Anand Sathiyamurthy

Look at Anand Satihyamurthy’s resume, and you wouldn’t think he’d need another business or education credential.

With more than twenty years of management experience in technology, risk, and wholesale and retail bank data and analytics, Anand also holds a Carnegie Mellon master’s in Information Systems Management. On top of that, he co-founded and ran a startup providing solutions for large telecommunications companies, and taught the first-ever graduate FinTech (blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and alternative banking) course at Georgia State University’s Robinson School of Business, a course he helped create.

So why is this accomplished executive enrolled in the inaugural Online MBA class at Questrom? Two words: network and future.

“I want to be part of creating the future,” says Anand. “And I’m looking to find friends who have a similar outlook, a network of friends who will be part of creating the future, harnessing radical and incredibly powerful technologies. A network that can make meaningful changes in the business world for lasting impact and competitive differentiation. Questrom’s Online MBA cohort is certainly a great place to forge such a network.”

Anand knows at Questrom he’ll be part of a learning community that’s truly global—including world-class faculty in Boston and an international network of over 51,000 Questrom alumni and 335,000 Boston University alumni— not to mention his experienced Online MBA classmates located all around the world.

Anand is convinced that we’re living in an era of disruption where a confluence of new technologies is about to radically change our world—and with his background, he should know. “Sooner than we think,” he says, “the old frameworks, business rules, and vertical leadership principles will have little meaning in this world.”

Anand considered enrolling in an executive MBA but never a traditional MBA program, which he believes are soon to be a thing of the past. “Most offer a bunch of core courses, and then you specialize in something like finance or marketing, etcetera. This model, I think, is outdated. The future is going to be digital. If you can conceptualize something, you can probably digitize it. Disruption is coming in many fields (energy, transportation, food, finance – you name it) and it is not going to be linear.”

As someone with an entrepreneurial mindset, Anand was eager to be an early adopter of the pioneering new approach to management education at Questrom, where six themed modules allow students to think about business the way it plays out every day in the real world—as complex interconnected challenges.

“Of all the B-schools, Questrom has executed a bold idea to disrupt higher education with a radically new program,” he says. “A program that puts the future first and builds around that vision—a program that will allow my classmates and me to draw from different disciplines to build the future. I very much applaud the BU team for coming up with such a program.”

On a more personal note, the future isn’t all Anand is focused on. His day-to-day role as a father of a 12-yea-old son is one of his biggest priorities. “I’m very much involved in his life at this point,” says Anand, who appreciates the flexibility afforded by the 100% online program. “A traditional ‘stop-your-life-for-two-years’ MBA program was less attractive to me. BU’s Online MBA is rigorous, and at the same time, lets me complete the program on my terms, without receding from my ‘daddy’ duties during a critical, formative phase of my son’s life.”

“OF ALL THE B-SCHOOLS, QUESTROM HAS EXECUTED A BOLD IDEA TO DISRUPT HIGHER EDUCATION WITH A RADICALLY NEW PROGRAM. A PROGRAM THAT PUTS THE FUTURE FIRST AND BUILDS AROUND THAT VISION…”

– Anand Sathiyamurthy