Patañjali Venkatacharya MBA 2012
Patañjali Venkatacharya is used to bridging worlds. A Canadian native traveling the globe in his job as Oracle’s Chief Evangelist for Applications User Experience, he translates between technology people and other sectors all the time. He is also a trained chef starting his own line of healthy gourmet relishes. The Berkeley-Columbia EMBA is the perfect venue for synthesizing and advancing his many interests. “I’m so interested in a number of different passions, and the program lets me bring it all together and take all these things to the next level.” “The program does a great job of putting together a very diverse class. Ours is really an exciting mix, and we’re already learning a lot from each other.” “Everyone approaches different problems in different ways, influenced by their own experiences. For example, if you’re looking at a technology problem and you have just technology people in the room, they’ll tend to approach it in a certain way. When you have a class that’s very diverse, the non-technology people bring new perspectives to the same problem. They’re wearing a completely different set of glasses. Suddenly, you see that the problem has all these other layers that you didn’t see before. That’s critical to making good decisions.” “When we’re preparing a case in marketing class, there are students who have had roles similar to some of the actors in the case. They bring a valuable insider’s perspective. Then you have others who’ve had different workplace experiences, so they deconstruct the problem in a very different way.” “The Berkeley-Columbia program’s network is very powerful for two reasons: Even if I remain in my current space and take on more responsibility, I’m going to understand different businesses and different environments better than I did when I started the program, no question. And secondly, if I want to expand into other interests—I have a side passion in food—it’s great because I’m building networks in all those other areas, as well!” “The network of the 70 students in class has already born fruit for me. I’ve made a lot of valuable contacts and connected with some great people.” “In my current role, I’ve touched on an array of business subjects, from finance to marketing, but I have no formal education in them. Now, I’m getting that knowledge, not only understanding the fundamentals but also applying them immediately to the things I’m doing today and will do in the future.” “All four of our first-term professors are some of the best professors I’ve ever had in my life. I've been blown away by their wittiness, passion for the subject and pedagogical skills, as well the level of camaraderie and warmth in every class. Good professors all have the knowledge, but very few can also teach really well. The Berkeley-Columbia professors are simply outstanding!” “I never thought accounting could be exciting, but somehow Julian [Yeo] has made it so. Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s also an accomplished retro-jazz vocalist who regularly performs at a club in New York in his ‘spare’ time. Wow.” “From the very first class, the program has changed the level of conversation I have with colleagues. I work closely, for example, with people in our finance and marketing divisions. All of a sudden, we’re having conversations in which I’m asking them accounting and marketing related questions that would never have popped into my head before. Our level of conversation has moved up a notch.” “A number of things that we learned in Marketing just changed my world. I thought, again and again, Wow, this makes total sense, but I didn’t know that, I didn’t know we could do that. I have three or four tools I’ve never had before.” [+] to top |
Chief Evangelist, Applications User Experience, Oracle, Redwood Shores, California