Akshay Narkhede

Current Employer/Organisation Name

Cybage Software Pvt. Ltd.

What have you been doing since leaving Exeter, and what are you doing now?

I am a healthcare and life science expert and have a very good consulting experience for information management, standardization etc. I started my career in a stem cell research company in 2013, and gradually found that I have interest in life science information management. I shifted to FIGmd India Pvt. Ltd to become a senior business analyst in healthcare domain. I had opportunity to work on large data registries on cardiology, emergency medicine, family medicine, clinical oncology and so on. Currently I am working with Cybage Software Pvt. Ltd. in the healthcare and life science practice as an expert consultant. I have worked on several multi-million dollar projects in various geographies like the USA, UK and Australia. Some of the prominent large organisation I worked for include the NHS.

Why did you choose this career? And what do you enjoy most about your work?

Market has various variations of problems. Problem solving is really a thrilling experience and gives a lot of learning opportunities. Academically, being a bio-technologist, helped me fit into a role which is a bridge between the Business users who are life science customer seeking solutions to manage large amounts of data, like diagnosis information, practice codes, clinical trial data, genetic information etc. Since this was a niche area to be in provided me a best fit career option that provides all round use of academic expertise and practical implementation, that is what I love about my work.

Please tell us if you were a member of any societies, groups or sports clubs?

I was a part of the biosoc, Asian society and participated on a quite a lot of on university activities. I was a Green Impact Auditor and enjoyed the auditing activities, in fact very helpful to relate in my future career how the audit process works.

What did you enjoy most about your programme and what was the biggest highlight?

I was drawn to lab work while in college. I wanted to do more research on biofuels and green engineering. One of my first technical paper was in biofuels. I enjoyed working at Exeter Microbial Biofuels group and I think the optimisation project for short chain hydrocarbons, success was one of the biggest highlights for me However, it wasn’t until I joined the courses of Business Awareness, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development that I began to develop a highly specific interest in becoming a consultant in the business analysis sector. I was assigned a mentor at that time who helped me understand the field better, and at that point I began mapping out a career plan, which has led me here.

What did you enjoy most about studying here?

The professors, the laboratories, research facilities are great. There are great learning opportunities and a very friendly campus that runs 24X7. The libraries, access to study material all are very helpful in shaping the research.

Why did you choose to study at Exeter?

Exeter has a very good university ranking, outstanding staff, great places to live in and most importantly, I particularly loved the inter-disciplinary options that I could choose when taking up courses.

What skills and experiences have been most useful for your career?

Whilst there were great experience academic and extra-curricular following are some of the skills that are most useful in my career: Problem-solving Design Thinking Time management Leadership Communication Business Awareness.

What advice would you give to a current student who wishes to pursue your career?

For a student who wishes to make a niche place in the employability market especially in healthcare and life sciences, I think an careful examination of courses to choose and which would actually benefit you to apply them practically is very important. If you are interested in solving problems that are related to commercializing research this is a path for you.

What are your plans for the future?

I wish to gain more experience and perhaps start business in future. I have worked in new ventures, mid scale and currently in a large scale organisations, in coming years, I am planning to come up with consulting opportunities to start a niche business in consulting.