Interview by Bhawna Rawat 

Dr. Roudra Chakraborty, Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies

Dr. Roudra Chakraborty is currently working at Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies as the Faculty and Area Chair (Business Analytics). He holds B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Mathematics from the University of Calcutta, M.Sc. degree in Mathematics and a doctorate in Mathematics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He has over 8 years of work experience. His area of research has been in the field of Applied Statistics in Engineering and Management Sciences. His publications have appeared in refereed journals like Signal, Image and Video Processing, Springe and Lecture Notes in Engineering and Computer Science, also in ECCH. His teaching experience lies in Management Sciences, Social Sciences, and Commerce in the areas of Business Statistics and Quantitative Techniques. He has served in various institutions including Alliance University, Bangalore and Symbiosis International University, Pune. He has taught at undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programmes level.

Dr. Chakraborty has also been actively involved in designing, developing and delivering certifications and Ph.D. Coursework for many Alliance University as well as Symbiosis International University. He has also undertaken consulting assignments for Public Affairs Centre India to develop the Public Affairs Index for better governance in India. He has been a member of Mensa International, London with an IQ of the top 99% percentile of the world.

Dr. Chakraborty’s experience has made him believe that Education industry is the best to work in

My journey in education sector started with Symbiosis School of Economics, a constituent of Symbiosis International University in Pune. There I took the administrative responsibilities as the Deputy Director of the School and became a member of the Academic Council and Board of Examinations of the University. Then I relocated to Bangalore and joined Alliance University, and subsequently, last year, I joined Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies (KIAMS) in Harihar.

I strongly believe that the education sector is the best sector to work in. The reason is it is multidimensional. Job satisfaction is immense. Things like Liberty, the scope of improvement, innovation, and flexibility are at their peak.

Let others describe my leadership style

I have not thought of it yet.

Integrity, humility and team-work are the key attributes of leadership

I prefer not to describe my leadership style – let others describe it.

A benchmark cannot be guessed for the emerging web data

Data has expanded worldwide at a great scale in the past 5 years. As an example, in 2013, the total volume of web data was 1.2 exabytes, whereas, in 2016, it has crossed 1 zettabyte. In the future, I do not see a benchmark for what you call big (data). By default, data analytics will mean “big” data analytics.

Industry Coordination Committee at KIAMS updates the curriculum regularly

KIAMS has an Industry Coordination Committee (ICC) which has members from the Industry and the committee holds frequent meetings to update and upgrade our curriculum. Since we are directly backed by the Kirloskar Group, we continue to get inputs from the Group as well as different industries.

KIAMS is offering 2 years’ full-time postgraduate program in Business Analytics 

KIAMS is one of the B-schools in India, which is offering 2 years’ full-time postgraduate program in Business Analytics. The job market in analytics has a big gap in demand and supply. We are looking towards doing our bit for filling up the gap. Being backed by the Kirloskar Group, we are confident of achieving success while looking at the industry need and subsequently coordinating placement activities suitably.                                                                                                            

Students need to be told about the gap between demand and supply in analytics

The large student pool is still not inclined towards analytics. They are skeptical about choosing analytics as their career. Motivation, inspiration, guidance is required for them. They need to be told about the demand and supply gap. They need to be told that anyone can become an analyst.

An analytics-aspirant does not need to be someone who is “good numerically”

Anyone having a logical, open and analytical mindset can become a business analyst.

KIAMS goal is to be the front-runner in Business Analytics in the coming years

I see KIAMS being one of the front-runners in Business Analytics in the next few years. It will excel in analytics education, development, research, and consultancy.

A piece of advice for the current youth

Do what you love to do and love what you do. Do thorough research on your career path. You need to know what the industry needs. You need to know what you love to do. And then, work on the intersection.