Imperial College MBA Leverages London's Tech Start-Up Scene

A student at Imperial College Business School in London, she is inspired by the UK capital’s thriving start-up scene. Nearly 16,000 start-ups were launched in London in the past year, according to research by accounting firm UHY Hacker Young. Imperial College boasts an Entrepreneurship Hub, designed to help students realize their entrepreneurial ambitions through supporting the launch and growth of start-ups.

Nicole previously worked as a principal at Infosys Lodestone, the management consultancy firm, and at Infosys Consulting, where she advised clients in the company’s digital transformation practice.

She also worked at Ogilvy, a leading UK marketing and advertising agency, which has shaped her approach to business management.

Why did you decide to begin an MBA? 

To further develop my business acumen. Although my professional experiences formed a solid foundation, they exposed gaps in my skill-set that I felt needed to be addressed for me to achieve my future goals.

I believed getting an MBA was necessary for developing the managerial framework, leadership skills and global network I need to lead a company one day, whether it be a start-up or my own, as that is often what is looked for in the qualifications of senior executives.

‪How would you describe your experience so far at Imperial College Business School? 

I didn’t know much about Imperial College before moving to the UK three years ago. I had always been led to believe that getting your MBA should be done at one of the top schools in the US. [But] I have been thoroughly impressed.

To me, Imperial College feels like I’m investing in an amazing start-up. The MBA has key elements, such as a world-class faculty and extremely talented program team.

It met all of my requirements for doing an MBA – it had to be in London, had to be no more than one-year long, and had to be excellent in entrepreneurship.

‪What are the key benefits of being based in London? 

I think the number one benefit is the number of diverse students you will have access to. Sixty-five percent of the students in my current cohort are from a country outside of the UK – this truly helps provide a global outlook.  

Secondly, as London is a thriving start-up economy, you will have access to a plethora of start-ups in the area. This was one of the reasons why I chose to stay in London itself, to ensure I could network and work with start-ups during and after class.

‪You were a principal management consultant at Infosys Lodestone. Digital transformation is a hot topic. What’s the greatest challenge firms face in adapting to digital disruption? 

The greatest challenge my clients faced was the ability to keep up with digital trends. Often these transformation programs would come three to five years after they needed it to be in-place in order to remain competitive. It takes a lot of work to evangelise large-scale digital ideas and ways of working in major organizations, and this can be because of a myriad of reasons, such as senior-buy in, internal politics, and resources.

Often much of my time was spent on the evangelism aspect, creating the business case with my clients, and helping to sell it internally.

‪What lessons can you take from your career at Ogilvy to business/management? 

Ogilvy taught me to apply creativity within a framework. A renowned advertising agency, Ogilvy oozes creativity.

During my time there I was a “suit,” as you’d say, working on the client-facing side. In this role I was able to wear two hats: the client management and the creative lion-tamer hat. Quite often I was responsible for balancing this dichotomy. This allowed me to balance the needs and requirements of what the client was looking for with the vision my creative teams had.

It has been invaluable in terms of how I approached work as a management consultant and as an MBA student. I learned how to push the limits while also staying grounded. In an age where you are required to come up with innovative ideas, this way of thinking has been my stronghold.

‪What are your future career plans? 

To help individuals make a positive impact on the world through connected devices and/or digital technology.

One tenet of this vision is to join an organization as a senior manager and help bolster the company’s efforts in engaging consumers through connected devices. Another tenet is to continue working on a start-up idea I have, which is to help reduce bullying amongst children through the use of toys and technology.

‪What advice do you have for people who are applying to business school? 

Just do it. It took me awhile to decide if I needed it – especially in an age where start-up executives are celebrated for starting their businesses from the confines of their dorm room, dropping out of university to achieve success.

An MBA is a win-win. And while it may seem like a large investment at first, and potentially not necessary, it cannot make you worse off.

You will definitely learn, you will definitely meet new people, and you will definitely be a different person from the moment you first enter that classroom. In hindsight it has been a no brainer and I don’t regret it.

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