1.
Interview Questionnaire- Dr. Chandrashekar Subramanyam
1. Tell us about your experience in the education sector and what makes it the best sector to
work in?
I came into education sector aboutthree decades back after completing my Doctorate from US.
After my post-graduation from IIT Kanpur worked in Research organizations like TIFR ISRO etc..
For a briefwhile I worked in Industry and realized that for my nature R & D suits rather than corporate
environment.
In all my carrier I joined the organization in initial stages and builtthem. It was a wonderful
experience having done roles beyond my domain.
Education in my view makes the bestsector to work because you have an opportunity to impart
knowledge for future generation and allows you to learn constantly. When students whom you have
groomed comes up in life much faster than yourselfthat gives immense satisfaction to you.
Education sector also allows one to take up consultancy assignmentto solve real life Industry
problems.
Compared to Corporates provides very flexible working environment.
Provides very good work life balance.
2. Being the Chairman Centre of Excellence – Business Analytics of IFIM Bschool, what is your
philosophy of leadership? How would you describe your leadership style?
My philosophy ofleadership can be summarized as:
Providing ditrection
Fostering a supporting and collaborative environment
Actas a role model
Stimulating innovation and creativity
Empower the team working under you
Motivate people to kep momentum high
3. Any of the significant challenges you faced as the Chairman Centre of Excellence – Business
Analytics of IFIM Bschool?

2.
Business Analytics is an Interdisciplinary area-Combination ofComputer Science, Statistics and Domain
knowledge.Getting experienced Faculty with Industry experience and passion for Academics is very
difficult.
Since we started Business Analytics as an Executive education for experienced personnel we had a very
high variability in experience something from 5 years to 21 years.Teaching such a heterogeneous group
ofstudents is difficult. Butwe managed.
Fostering a culture oflearning to learn among students.
Teacher learning from students and teacher to become a mentor.
4. How has data analytics changed the world? In which areas its implementation is most
valuable?
Decision making has become data driven rather than gutfeel. With advancementin technology we have
abundance ofDigital data. Digging thru vastvolume ofdata and deriving actionable knowledge from data
has changed the world.
Areas mostvaluable are : Banking Insurance & Finance,Health Care
,Legal,Education,Security,Manufacturing and Govtitself.
5. Being the Chairman Centre of Excellence – Business Analytics, how do you look at the growth
of students through placement opportunities available at IFIMBschool? How do you wish to
push the envelope further?
There is a terrible shortage oftrained personnel in Analytics are as itis an Interdisciplinary field.
If studentputs enough efforts through the program placementwill automatically happen.
Our curriculum is constantly updated with Industry feedback so thatstudents learn what is required after
they pass outfrom the Institute.
Recently our Exec PGDM in Business Analytics is the only program accredited by Global Accreditation
organization AACSB. IFIM is the SIXTH Business school in the country after IIM & XLRI to getthis
recognition.
6. How do you tend to establish a relation with the students being the Chairman Centre of
Excellence – Business Analytics of the institute? How do you make yourself available to
them? N A
7. What would be your ideal school environment, and what kind of analytic tool does a
business analyst need for the “discovery analytics” that’s common with big data?
Teacher becoming a mentor and creating an environmentfor students learning to learn continuously
Case Method ofTeaching combined with real life projectwork.
Regarding the tools my view is if the concepts are clear tool does notmatter much. But it does not
mean that one should notlearn. Some ofthe commonly used tools in Analytics are - Big data eco
system like Hadoop Spark etc.. R Python , Power BI Tableau etc..

3.
8. With a large population of students inclined towards analytics, what according to you are
the top qualities that an aspiring analyst must possess?
Have domain knowledge
Formulate the business problem to be solved
Understand the data requirement
See that you getrequired data ofQuality
Build decision models
Communicate the results to the Management in a way they undestand
9. Is big data a problem just to be managed (with its size, diversity, and speed) or is it an
opportunity to be seized?
It is an opportunity to be seized though itbrings certain problems like diversity, security issues privacy
etc..Which I am sure technology can handle.
10. What goals do you have in your mind in the area of big data analytics for the next few years?
What kinds of analytics go with big data?
The upcoming areas are –Artificial intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Automation , Solving
complex business problems with supportof AIand Digital Technology.
Big data provides a platform to assistin Decision Making
11. Any suggestions you would like to give to the current youth and the aspiring students?
Analytics has tremendous growth in future. At the same time being a multi-disciplinary area students
have to put in a lot of effort to learn notonly technical skills butalso domain expertise and
communication skills Working in teams .