How the HEC Paris MBA network opens doors in tech and innovation

The tech sector may be experiencing an AI renaissance, but the surge in startups and opportunities doesn’t mean it’s easy to break into senior roles in the industry. As a result, gaining the right blend of technical and soft skills at business school – and meeting the right people – can transform your career opportunities. 

This is something that Alisa Dubik was well aware of. Despite her experience at an education technology company in New York, she knew she lacked some foundational skills and the confidence to transition into tech management roles successfully. 

So, what made Alisa choose the MBA at HEC Paris, and how did the school help her take the next step in her tech career?

Gaining foundational technical skills   

“I always thought I wasn't fully capable of dealing with math, and I was truly very intimidated,” Alisa admits. “I felt like I didn't have the credentials required to be viewed as someone who has some authority and some expertise. And that's what I was looking to bridge with the MBA.”

To boost her technical skills, Alisa opted for the Entrepreneurship specialization in the HEC Paris MBA program, which provides students with an immersive education in launching and growing an innovative company. Across technical electives and a three-month project, students in this specialization immerse themselves in startup life. 

“I really wanted to do something a lot more hands-on than just sitting through lectures, and the entrepreneurship specialization was definitely like the opportunity to test and fail in a safe environment,” Alisa explains.

During her immersive project, Alisa worked with scientists, investors, and advisors to build a business plan and pitch it to professionals. From financial planning to working together with experienced professionals, the experience helped Alisa develop her confidence in entrepreneurship and innovation. 

“You can sit in classrooms and go through cases all day long, but until you're in an actual environment, living through the case, especially as a manager, as a leader, it's vastly different. That specialization was the closest that could get to real life,” asserts Alisa. 

Immersion in the tech world 

MBA students seeking real-world technical skills can also apply to work with the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) at HEC Paris, an incubator for science-based startups. Dedicated programs led by the CDL introduce select MBA students to technology and entrepreneurship, and afterwards, students get hands-on experience working with tech founders. 

“The idea is that deep tech ventures go through this program and they get objectives from session to session, and our MBA students actually advise and consult those deep tech ventures,” says Peter Fischer, associate professor of marketing and academic director of the AI Stream for the CDL. 

“So [students] experience this technology directly by interacting with our founders, and they’re also able to apply the business knowledge they have gotten at HEC,” he adds. 

Elsewhere at HEC Paris, MBA students also have the opportunity to explore Hi! Paris, a research center for data science and artificial intelligence launched by HEC Paris and the Institut Polytechnique de Paris.

So, MBA students can participate in a data bootcamp before the start of their studies to explore essential data science and Python skills in a business context.

Additionally, the center organizes hackathons and career fairs to bring together interested students and experienced professionals in data science and technology. 

Networking with technology professionals

One of the first things Alisa remembers hearing about HEC Paris is the quality of the school’s network. “I'd spoken with a bunch of past alumni, and they said that the community at HEC was really, really, really strong,” she recalls. 

 Every year, around 260 students enroll in the MBA program, 95% of whom are from outside France. Students hail from diverse backgrounds, including common MBA industries such as technology and finance, as well as specialist sectors like healthcare and energy. 

“Being surrounded by so many quant-minded people really helped,” Alisa notes. “I was able to not only learn in the classroom but also through osmosis, just being introduced to different types of thinking from my peers.”  

Alisa graduated in 2023, yet her MBA network has remained a valuable asset to her as she navigates life in the tech industry.  

“I have this whole network of incredibly brilliant people who all come from different backgrounds, and they all have interesting insights that could help me,” Alisa says.

“I go to my HEC network to really bounce ideas on any topic. We're all passionate about being the best leaders that we can be.”

Breaking into the tech industry

 Today, Alisa has achieved her career goal: she was recently promoted to manager of a customer education team at an AI e-commerce platform. 

 “The MBA has prepared me for the speed of innovation that we're going at, and it has also opened my eyes to so many different industries and problems,” Alisa notes. 

While the MBA program undoubtedly gave Alisa the skills and professional network to succeed in the sector, she advises prospective MBA students to look for opportunities to develop essential skills outside their program. 

“Nowadays, the barriers to entry into tech or into entrepreneurship within tech have never been this low,” she says. “I would definitely say stay up to date on what's possible. See what everyone else is doing and just be curious.”