2024 MBA To Watch: Kannan Kakani, Hong Kong University Business School
“I am a people-oriented, versatile, empathetic and an active learner who loves working in teams.”

Hometown: Chandigarh, India

Fun fact about yourself: I am a football fanatic and have played national level football in high school in India!

Undergraduate School and Degree: Bachelor’s in Commerce (Hons) from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Urban Company, Senior Manager

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023?EcoSoul, Noida, India

Where will you be working after graduation?
Consulting – Strategy & Operations

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:
Committee member of Entrepreneurship Club and Sports & Recreation Club; Second Runner up for HKU MBA Badminton Tournament (All batches & Alumni).

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school?
Being part of two committee s at HKU Business School has been the most enriching experience for me as it gave me the opportunity to showcase my leadership skills and organize events while networking with a diverse set of people and learn from them throughout the process.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career?
My biggest achievement during my career has been building a secondary helpline for over 2,000 service professionals for my company during Covid-19. The impact of this initiative was massive because we improved resolution rate by 15 percentage points and reduced turnaround time by half. This solution addressed the complex problems that service professionals were facing while operating.

Why did you choose this business school?
HKU Business School is one of the best B-schools in Asia and is also well reputed across the globe. HKU’s focus on the Asian market made it a no-brainer for me. The business school provides an opportunity to build a strong network in the massive region.

What was your favorite course as an MBA?
Prof David Bishop is, without a doubt, the best professor we have had this far. His dedication to making an impact on society resonates with me as an individual. His course was extremely well structured and incredibly comprehensive, with ample examples drawn from research papers and publications.

What was your favorite course as an MBA?
Analytics for Managers was my favorite course as an MBA student because it teaches the application of AI language models to code on various platforms such as R and Python. I believe this tool will be quite practical in the future, given the growing importance of AI and data orientation in our field.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school?
My most enjoyable moment during this MBA program was the Diwali celebration at our business school. It was such a joy to watch people from different parts of the world immerse in the celebration of lights. All our classmates were dressed in Indian clothes and danced to Indian songs which reflects the global perspective in our class.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?
In my opinion, the most significant takeaway from the entire MBA journey is the vast network established through this school. While I have made efforts to seize the available opportunities, I believe that there is room for improvement. In hindsight, I could have adopted a more strategic approach to networking, actively selecting individuals with whom I aspire to build meaningful connections.

What is the biggest myth about your school?
The biggest myth about our school was that majority of students come from similar corporate backgrounds. However, our class consists of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including entrepreneurs, researchers, doctors, and scientists. This diversity among students has created an exceptional learning experience.

What did you love most about your business school’s town?
Hong Kong is an exceptionally global and convenient place. The whole city provides such an amazing experience of meeting people from all parts of the world who have great energy and passion. Moreover, I love the hike spots all over the town and amazing local food!

What surprised you the most about business school?
The overall design of the course does not focus on just academics but also multiple aspects such as networking, culture immersion, career development and progression, etc. The whole program provides a comprehensive learning experience for us and is the best way to settle down in a new city.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire?
Muwen Kong is the classmate whom I admire the most. Muwen has spent half of his life in China and the other half in the US, which provides him with a unique perspective on the two extremes of the world. In my opinion, Muwen is exceptionally smart, and his experience as a research associate allows him to gather research-oriented facts that are a unique addition to our class.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Working as a Consultant post MBA.

2. Working for startups and solving challenging problems in the future.

What made Kannen such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?
“Kannan is a very enthusiastic MBA student both inside and outside classroom. He participates actively to in-class discussion by given quality feedback. He also joins both the Entrepreneurship club and Sports Club, and takes part in a Corporate Project with Gammon in Project Agile. He is willing to take advice from our Career Team which assist him to further solidify his career goals.”

Josephine Chan
Director of Operations and Student Affairs (MBA Programmes)