Ready to Tackle the Global Corporate Environment

Before moving from the United Kingdom to Chicago to begin the Master of Business Administration/Master of Public Administration dual-degree program at Stuart School of Business, Ambika Sahay Verma worked at Jaguar Land Rover on a team implementing the General Data Protection Regulation across the company.

“That [project] got me interested in understanding the public sector,” Sahay Verma says. “I also wanted to take on more managerial roles with a long-term career plan of getting to the C-suite of a tech company, so Stuart’s dual-degree program seemed the best way to build the right skill sets to reach my goals. It also helped that this is a business program at a tech-focused school, so I will have a strong analytical base once I graduate.”

“Most of the projects for courses in both the M.B.A. and the M.P.A. programs allowed us to pick a current company and work on something that would aid our future careers,” she adds. For example one group project involved analyzing the strategic plan of a nonprofit youth development organization in Chicago, interviewing the nonprofit’s CEO, and then creating a new strategic plan that was used by the organization.

Sahay Verma says that career readiness courses at Stuart played a key role in preparing her for the application and interview process that landed her a summer internship in 2021 at financial software and services company Intuit, which led to an offer for a full-time position at the company.

She built on her internship experience in her M.B.A. capstone project course. “I got to create a digital transformation strategy for Intuit, which is where I will be working after graduation as a technical program manager in the cybersecurity, risk, compliance, and fraud prevention unit,” she says. “It gave me a chance to learn more about the organization and connect with a people across the company, not just the team I’ll be working in.”

“The Stuart School gives you a strong base of skills to tackle the global corporate environment,” Sahay Verma adds, as she looks forward to moving to California to launch her career in the Bay Area. “This school has helped shape me into who I am today—a competent professional who has a lot to offer to the world.”