How my MBA in Hong Kong prepared me for an international career

I lead the strategy for growing Visa's acceptance, enabling innovative payment solutions and enhancing cybersecurity across the Asia-Pacific region. This includes developing strategies to increase merchant acceptance, collaborating with sales and account management teams, and working with acquirers and merchant partners to implement Visa across all Asia-Pacific markets. 

Most notably, I enabled contactless payments by Visa cards, smartphones and smart watches in public trains and buses in Singapore.  

At Visa, I have completed a project that used Artificial Intelligence (AI) and facial recognition across unmanned retail stores to allow customers to pick up products and go without having to queue up and pay at the counter. I believe this project has helped pave a path for the future of retail. 

CUHK’s MBA has a strong focus on leadership and entrepreneurship training. The MBA curriculum has prepared me to successfully lead teams across different countries and backgrounds in this digital era which has helped me to succeed in all my roles post MBA.  

Aside from the relevant courses during the MBA program, I was also able to gain industry knowledge through a project with Bank of China International (BOCI) and a summer internship with ING Hong Kong, which gave me first hand experience of working in an international company.  

Before my MBA, I worked in India in the technology industry with Infosys, where I wrote several lines of codes for a payments company. However I was quite keen on understanding the decision making process and believe having business knowledge and a multi-cultural perspective are important for making sound decisions. I also wanted to work in the Asia-Pacific region for the foreseeable future as I could see it was a growing market with great future prospects.  

The CUHK MBA offered a good balance between the eastern and western world. It is a programme that blends Asian insight and expands global perspectives with field trips, study tours and exchange programmes in renowned partnering schools. I was impressed by the combination of global outlook of the MBA programme and the multicultural student mix. 

CUHK’s  Career Management and Alumni Engagement team helped me to prepare for my first job after graduating. Even after securing the job, the team still follows up with me and offers help and advice.

My career goals are to drive innovation in the payments and fintech industry and bring new and exciting products and services to the market.  

I am passionate about finding creative solutions to challenges in the industry. I believe that by staying at the forefront of technological developments and continuously seeking out new opportunities, we can make a meaningful impact on the way people pay and are paid.  

In the coming years, I hope to leverage the skills and experience that I have gained by working at Visa, Adyen and Zalora to help shape the direction of the payments and fintech industry, and to work with other industry leaders to drive innovation and develop new ideas.