EMBA Impact

Vineet Agarwal, WG’20

Wharton Campus: San Francisco

See how Vineet’s career changed with an executive MBA from Wharton.

Previously

Director of Program Management at Qualcomm

Currently

Director of Product Management at AMD

Based In

San Diego, CA

Prior Education

— University of Arizona, Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering
— National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli, BS Electronics and Communication Engineering

Before Wharton

Vineet spent a more than a decade as a product engineer at Qualcomm, developing products from inception to launch, building and leading teams, coding, and working on process improvement. Over time, he noticed that engineers tended to have either technical or business expertise – but rarely had both.

“I knew about products, but I didn’t understand business or what was required in business roles. I wanted an MBA to be able to combine my experience with business knowledge to differentiate myself and take on a business role,” Vineet said.

At Wharton 

Leadership Coaching

Vineet took advantage of Wharton’s Executive Coaching and Feedback Program (ECFP), which is modeled after executive coaching programs at corporations to help students develop their ability to lead.

Innovation Management

Wharton helped Vineet identify a gap in his portfolio of skills, which was exposure to real customers. He gained this type of experience through the Collaboration Innovation Program (CIP) at Wharton’s  Mack Institute for Innovation Management.

Global Learning

Vineet went to Argentina for Global Business Week. “We met with many business leaders about what it is like to do business in an emerging economy, which I could relate to my experience growing up in India. It also was a fantastic opportunity to bond with classmates from both coasts as we learned together.”

After Wharton

In his second year of the Wharton EMBA program, Vineet was promoted to Director of Program Management at Qualcomm. In this role, he was responsible for financial and operational planning along with driving a new product spanning over a 24-month period. After graduation, in 2021, he took on a larger role as Director of Product Management at AMD.

Reflecting on his time at Wharton, Vineet said, “There is an ecosystem at Wharton to help you succeed. It is all there, and you need to leverage it. Be willing to talk to people who know more than you so you can learn from them. Take advantage of opportunities… and reach out to alumni who are always willing to talk. Coming to Wharton was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

EMBA Impact Stories

Read more stories from alumni and learn about the impact an executive MBA from Wharton can have on your career.