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Nikhil George is a tech sector renaissance man. An aspiring public interest technologist, he joined McKinsey to increase electricity access and create health supply chain strategies in Zambia, led a global youth unemployment initiative in Kenya, and worked in investment advising in Mozambique and Uganda. Now, he’s pursuing a joint MBA and MPA at MIT Sloan and the Harvard Kennedy School. After graduation, it’s on to Google’s New York offices as a product manager. For now, though, he’s busy on campus from about 8:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., when he bikes home to Central Square.
Nikhil shares, "I was drawn to MIT’s approach to hands on learning ever since watching my first MIT OpenCourseWare class when I was 16 (Electricity and Magnetism with Professor Walter Lewin). I was really excited about the tech and entrepreneurship path and was looking for a more quantitative business curriculum. MIT Sloan was a huge draw.” See what a typical day for Nikhil looks like in the photo gallery below!
A Day with Nikhil
10 a.m.
I’m relieved after my Global Economics Challenges and Opportunities (GECO) midterm! They don’t photograph me during the midterm, which I’m thankful for.
10:30 a.m.
Time for Taxes and Business Strategy class. I’m going into tech and product management. I felt taking classes that I may not be able to learn about through work would be a great way to round out my skillset. I also feel these are topics that will be helpful if I decide to start a company later down the line.
10:30 a.m.
Professor Michelle Hanlon makes what might seem like a really dry topic engaging and interesting.
12 p.m.
I head to the cafeteria and chat with a friend, Trevor Keith, MBA ’22, who’s working on a blockchain startup, Mad River. We catch up on how his startup is going. I do stuff in the blockchain space at the Media Lab. It’s fascinating to hear the perspective of someone who’s actively building things versus my work, which is more technology research and experiment-driven.
12:15 p.m.
I order a salad, but I add chicken tenders to it.
12:30 p.m.
Emily Cetlin, MBA ’22, is Co-President of Sloan Pride. They’re working to normalize the sharing of pronouns by adding stickers to our name cards. I put a sticker on my name tag.
1:30 p.m.
I work 20 hours a week at the MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative. We’re working on developing and testing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDCs) with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. It’s this perfect intersection of the public and private sector: We’re trying to think about the future of money.
1:45 p.m.
This is where I take all my calls. I have a virtual meeting with DCI engineer Sam Stuewe. He’s in Minnesota.
2:45 p.m.
Yes, that’s a bike helmet! I love having a bike, and Cambridge is such a bike-able city. Being dual degree, I have to get between campuses. Having a bike is the most effective way to commute.
2:55 p.m.
I sit outside for a bit to check emails and text with my girlfriend. She’s in New York.
3 p.m.
I run into my classmate and Business Analysis Using Financial Statements (BAUFS) group project-mate Yousef Al-Humaidhi, MBA ’22, and his dog, Olive. We talk about how to hire product managers for his startup, MightyWell, and brainstorm how he could move to a software as a service (SaaS) business model. And I play with his puppy.
4:30 p.m.
I scramble to find a meeting room but can’t find one. I have a call with my future Google manager, figuring out what team I’ll join once I graduate. We talk about a start date. It’s exciting, balancing what’s next versus living in the present.
5 p.m.
I’m at a highly coveted booth with a charging port in the cafeteria! I’m on a weekly check-in for my Media Lab team. We talk about what we’re working on and what we’re excited about, a high-level update.
5 p.m.
I’m smiling because someone has just gotten back from a trip to Israel, and she’s sharing her experiences. I had also done a trip to Israel through Harvard’s Kennedy School, where I met the president of Israel as well as the prime minister of Palestine. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
5:30 p.m.
Time for a fireside chat with Kendrick Nguyen, CEO of Republic, a crypto company, organized by the Product Management Club.
5:45 p.m.
I really love the club, and it’s great to hear from someone in the trenches. My classmate Kayla Miller, MBA ’23, introduces the speaker.
6:00 p.m.
I left campus, biked home, cooked dinner, and worked on an assignment for my Machine Learning class: Hands on Deep Learning, with Professor Rama Ramakrishnan.
