Alumni Spotlight: Tristan Benfield
Tristan Benfield MBS alumnus Tristan Benfield tells us about his journey since completing an MBA at MBS, and how he continues to utilise his MBS knowledge and connections.
What has been your career journey since graduating from MBS in 2015? Approximately a month before my final class I received a phone call from the MBS careers team saying that a number of organisations were interested in speaking with me. One of those organisations was Microsoft and, to cut a long story short, they offered me a product lead role in Singapore. I spent the best part of two years in this role developing new skills and gaining better clarity around not only the type of function I wanted to work in but also the content. Microsoft was my first foray into technology (outside my personal passion for it) and the role only further fanned the flames. Due to the breadth of my role I was lucky enough to gain experience and exposure in functions like supply chain,
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operations and finance, which were all very new to me. I was also able to supplement my experience in sales, strategy and marketing. It was exciting and challenging jumping into new functions, and built on the theory of an MBA with practical experience to the point where I felt capable. After a couple of years in this role I realised that I was ready for a new challenge, so I gave my notice at Microsoft and began talking with some other global players about technology, digital transformation and the different ways that information can be captured and leveraged. I am about to start a new journey with one of these tech companies in the robotics, AI and cloud analytics space and I could not be more excited.
“My best opportunities haven’t come because of a test score or some random business card exchange, but through people putting me forward because they were able to connect and work amicably with me.”
How are you continuing to utilise your MBA knowledge? The things I learnt in my MBA are relevant to almost every aspect of my career. The MBA helped change the way that I look at problems, how I frame them and how I work through them. Whether it is breaking down a marketplace to understand where the commercial opportunities exist, understanding an organisation’s bottlenecks and removing them, or collaborating with supply teams
around the world to trigger hardware build numbers, these are the types of problems that the right analytical mindset, frameworks and data driven decision-making can unravel.
What advice do you have for current students on how to capitalise on opportunities at MBS? My best tip for current students is that an MBA is about a lot more than grades. Focus on learning how to operate in diverse teams (you think syndicates are hard? Try chairing a meeting with people calling in from three continents speaking different languages and with very different approaches on moving forward!), and on networking with not only your peers but also other people in the business community and alumni. But most of all, be genuine. Every time you speak with someone don’t just try and find an angle where that person can be useful to you, spend time talking to them and building the relationship. My best opportunities haven’t come because of a test score or some random business card exchange, but through people putting me forward because they were able to connect and work amicably with me.
What do you miss about your time at MBS? My amazing friends (both lecturers and students), the football club and of course the Foosball table! I guess there is a lot to be said about spending time with like-minded people who are as driven, capable and as excited about the future as you are. The bond I forged with many of my cohort is pretty special and it’s something that I’ll value for life.