Design Meets Data: Pranjali Apurva’s Path from Creative Strategy to Digital Leadership via EDHEC's Global MBA Programme
A design professional turned digital strategist, Pranjali Apurva shares how EDHEC’s Global MBA helped her evolve from managing fashion brands in Dubai to driving innovation at Zalando in Berlin.
Discovering the business of fashion
As a design professional with both creative and analytical business experience, Pranjali Apurva knew her interests and skill set lay in the business of fashion. In her role as a Design & Business Innovation Manager for Landmark Group in Dubai, she was working across several functions such as brand strategy, category management and marketing.
“Digitalisation was rapidly changing the landscape of the fashion business, and I had become interested in digital innovation,” she explains. “I didn’t think, as brands, we were really prepared for what would happen over the next five years.”
Pranjali’s role required her to oversee digital implementation throughout the company across a range of business units. While leading these projects, Pranjali saw the potential for change. “I realised that this is not just another tool or another plugin which was coming in, this was going to be transformational for the industry,” she says. She also recognised that an MBA would be the logical step as she advanced in the fashion industry.
When she began to narrow down potential MBA programmes, she identified certain non-negotiables: an international cohort and professional diversity.
“Those two were my foundational criteria,” Pranjali says.
Pranjali was also aware that she was not approaching an MBA from what she describes as a “conventional” field. “My background is in the fashion business,” she explains. “My focus was on design and innovation.” She knew she didn’t want to be thrown in with a cohort from purely conventional backgrounds.
Then chance arrived to play its hand when she attended an MBA fair in Dubai. “I probably met all the schools on the planet,” Pranjali laughs. With her diverse profile, there was no shortage of attention from these schools, which recognised the value her profile would add to the cohort.
But, as she waded through the sales pitches that came brimming with overpromises, it became clear what she didn’t want. When she met the EDHEC admissions team, however, everything fell into place. “It was one of those moments when it all came together and I found what I was looking for,” she says.
The first synergy: EDHEC’s just-launched Global MBA Digital Innovation track (now AI & Innovation track) in partnership with IBM.
The second? “EDHEC’s internationally focused cohort,” she explains.
What also played in EDHEC’s favour was its location. “France was a very familiar region to me, I travelled to France for work, and I speak French,” she said. That’s how she found herself on a plane to Nice in 2018 to start a full-time, Global MBA at EDHEC Business School.
Finding the Right Fit
Having moved to Dubai from her native India already for her career, this wasn’t Pranjali’s first experience studying or working abroad. She was, however, quickly impressed by EDHEC’s ability to deliver on what it promised.
“That diversity is really there,” she says. “EDHEC recruits from all over the world and has a balance between all different sorts of professions.”
This diversity translates to the classroom. “One thing that EDHEC does really well is the cultural intelligence part of it,” she continues. “That’s really important for anybody looking to work in an international market — and lead teams in the international market.”
The MBA experience, she explains, was also the first time in her career that she felt like she had found her tribe. “I looked around and realised that this is a class of 100 people who are all like me,” she says. “We were a group of accomplished professionals who left our comfort zone and came here together for a year in this part of the world, and we were all in it together.”
Pranjali threw herself into the course, becoming the class ambassador. She also started a new MBA club, the retail and marketing club.
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From Nice to Berlin
Pranjali says she had landed in France certain of one thing:
“My goal after the MBA was to go back to Dubai to my home to a relevant role in fashion,” she says. “I knew I didn’t want to change my industry, I love what I do!”
Yet life sometimes has a way of showing you another course. Since completing her MBA in May 2019, she’s worked exclusively in Europe. She now calls Berlin home as a key member of online fashion retailer Zalando’s Process Excellence team.
“My role is to look for business optimisation opportunities, which could be digital or not, that contribute to the company's strategic goals,” she explains.
In her current role, she leads the process excellence for Stories at Zalando, the company’s new brand strategy unveiled last year.
“The focus on innovation, and the agility with growth-focused strategies, has made Zalando a very interesting company to work for. I’m very happy here,” Pranjali reflects.
Those skills acquired during her MBA, especially the digital innovation track and exposure to technologies such as AR/VR (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality) and AI, alongside the case studies and consulting projects (especially for a large global retail payment provider in Paris), have been core to her success in her current position.
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“Not Your Typical French School”
Although Pranjali was far from home, she undertook her MBA journey with a cohort of Indian students, many like her who were working internationally when they enrolled.
For future MBA candidates from India contemplating their next steps, she urges them to ensure EDHEC is on their radar.
“EDHEC is not your typical French school,” she says. “Its professors are from the US and Canada, among other countries, and it’s very international in terms of the experiences that the professors deliver.”
If she has any advice for anyone in her position, she encourages people to research the school and the market they are entering — and understand how it is aligned with their career goals. “Read the school brochure, reach out to the admissions manager, and reach out to the alumni on LinkedIn.”
For Pranjali, EDHEC was the launchpad in the right direction towards a more global, digitally driven version of the fashion industry she already loved.
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