Shantanu Seth
Class of 2018
Hometown: Bengaluru, India
Undergraduate University: Vellore Institute of Technology
Class Year: 2011
Major/Minor: Electronics and Communications Engineering
Current Employer: TheMathCompany
Position: Partner
Why did you decide to pursue a Master of Science in Business Analytics?
I was working as a data scientist and business analyst for roughly six years. I was handling projects and customer engagements across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. I was very happy with where I was in my career, but I felt I was missing the pulse and best of the market. As a consultant, I was not getting my hands as dirty as I would have liked, and in looking at new roles, I realized that I was shorthanded on knowledge. I decided to take a break from working and take up a course of study, and that's how the MSBA happened.
What were some highlights you experienced in the program?
I really liked there were candidates or scholars in my cohort who had similar minds but who came from non-technical or non-analytical backgrounds. They were athletes or economics majors, or literary majors, and I got to learn from them. I also thought the professors were really good. Aaron Koehl is someone I remember fondly; he's very inspirational, and I really aspire to be somebody like him who knows this subject so well.
Tell me more about what you're doing professionally.
I am a partner at a firm called TheMathCompany. We are in the space of making organizations and institutions self-sufficient in the way that they execute strategy. I take care of customer engagement and fulfillment here in North America. I do everything from design thinking, laying out roadmaps, executing strategy, translating business codes and analytic codes, to then creating a plan to solve their problems.
How would you describe the William & Mary MSBA experience to a prospective student?
It's an experience that will challenge you to be the best you are. It's very easy to say you know what it means to be in the field of analytics, but this course will help you really discover the magic of this field. It's cutting edge. It's ahead of the game and offers classes like Analytics for Managers, which is not something a lot of other colleges offer.
