Prabkirat Singh Sanghera
Class of 2007

Previous Occupation: Banking Technology
Present Occupation: Banking Technology
Sector:  Technology
Work Experience: 7.5 years in Technology, 1.5 year in Real Estate Private Equity
Professional Interests: Technology, Private Equity
Personal Interests: Squash

ISB Calling

Prabhkirat Singh obtained his degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering and subsequently worked in the technology sector, primarily in the investment banking domain.

“The primary reason I decided to go back to school was to break out of a linear career progression and expose myself to new paradigms.” Singh wanted to get out of his comfort zone, assimilate new experiences and take in a wholesome dose of personal and professional grooming. His reason to go to ISB was the fact that he wanted to be based in India eventually and ISB was ideally positioned to provide him with the essential blend of global management practices and teaching methodology applied in a local context.

Experiences as the GSB President

Being the GSB President was, in many ways, just the kind of immersion learning experience that Singh was looking for. “It provided me with a ready platform to become involved in all echelons of the school’s machinery, gave me the reach to be an enabler instead of an observer and the unique opportunity to interact with leaders of Indian industry as well as some of India’s most influential policymakers.”

The position also presented the unusual challenge of solely consensus-based decision-making, where its underlying effectiveness was not based on any of the conventional means of enforcement usually available in a typical organisational setup. Another facet which Singh found interesting was interacting with the media and with visiting students from various international schools.

“Seeing the ISB Leadership Summit (ILS) to its successful culmination in its new form of multiple parallel tracks run by participating professional clubs was a satisfying exercise in effective teamwork and collective commitment. In sum, holding the position made my B-school experience all the more holistic, paradigm-changing and multi-dimensional.”

Beyond ISB

Prabkirat is currently working with UBS as the divisional head of clearing and settlement technologies in Hyderabad. Prior to UBS, Prabkirat worked in the Pan-European Acquisitions team of Tishman Speyer. He truly believes that experiencing a leadership position at the ISB suitably equipped him for the challenges of the Leadership Development Programme at Tishman Speyer as well as his current role at UBS.

“I realised that we all have a combination of shared attributes that is unique to us, and professional success in a way depends on personal success, in harmonising innate abilities with shortcomings,” he concludes.