8. What were the key takeaways from the alumni interactions?

During our 2nd of the Visit we got the opportunity to meet 2 of our esteemed alumni’s:

 Anoop Sardeshpande from Batch of 1997 and is currently Executive Director,

Banking and Finance Research, MENA Region, The Nielsen Company
 Amit Menon from Batch of 2014 and is currently Manager, Revenue Optimization,
Emirates.

The interaction started post lunch with Mr. Anoop staring the proceeding by sharing his life
at TAPMI. He also gave us insights about the work culture of his company, Nielson. He
briefed us about how the company has grown since 1923 and how it has made into S&P 500
company. Nielson has operations in over 100 counties, covering almost 90% of the world
population.
We also got insights about the oil crisis( where price of oil went down to $30 per barrel from
$140 per barrel) of 2016. How it has impacted the global economy. He also discussed about
the real estate downturn during late 2017 and what were its root causes.
Some of the key points which he shed the light upon are listed below:
a) How tax system has changed in Dubai. The concept of Sin Tax.
b) Factors helping Dubai’s growth:
i) Young and growing population – Dubai’s growth is expected to rise by
14.5% by 2025. Mostly this growth will be driven by expat churn.
ii) Rapidly growing consumer base with varied diversification of economic
factors.
iii) Shifting consumptions – Consumer Confidence Indicator CCI, is very good
in Dubai in comparison to India. Which has led to the 5 to 6% of GDP rate
of the country.
c) Changing demographics of young and growing population,
d) Price Elasticity and its positive impact on Saudi and UAE
e) Technology – Mobile internet and its rapid growth
f) What all areas does different companies require market research in and how
does Neilson help them with the same.
g) What is first movers’ advantage in any area.

After the comprehensive session, he answered many questions put across by students some
of them were:
 a) How he managed to get into Nielson? What challenges he faced when he first moved
to Dubai?
b) What are the marketing ethics one should follow in ever challenging world of
business?
c) How a TAPMIan should set up it’s career trajectory reach heights in business?
The interaction with Amit Menon began after a short break where he began by giving us a
power point presentation on Emirates airlines. He briefed about how the price
discrimination is being used to charging different strata of people. He also explained about
the He presented us the Rev-Man model that is supported by 3 pillars Inventory, Pricing and
Demand.

Inventory:

 Physical Capacity
 Adjusted Capacity
 Virtual/Authorized Capacity
(Virtual Capacity – Physical Capacity – Payload + Upgrades)
 No shows
 Decrements
 Upgrades/Pinching

Pricing:

 Frame Categories
 Point of Sale
 Fare Brand
 Flight specific pricing
 Fare rules

Demand:

 Trip origin
 Outline origin
 Pattern
 Point of Sale
 Departure time
He also explained about NDC( New Distribution Capability) and how its is used for global
delivery system. The introduction of smart tunnels was the new futuristic technology the
Dubai airport will be using for the immigration of the passengers.

He stressed upon the upcoming trend in the airline industry and how Augmented Reality is
being the new talk of the town. The customers can have the look and feel of their journey
inside the plane at the time of ticket booking. This technology will surely be going to change
the buying criteria of the customers.

9. What new perspectives have we developed because of the international immersion

program?

The following are the perspectives that we have developed because of this programme:
• Our visit to Sobha group helped us develop a very interesting perspective. One of our
classmates asked them about that their homes are expensive, and do they not fear
on losing out the market share if their competitors offer the homes in lower prices
than them. The reply which we got was interesting which was that they really do not
worry about the market share. They offer a quality which no one else offers and their
quality speaks of their work. The value their customers see in them is the real power.
This is a unique perspective about quality. If one is very confident about quality, then
one need not worry about market share. The business and clients will automatically
follow because of the value being offered.
• Set and goal and stick to it. Whatever comes as hurdle, just focus on your basis.
Things will fall at its right place. The gem of a lesson we learned from the Dubai’s one
of the biggest start-up incubator In5.
• The culture and business environment of Dubai is very different from India. They
know how to convert sand into real estate. The government is so powerful that no
one dares to do any crime in the city. The roads were maintained with perfection
and were as clean as house tiles. The vivid infrastructures speak volume about their
achievement as a country
• Perspective change in terms of new technology: The technology that Dubai is looking
forward to invest is commending. They had a vision of 2050 with aircar deliveries,
transport being much more advanced and the way of doing business too will be
 changed with the introduction machine learning, AI and virtual reality but as per the
speed that Dubai is flourishing its sure that it will be achieved well before 2050. So,
our perspective towards the technology has reached to a new level after the
immersion programme.
• During CISCO visit we had a great session with their executives. We raised queries on
various use cases. The case discussed had various use of Futuristic technologies. The
live demo of Voicea interacting with the human was the biggest take from the their
centre.
• Learning analytics and Machine Learning skills in this VUCA world is of utmost
importance. IoT is a growing field, from home appliances to the virtual teaching. It is
impacting our way of living.
• The Burj Khalifa, The Gould Souk, Burj Al-Arab, The Dubai Mall, Dubai Aquarium,
Musical Fountain, Atlantis, Dubai Marina, Miracle garden, Dubai Frame, Palm island,
The Dubai Creek, Desert Safari are some of the places that provides the city with a
biggest tourist attraction leave an ever lasting impact in their heart.
• We gained awareness about highly competitive business scenarios in Dubai and
Middle East, their access to other country markets and various corporates function
to stay ahead of competition.