Jagadeesh Paluvadi

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

“Hard core engineer trying my hands in management.”

Hometown: Markapur, Andhra Pradesh

Fun Fact About Yourself: Master of none, but curious about everything which, in a room full of specialists, turns out to be its own kind of specialty.

Undergraduate School and Major: Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Executive Engineer

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of IIM Bangalore’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Aside from my classmates, the case-based, project-driven curriculum was the key part of EPGP that led me to choose IIM Bangalore. My role as safety & operations officer at ONGC taught me to identify problems and think structurally in solving them, and I wanted a program that would sharpen that instinct with academic rigor rather than replace it. The elective flexibility mattered too. My goal is to combine technical skills with managerial skills to become a leader in the Operations domain in the energy sector. Hence, I needed a curriculum I could shape toward that combination. This was important to me because my post-MBA plan is to join consulting firms like PwC and work across sectors. EPGP’s structure gave me confidence I’d leave with sharper strategic judgment, not just a broader network.

What has been your favorite course or extracurricular activity at IIM Bangalore? What has been the most important lesson that you have learned from it?

Favorite course: Strategy has been my favorite course so far. What I find most fascinating is how companies introspect themselves — how they diagnose their own position, understand how customers actually perceive them, and decide where to place themselves relative to competitors. Coming from an operations background where I was focused on execution within defined parameters, learning to step back and ask “where do we stand, and where should we stand” has been a completely different — and more important — way of thinking.

Favorite extracurricular: Sports, hands down. IIMB gives us access to nearly every sport on campus, and I’ve used it to try things I never had the chance to growing up. Beyond just staying fit, it’s been one of the best bonding experiences with my cohort — you learn more about how someone thinks and works under pressure on a field in an hour than you do in a week of classroom group work.

What makes Bengaluru such as great place to earn your MBA? Bengaluru is more than just IIM Bangalore’s location — it’s practically part of the curriculum. As India’s tech and startup capital, the city puts me within arm’s reach of the same companies I’ll be studying in class, whether that’s a legacy conglomerate or a three-year-old unicorn. For someone transitioning from a technical, execution-heavy role in energy to a strategy-focused path, being surrounded by that density of industries — IT, biotech, manufacturing, energy, consulting — means the learning doesn’t stop at the campus gate. Bengaluru’s weather, culture, and pace make it easy to focus on the program without the city working against you.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment has been earning my way into ONGC and, now, IIM Bangalore — two doors that don’t open easily. Cracking GATE to join ONGC as a production engineer wasn’t just about clearing an exam; it meant years of disciplined preparation while competing against thousands of engineers for a handful of seats in India’s premier oil and gas PSU. Getting into IIM Bangalore’s EPGP followed the same pattern of hard-won progress. Both accomplishments matter to me for the same reason: neither was handed to me, and each represents a door I had to earn my way through on merit, not circumstance.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far:

Favorite course: Strategy — I scored an A, and I love how it forces companies to introspect: where they stand, how customers see them, and where they choose to compete.

Favorite extracurricular: Sports — I’m EPGP’s Sports Committee Head, using the campus’s access to every sport to build some of the strongest bonding experiences in the cohort.

What is your class’s favorite hangout away from school? Why do you gather there? Honestly, we don’t stray far — the campus itself is beautiful enough that most of us don’t feel the need to. Our real hangout is Mitti, the college café, right here on campus and Prabhakar’s near the classrooms. We gather there most evenings and during breaks. It’s not because there’s nowhere else to go, but because it’s become the default spot for winding down after a long day of classes — grabbing chai, debriefing on a case, or just talking about life outside the MBA bubble. It’s less about the location and more about the ritual.

What do you hope to do after graduation? After graduation, I plan to join a consulting firm like PwC, working across sectors to build the strategic thinking and breadth I need. Long-term, my goal is to become a leader in the Operations domain in the energy sector — using consulting as the bridge to develop the judgment and cross-industry exposure that technical experience alone can’t provide.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into IIM Bangalore? Just go for it — it will be one of the best decisions of your life. Put in the work on your GMAT, your essays, and your interview prep; none of them are shortcuts you can skip. And above all, be honest — make sure you can genuinely justify everything you put in your essay, because that’s exactly what you’ll be asked to defend.

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