Naman Jani: Best 50 | India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2025 | IIM Lucknow
Naman Jani is from Rajkot, Gujarat, and holds a B.Com. (Hons) from MSU Baroda. In college, he was Promotions Head for the Cultural Committee. Coming from a Gujarati-medium schooling background, he went on to launch an alumni-connect portal for an edtech firm, build a career in market research, and gain admission to IIM Lucknow through CAT 2024. He was also the first student in his cohort to be placed, two months before the placement cycle, through the InsideIIM-organised Colgate Inner Circle 2025 competition.
Naman was the first student placed at IIM Lucknow, two months before the official cycle. He became a national finalist in Colgate Inner Circle and converted a summer role with Colgate-Palmolive. After securing the role, he continued to support his batchmates as class representative and a member of Team Ignicion. Helping others succeed is the achievement he values most.
As a Data Associate at Numerator, a Chicago-based market-research firm, Naman was the single point of contact for four retail-chain portfolios. He handled end-to-end work from data codification to insight reports for more than 5,000 retail datasets. He also managed more than 10,000 store datasets, cleaned and analysed the data, and generated insights that supported the work of eight subsequent teams on panel-level and buying-behaviour analysis.
Naman's grit comes from a humble background and the responsibility he took on early. At 18, he began freelancing for the British Council of India. When his family could not afford his education, he worked multiple shifts, travelled for work, and paid his college fees. He took CAT three times while working full time for 11 hours a day before joining IIM Lucknow. From missing placements during his bachelor's programme to becoming the first student in his cohort to secure a Tier 1 FMCG role, he has kept working towards the next goal. He measures future leadership by the success of the people around him.
Naman's strength lies in making large datasets useful. In market research, he analysed promotional performance and helped develop strategies to reduce losses, break even, and improve profits and margins. His ability to combine data analysis with creative strategy helps him contribute practical insights to teams and clients.
Naman is working on spontaneity and empathy. He wants to think quickly and assess situations clearly when a solution is needed. He also recognises that a bias for efficiency can make it easy to underestimate emotions in a conflict. Developing empathy is therefore important to the way he wants to lead people.
Naman is a pet owner and a core member of Team Samvedna, an animal-welfare NGO. He has organised feeding drives for stray animals, raised funds for animal-welfare NGOs, rescued animals, and worked with state-level organisations on related initiatives. He also runs Pawsitivity, a WhatsApp community of more than 150 people that helps the Rajkot pet community with adoption, rescue, and emergency support.
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