered the ideal combination of academic excellence, global diversity, and strong European roots,” Simoni says. “I was looking for a top-ranked MBA that would challenge me intellectually while exposing me to classmates from a wide variety of industries, cultures, and professional backgrounds.”

The collaborative environment, faculty, alumni network, and balance between strategy and practical learning was what made this school a clear choice for her.

PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL GROWTH

An MBA can change the way graduates approach their careers, but the transformation is not always limited to professional skills.

The program strengthened both Simoni’s strategic thinking and her confidence as a leader.

“The MBA significantly expanded both my strategic thinking and my confidence as a leader,” she says. “It strengthened my financial and analytical skills, taught me to approach decisions from a broader business perspective, and gave me the confidence to operate at executive level.”

Just as importantly, she says, the program taught her how different parts of a business work together.

“It also helped me understand how sales, marketing, finance, operations, and leadership need to work together to generate sustainable revenue and long-term business performance,” Simoni says.

HEC Paris business meeting. Courtesy photo

For Daniel Saenz, Class of 2023, one of the biggest changes was not a particular business skill but the way he understood the world around him.

“The MBA helped me change the way I see the world,” Saenz says. Coming from Peru, he realized that many of his assumptions had been shaped by his own culture and experiences.

Living and debating with classmates from more than 50 nationalities challenged those assumptions.

“Some of the most valuable lessons didn’t come from the classroom but from conversations with classmates who challenged my perspectives and helped me see the world through a different lens,” Saenz says. “The experience taught me humility, empathy, and the importance of questioning my own assumptions before forming opinions.”

That lesson has stayed with him beyond graduation. He says he became more comfortable recognizing that there is rarely one right answer, and that being willing to change your mind can be a strength.

Class of 2021 graduate Michael Venditto says his relationship with HEC Paris definitely didn’t end with graduation.

“My relationship with HEC never ended; it evolved,” Venditto says. The alumni network has continued to provide professional insight and opportunities, including his current position at AVEVA, which originated from an informal conversation with an HEC alumnus.

“I try to pay that forward, offering whatever perspective I have when prospective students, current students, or alumni ask for it – contributing to a virtuous circle,” he says.

The personal connections have been just as meaningful for him.

“The friendships formed during the program have become the closest in my life – including my wife, whom I met at HEC. She remains my single best investment.”

THE MOST UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES

Some of the most lasting lessons from an MBA come from moments that take students outside the normal classroom routine.

Venditto says one of those moments came during a “Crises and Opportunities” seminar, which culminated in a real-time simulation where his team acted as an executive committee responding to an unfolding crisis.

“What stood out was that crises and opportunities are not opposites – they frequently arrive together, and both reward preparation done long before either appears,” Venditto says.

This lesson has continuously influenced the way he approaches his work.

“If you begin building the plan when the moment arrives, it is already too late,” he says. “Since then, I have worked to stay curious about my own business, my customers’ operations, and the broader market – and to stay skeptical when things are going well.”

Anna Dragina, Class of 2023, says her standout memory was less about one specific event and more about the everyday experience of serving her classmates as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director of the MBA Council.

“It’s less a single milestone – like the leadership seminar or the MBA Tournament – and more the everyday moments of working with the MBA Council team as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Director,” Dragina says.

The experience introduced her to a new approach to leadership: servant leadership.

“It’s based on the simple idea that a leader is someone who serves their own community, rather than acting as a ‘manager’ or a ‘boss’,” she explains.

The lesson has stayed with her in her career, changing how she thinks about supporting teams and creating long-term impact.

For Bernice Lee, Class of 2022, her strongest memory was the bond her cohort developed during one of the most uncertain periods in recent history.

“My absolute standout memory from HEC Paris would be the incredible, effortless ease with which our cohort connected, ultimately making those 16 months one of the greatest personal and professional investments of my life,” Lee says.

Lee was part of the “COVID batch,” beginning the MBA at the peak of the pandemic. She initially worried that restrictions and uncertainty would make it difficult for such a diverse group to connect. Instead, the experience brought the cohort closer.

“Being confined together on campus resulted in our cohort of roughly 140 students creating some of the closest friendships and networks that we still retain today,” she says.

BALANCING WORK, SCHOOL & LIFE

For MBA students, coursework, career decisions, relationships, and life outside school all compete for attention.

Lee describes balancing it all as “a masterclass in prioritization.”

