Why talented Indians and MIT Sloan heading to Malaysia?

The Indian exodus has spread far and wide, and many young people are choosing to explore the world and build a successful career away from home.

The US flaunts one of the most significant Indian populations, with over 4 million talented Indians expanding their experiences and learnings, sharing their culture, and positively impacting businesses big and small. South East Asia is an increasingly famous destination, particularly Malaysia. As a cheerful economic centre, the country has become a leading education centre in the region. With a rich and diverse culture in one of the world's safest countries, cities like Kuala Lumpur provide a world-class education that is far more affordable than neighbouring Singapore, the UK, or North America.

Sanjay Sarma, an IIT graduate and former Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, has chosen Malaysia for the next chapter of his impressive career. Last year, the engineer, businessman, father, author, and professor accepted the position of Dean, President, and CEO of Asia School of Business ASB in Kuala Lumpur. His new leadership role made perfect sense to him. ASB was founded as a collaboration between MIT Sloan and the Central Bank of Malaysia. Students benefit from learning from both ASB and MIT Sloan, with a one-year MBA that would prepare them for their careers in terms of the immersive action learning they would discover and the cultural experience they would enjoy. As a model of humility, Sanjay does not often talk about his achievements.

He earned his bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, an MS at Carnegie Mellon, and his PhD from UC Berkeley. Upon completing his degrees, Sanjay initially entered the industry. During his illusion teaching career, he has been involved in an IPO, developed critical technologies behind the Radio Frequency standards, and now sits on the broad of numerous companies. He also developed courses and boot camps for entrepreneurs, which led hundreds of attendees to a contest library for professionals to keep up with the latest technological advances for most MIT online courses.

Sanjay has published books focusing on rethinking and considering how we learn and has a deep passion for embedded learning. He writes about education methods and how to bring them up to date, so where does he go next for someone so deeply connected to the shifting landscape of technology and education?

"I think Asia School of Business is magical; this idea that the best qualities of a Western school and an Asian school could be brought together within one MBA is rarely marvellous. Students experience life in ASB's home, Kuala Lumpur, for most of their MBA, with the last three weeks at MIT Sloan. This opens them up to new cultures and experiences and a wide variety of new people to get to know." students would learn from faculty based in ASB and MIT Sloan in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After completing their degree, MBA graduates earn an MIT Sloan Certificate of Completion, meaning they would receive MIT Sloan graduate affiliate status. Students can continue their studies from there by applying for the Visiting Fellows Program or the nine-month STEM-designated MS in Management Studies from MIT Sloan. This would give them work authorisation in the US for up to three years.

Speaking about the link with MIT Sloan, Sanjay describes it as having one's cake and eating it, too. Students and schools get the best of both worlds, benefiting from the best professors and providing students with the opportunity to work in and learn from the cultural melting pot that is Southeast Asia. I acknowledge that education has changed drastically in the past couple of years with the pandemic and the growth of AI and technology. Sanjay recognises that we are living in strange times. He believes that for education to survive, it needs to adapt to keep up with the times. He wants to create an environment where learning is through doing, and embedded learning is the norm.

Likening lecturers to being lectured as a child, he wants to ensure students can learn at their full capabilities. Despite his beliefs about change in the industry, he hopes that human instinct will remain, that students learn from the best in the industry and that they will forge connections as they do. At ASB, Sanjay Sharma brings his experience taking MIT online courses and utilising AI and technological developments. They plan to flip the classroom by having students learn through videos and AI tools. In Sanjay's words, he hopes to turn the classroom into a studio. It is more than just reciting information learned by hearing by heart. The classroom is becoming a studio. Students are also provided with the opportunity to learn onsite in different places around Asia.

Other ventures of ASB are their research labs that focus on areas such as supply chain finance economics and more. They want to encourage researchers to learn as much as possible and help themselves and their peers prepare for the workplace. "We have wonderful thought leadership going in our community", Sanjay said, and he said that after completing the MBA, students would be proficient both in theory and practical knowledge. "The cost of the Asia Business School MBA is far less than that of the other leading programs in Asai, coming in at $35k," he explains, "and the return on investment is substantial." Poets and Quants have recognised the program as one of the hottest MBAs in Asia.

"We are not sacrificing the quality of the experience; we are getting as much information across to students as humanity can.” Due to the timeline and attractive price, he refers to it as getting 50 lbs into a 15lb bag. Students can also extend their stay post-MBA to become scholars or "entrepreneurs in resilience". The school would provide an office for their entrepreneurial centres. With all these opportunities, students can go in any direction they please.

Sanjay is passionate about showing students all that Malaysia has to offer, describing it as the perfect gateway to all that Southeast Asia has to offer. "Kuala Lumpur is a dynamic economic hub in the region and the ideal hub for our students to experience Asia through our Action Learning projects." “It is an intellectual journey worth grabbing with both hands."

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