Aayushi Agrawal: Best 50 | India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2025 | SPJIMR, Mumbai
Aayushi Agrawal brings together creativity, independence, and practical problem-solving. A poet, she turns both joy and struggle into verse, while her interest in psychology, mythology, and politics keeps her curious about new perspectives. She values discipline, stays accountable when motivation fades, and is known among friends as someone who listens. From a small town, she hopes to make her mother proud and encourage other women to rise above limitations.
The idea behind Dharohar was simple: celebrations should not pollute the environment. Aayushi started the initiative to address pollution caused by Ganesh Chaturthi idol immersion in her hometown pond. After speaking with nearby residents, artisans, and worshippers, the team created eco-friendly Ganpati idols inspired by scripture-based Vietnamese designs, promoted home immersion, and suggested reusing immersion water for plants. The team sold more than 500 idols, received recognition from spiritual leaders and local authorities, and helped restore the pond.
As a Project Manager Associate at Kaizen Young Consultants, Aayushi worked on strategic growth initiatives across sectors, including market analysis, new-product development, and operational improvement. Her work identified 13.2% growth potential through due diligence for an EV launch, contributed to 12% user growth for an EdTech platform, and delivered 15% efficiency improvements across more than five consulting projects. She also led collaborations with technology and design teams, executed podcast campaigns, and optimised client operations using data. Her work earned her a formal CEO recommendation.
Her academic grounding in History, Economics, and Political Science gives her a broad perspective on business problems. She has managed sustainable-growth projects involving multiple stakeholders and teams with different skill sets, learning how to navigate complexity, adapt quickly, and deliver results across contexts. That ability to connect ideas across disciplines while leading teams informs her approach to business challenges.
She brings perseverance, persuasion, and negotiation skills to complex projects. Work with a sustainable startup taught her to approach obstacles with determination and creativity, while project-management experience strengthened her ability to balance assertiveness with empathy. She communicates clearly, adapts to changing circumstances, and works to align stakeholders around practical outcomes.
A professional trait Aayushi is developing is the ability to make difficult decisions involving trade-offs. She once had to advise on workforce reductions to improve a client's bottom line. Although the decision made financial sense, the affected workers had made contributions that could not be captured in financial statements. The experience is helping her consider different viewpoints and propose resolutions that benefit the most people.
Renovating her home with little prior knowledge was another formative experience. She learned the basics, sought advice from more experienced people, managed a budget, coordinated vendors, and handled unexpected delays. The process strengthened her patience and resilience, while showing her the value of breaking a large problem into manageable steps. It also gave her confidence to take on unfamiliar challenges with curiosity and determination.
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