How Maulik Sadhwani (Sr VP, HSBC) Landed a Highly Coveted Role with SP Jain’s Executive MBA
Possessing the technical skills of analytics and technology-driven operations, Maulik Sadhwani had an abounding career in the Technology Delivery & Operations and COO functions of international banks for over ten years.
However, over time, he felt that business knowledge coupled with technology is a niche skill. It is very much required to deliver value, not just with new-age technological products but also to drive lean commercial sense with appropriate spending strategy. That’s when he decided to hone his skills to become an efficient and effective leader in the industry.
With the help of SP Jain’s Executive MBA, Maulik greatly progressed in his career from a Technology Operations Transformation Lead (VP) to the Head of Business Intelligence and FPA for Technology Third Party Portfolio (Sr VP) at HSBC.
We caught up with Maulik to learn more about his EMBA experience, learning tips and career progression story.
Q. Why did you pursue an EMBA after 12 years of work experience?
I graduated as a Computer Engineer in 2008. Back then, I was a fresher and had the excitement to apply what I had just learned to understand its functioning on real projects. But once I started growing in my career, I reached a stage where I needed to know about more general management, corporate finance and management accounting.
The transformation to a broader vision was the need of the hour to optimise my career potential. At that juncture, I figured out that an EMBA gives the ideal opportunity to have a 360-degree vision where I could comprehend the role of every department and functional unit in delivering the company’s strategy to drive more synergies and also the end-to-end operations of management. Thus, I embarked on my EMBA journey.
Q. How would you describe your work-life balance? How did you manage your daily schedule to complete the EMBA program successfully?
Firstly, those who attempt to join a program like the EMBA are passionate about learning. I believe when there is a real thirst to learn, there is no clockwork. The entire study keeps you happy as you constantly develop your skills and change your perspectives on the same problem.
With the digital shift during the pandemic, the quest to learn something new each day kept increasing, and the work-life balance was built automatically. I was happy with my daily learnings. During my course, I was blessed with a baby girl, a role change and we moved to a new home, yet I managed to complete all my courses on time. Support from my family kept me focused, and the belief that I could do it kept me going.
Previously, I played tennis six days a week which I changed to three days a week. I devoted the rest of the three days of my tennis time to studying the program material. I didn’t change my number of working hours or sleep cycles but just altered my tasks within the hours awake. Additionally, I had the compatibility with my spouse for household tasks, family time and looking after my baby girl. Trading certain things in my routine for my study time and having an understanding with my spouse helped me manage the 18-month course smoothly.
Q. What was your experience like with SP Jain’s professors?
SP Jain’s professors intrinsically understand the students’ diverse backgrounds and ensure that every student is on the same page. It’s a well-balanced approach so that the entire class progresses in the same direction. There is a no nuclear view where the majority of the class can do it and a few are left behind. The patience, happiness and smile on the professors’ faces on screen helped us to gain more confidence in ourselves.
Q. What was your greatest learning from the EMBA’s Applied Business Research (ABR) component?
I was fortunate to apply my learnings in crucial HSBC projects and change the way my department works. Most of my ABR was related to my day-to-day tasks. I would recommend the prospective students to relate their current job and sector to all the projects they would be undertaking in the program as they would be able to make the most of it. Furthermore, when the study is intertwined with a career, the motivation to fix the problem increases exponentially.
Q. What advice would you give to maximise learning from the course?
When I started my journey, I did not know how to keep a tab on the content that I was learning. But mid-way, I was given a terrific suggestion by one of the faculty members at SP Jain to create a one-pager of topics learnt after the session was done. This was extremely useful for the topics which interested me as the one-pager idea became my primary resource and I would refer to it whenever needed. This made studying much simpler. I recommend that anyone joining the program follow a similar technique to make their learning seamless.
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