Pooja Paliwal: Best 50 | India's Most Promising Incoming MBA Students 2025 | Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
Pooja Paliwal is an IIFT MBA student with experience in project management, finance, campus leadership, and social initiatives. Before joining IIFT, she managed digital marketing and web-development projects at Sixty Five Digital. She also brings a BBA in Finance, an internship at Motilal Oswal, and an interest in painting and numismatics.
Her national-level paper-presentation win remains an important early milestone. In her first year of college, Pooja entered a competition on the National Education Policy 2020 despite having little experience of research writing. She consulted faculty and teachers, surveyed more than 200 students, and presented her findings before a jury and an audience of over 100 people. The first-place result strengthened her confidence in research, preparation, and public speaking.
At Sixty Five Digital, Pooja worked as a Project Manager across digital-marketing and web-development assignments in e-commerce and service sectors. She planned projects, allocated tasks, and coordinated cross-functional teams. By streamlining workflows through Asana for marketing campaigns and Jira for web development, she reduced turnaround time by 20% and improved client satisfaction. At Motilal Oswal, she analysed more than 20 client portfolios and developed investment strategies.
Pooja combines practical execution with a finance and analytics foundation. During undergraduate studies, she coordinated a cultural fest attended by more than 400 participants, led social-responsibility initiatives, and served as Student Coordinator of the Institution's Social Responsibility Club. At IIFT, she is a Junior Executive Member of the Alumni Relations Committee.
She is building her data-visualisation and analytics skills through Power BI. She is also working on patience in high-pressure situations, using open communication and a solution-oriented approach when deadlines slip.
Her willingness to move across unfamiliar work, from finance to digital projects and community initiatives, has given Pooja a practical understanding of teams, client needs, and delivery. That curiosity and range make her a promising emerging manager.
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