The challenge included staying connected with loved ones across major time-zone differences while managing an intense academic workload and deciding which of the many clubs, conferences, and extracurricular opportunities to pursue.

“I also accepted and started my full-time role in mid-March 2022 during the final semester of the program,” Lee says. “Commuting back and forth between campus and Paris, working full-time, and wrapping up my final academic requirements required immense discipline, but it was incredibly rewarding and led me to where I am today.”

Class of 2020 MBA Jinwook Kim says the challenge for him was not simply managing time – it was deciding where to focus his efforts.

“The hardest balance was not only time management but also choice management,” Kim says.

With companies visiting campus and opportunities available across Paris and Europe, it could be tempting to chase everything at once. But Kim learned that serious career progress required narrowing his focus.

“It is not realistic to pursue Amazon in London, L’Oréal in Paris, and McKinsey in Dubai with the same level of commitment,” he says. “At some point, I had to move from exploration to focus.”

For Pierre Abou Tayeh, Class of 2021, the support of classmates made navigating the uncertainty of the COVID period possible.

“Whatever came up, whether job applications, exam deadlines, government paperwork, or the ordinary and extraordinary logistics of life, there was always someone in that group of future leaders ready to help,” Tayeh says. “Leaning on one another did not just ease the load; it became one of the most defining parts of the experience.”

THE SKILLS THAT STAYED WITH THEM

Beyond individual courses and assignments, HEC Paris alumni say the most important takeaways often involve how they listen, think, make decisions, and interact with others.

Tayeh says three lessons stand out to him: active listening, intentional networking, and perspective.

“The first is the power of active listening. When you are surrounded by such exceptional people, there is something to learn in every interaction, even on a Thursday night at P-Bar,” he says. “The second is the art of building a network with intention; it played a decisive role in every move I made, from Amazon to Strategy& and later to EY. The third is perspective: a genuine understanding of the full spectrum of opportunities out there, so you can act deliberately and position yourself in the role and region that fits you best.”

One of the most valuable skills Aditya Garg, Class of 2020, learned during his degree was cultural fluency.

“The cultural skill set stands out the most in hindsight: learning to work across dozens of nationalities at HEC turned out to be direct preparation for JET, which is itself a highly cosmopolitan company with more than 90 nationalities in its workforce. I do not think that is a coincidence,” Garg says.

He says his MBA experience also pushed him outside his comfort zone academically.

“On the technical side, I would be dishonest if I did not admit the finance electives nearly broke me,” he says.

Garg entered HEC Paris with little financial background and found himself taking courses designed for aspiring investment bankers.

“I genuinely understood perhaps 10 to 20 percent of the content the first time round,” he says. But rather than opting out, he leaned on his classmates and pushed through the discomfort.

That persistence, he says, ultimately helped him land his first post-MBA role in Europe.

THEIR MOST IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS

Across cohorts, alumni frequently say the MBA was a turning point in how they think, pivot, and lead.

For Aminata D. Seck, Class of 2023, the MBA changed how she approached both career decisions and complex problems.

“One of my biggest takeaways was learning how to think more strategically about career decisions,” Seck says. “Before the MBA, I tended to think about careers in a fairly linear way.”

The program helped her identify transferable strengths, understand when a larger career pivot made sense, and communicate her experience to employers in a new industry.

“It also changed the way I approach problems,” Seck says. “I became more comfortable breaking down ambiguous challenges into structured, data-driven decisions, which is something I use every day in product management.”

For many HEC Paris alumni, the value of the MBA becomes even clearer after graduation.

Lorena Rojas Victoria, Class of 2021, says her degree helped her build toward the international career she envisioned at the intersection of technology, strategic sales, and corporate strategy. Today, she works with some of the world’s largest data center customers, helping shape long-term strategic partnerships in a rapidly growing industry.

“The MBA strengthened my strategic mindset, leadership skills and global perspective, enabling me to create customer value through strategic sales while contributing to long-term business growth,” Rojas Victoria says.

Her advice for future students is to remember that the classroom is only part of the experience.

“Some of the greatest lessons come from conversations with classmates, leadership programs, business conferences and moments that challenge your assumptions,” she says.

CHECK OUT THESE PROFILES OF RECENT HEC PARIS ALUMNI:

Pierre Abou Tayeh

Michael Venditto

Lorena Rojas Victoria

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