"From studying an MBA to researching and teaching MBA students" - that's how Dr. Arpit Agrawal sums up his professional journey. It sounds neat, even simple. But behind that one-liner lies a story that traverses continents, industries, and ideas, grounded in a love for data and an enduring curiosity about what makes people tick.
The Spark in India
Arpit's data journey began in the hustle of Indian e-commerce, where he found himself tasked with hiring for new retail stores. Faced with sifting through a thousand resumes to fill just a few dozen roles, he built a regression model to streamline the hiring process. It worked. More importantly, it ignited a passion. "That was the moment I realized how much I enjoyed working with data," he recalls. Marketing, with its mix of human behavior and analytics, became the perfect fit.
That realization set him on a path to the University of Houston, where he pursued a Ph.D. and focused on sales-force analytics and incentive design.
Chasing Near-Misses
Arpit’s dissertation explored a subtle but powerful concept: the "near-miss effect." While conventional wisdom suggests that underperformers or superstars are most likely to leave a company, his research identified another high-risk group: those consistently hitting 90-99% of their targets. Close, but no cigar.
"They’re good enough to attract offers, but they’re frustrated," he explains. "When they repeatedly miss the bonus by a sliver, they eventually move on." His findings offer a wake-up call for firms with rigid bonus structures. Adjusting incentives even slightly could mean retaining top-tier talent.
Teaching with Purpose
In the classroom, Arpit is less about formulas and more about frameworks. His goal? For students to leave that first class feeling energized and connected to the material. "Opinions are just hypotheses," he tells them. "Let’s test them."
At Lally, he envisions launching an analytics boot camp where students use R or Python to tackle real-world problems across marketing, finance, supply chain, and HR. "It’s not about the domain," he says. "It’s about giving students the tools to make smarter decisions, no matter where they land."
Mentorship & Motivation
Arpit credits his mentors at Houston, Dr. Michael Ahearne and Dr. Johannes Habel, with shaping his academic philosophy. They showed him how research could serve both scholarly rigor and industry relevance. It’s a model he’s excited to bring to Lally, where he hopes to partner with companies to produce work that’s both insightful and applicable.
That same insight drives his approach to student mentorship. "Not everyone can be the topper," he says. "Focus on your own learning curve. Progress matters more than rank."
Beyond the Classroom
Off-campus, Arpit unwinds with Bollywood comedies, FC Barcelona matches, and healthy home-cooked meals (more out of necessity than passion, he admits with a grin). He also dives deep into podcasts like The Seen and the Unseen, drawn to long-form conversations that explore economics, history, and public policy. When it’s time to code late into the night, it’s coffee with cream and sugar that keeps him going.
Looking Ahead
As he settles into the Capital Region this July, Arpit is already thinking about how to connect Lally students with the cutting edge of tech and analytics. Five years from now, he hopes his students will remember not just the tools he taught them, but the mindset: test boldly, think critically, and always seek the story behind the numbers.
“I approach everyone the same, no matter their title or role,” he says. “There’s always something I can learn from them—and maybe they can learn something from me, too.”
With that ethos and a focus on research that makes a difference, Dr. Arpit Agrawal is set to turn curiosity into impact - one student, one dataset at a time.