I Chose IPL to Build Towards Entrepreneurship with AI | EMBA 2026A - Pragyan Kumari
- blogs, product management
- 4 min read
Authors: Pragyan Kumari– VARC Content Developer at Unacademy
For me, entrepreneurship is not simply about starting a business. It is about taking a problem I care deeply about and finding a better way to solve it.
That problem is women’s education.
I’m Pragyan Kumari, VARC Content Developer at Unacademy, and before taking a break to focus on my studies, I was working with an edtech company. My experience in education has given me a close view of the opportunities that exist in this space, and it has also helped me become clearer about what I want to do next.
A year from now, I want to see myself as an entrepreneur – using product leadership and artificial intelligence to create better solutions for women’s education.
Turning Experience Into Entrepreneurship
I have already had the opportunity to work in the area of women’s education, and I don’t want that journey to stop.
Instead, I want to take it further.
Education has the potential to transform lives, but creating meaningful change requires more than a good intention or an interesting idea. You need to understand the people you are building for, identify the right problems, design solutions around their needs, and continuously improve what you create.
That is where I believe product thinking can make a difference.
Through the Executive MBA in Product Leadership, I want to develop the skills that can help me turn my experience and ideas into solutions that are practical, scalable, and genuinely useful.
Bringing AI Into the Picture
Artificial intelligence is changing the possibilities across industries, and education is no exception.
I’m particularly interested in understanding how AI can be used alongside product leadership to create better educational experiences.
For me, the question is not simply, “How can I use AI?”
It is, “How can I use AI to solve the right problems?”
That distinction matters.
Technology becomes meaningful when it improves an outcome for someone. In women’s education, that could mean exploring ways to make learning more accessible, personalized, or effective.
My goal is to combine what I learn about product leadership with emerging technologies like AI and apply both towards the field I want to contribute to.
Why Experiential Learning Stood Out
One of the biggest reasons I chose this program was its focus on experiential learning.
I strongly believe there is a difference between knowing something and knowing how to do it.
Concepts become much clearer when you have the opportunity to apply them, experiment, make mistakes, and understand the consequences of your decisions.
As an aspiring entrepreneur, this way of learning is particularly valuable to me. Entrepreneurship rarely gives you a textbook problem with a clearly defined answer. You have to make decisions with limited information, test your assumptions, and keep learning from what happens.
I wanted a program that reflected that reality.
Learning by doing gives me an opportunity to develop not only knowledge but also the confidence to apply it when I start building something of my own.
A Network That Can Support the Journey
The second aspect that attracted me was the alumni network.
Entrepreneurship can never happen entirely in isolation. You need people to exchange ideas with, learn from, seek advice from, and sometimes collaborate with.
Having access to a strong alumni community gives me an opportunity to connect with professionals who bring different kinds of experience.
For someone preparing to build in the education space, that diversity can be incredibly useful. A conversation with the right person might challenge an assumption, introduce a new perspective, or help me see an opportunity I had overlooked.
I see the network as more than a professional advantage. I see it as an ecosystem that can support my entrepreneurial journey.
Learning Has Many Forms
There is another side of me that people may not immediately associate with my professional aspirations: I’m a Latin dancer.
I enjoy salsa, bachata, and other Latin dance forms.
Dancing and entrepreneurship may seem completely unrelated, but both involve learning through practice. You can understand the steps theoretically, but eventually you have to get on the floor, try them, find your rhythm, and improve.
That philosophy resonates with how I want to approach this next chapter of my career as well.
I already know the space I want to work in. I know the impact I want to create.
Now, I want to build the skills to make it happen.
By combining my experience in education with product leadership, experiential learning, a strong professional network, and the possibilities of AI, I hope to create something that meaningfully advances women’s education.
For me, that is what the journey ahead is really about: learning, building, and creating impact.
