Priyadarshini Majumdar
Master of IT in Business (Analytics)
Class of 2018
Before I co-founded FootprintIQ—an operational and sustainability intelligence solution for manufacturers—and Inovatyv—an award-winning product consulting company—I worked as a process engineer at Philips Lumileds. Before joining MITB, I relied on Excel to troubleshoot manufacturing data, but I felt limited. I could see the potential of data to fuel smarter decisions, yet I lacked a holistic understanding of data technologies. When I researched programs that would bridge this gap, SMU’s MITB programme kept surfacing.
My decision truly crystallised the day my father urged me to visit the SMU campus. I spoke with an SMU student, and her enthusiasm was contagious—I left that conversation feeling energized, and I knew I had found my next step in life. Within a week, I’d received a conditional offer, and I promptly enrolled.
Graduating from the MITB Analytics Track in 2017 became the launchpad for my career pivot. Today, as co-founder and CEO of FootprintIQ, my role is incredibly versatile. At its core I take care of product innovation and development, implementation, technical sales, and investor relations. However, as a co-founder, I share other responsibilities with my co-founder and that means everything from IT, HR, admin to setting up business systems and processes and business strategies.
If there’s one lesson MITB cemented, it’s this: networking is key. Collaborating with classmates and forging connections with faculty and industry professionals unlocked doors I never imagined.
One of the most memorable projects in MITB was a drone company simulation game in an Analytics module. Each week, my team huddled in a library room to decide where to invest our limited budget. While other competitor teams poured resources into branding and marketing, we committed everything to R&D. Although we started near the bottom, by the end of the term, we ranked among the top three teams and made more profits than others. That taught me a lesson I carry into FootprintIQ and Inovatyv: work relentlessly on building the best product even if the results aren’t immediate.
My internship at SGX further expanded my toolkit. I learned the complexities of financial markets while building dashboards in a high-frequency data language—an experience that deepened my technical fluency and showed me how data drives strategic decisions in financial services.
MITB also reshaped how I view innovation. Rather than diving straight into solutioning, I now emphasise understanding user needs, market dynamics, and resource constraints first. This shift—instilled by modules like Business Applications of Digital Technology and Visual Analytics & Applications —helps me develop products grounded in real-world context.
I owe part of my success to MITB professors whose teaching made complex concepts accessible. I was on the Dean’s List, not because exams were easy, but because their guidance allowed me to focus on understanding rather than rote memorisation.
For anyone considering MITB: be proactive and crystal-clear about your goals. I co-founded the SMU Business Analytics Consulting Club with classmates to expand our network and gain consulting experience—an initiative that remains active today.
Looking ahead, the future for MITB graduates is bright. Whether in AI and data roles, digital transformation, consulting, or entrepreneurship, our ability to connect technology with business outcomes will continue to set us apart.
