There is a moment in the Cambridge MBA when the experience shifts. The lectures, case studies and late‑night discussions are still there, but they stop feeling like isolated exercises. They become tools to use with real organisations, on real problems, with real consequences. That shift, from theory to practice, has been one of the most powerful parts of my year.
Across the two major practical projects, the Cambridge Venture Project (CVP) and the Global Consulting Project (GCP), I have been extremely fortunate. I worked with collaborative, committed and hard‑working teams. Having heard very different stories from classmates, including difficult dynamics, free‑riding and conflict, I do not take this for granted. Those teams, and the projects we took on together, have shaped my MBA journey in ways I did not fully anticipate.
Finding my footing: Cambridge Venture Project
The Cambridge Venture Project was my first chance within the MBA to apply our new classroom learning to a live client. Our diverse MBA team was matched with a UK‑based start‑up, Planirific, using AI‑driven 3D building semantic models to generate insights for housing retrofit. Our task was to explore new market opportunities for their technology and shape a strategy they could realistically implement.
The CVP runs during the first term, alongside core subjects, just as everyone is still settling into the programme. Our team brought together experience in product, finance, marketing and consulting, and we came from different geographies and cultures, with different assumptions and communication styles. In the early days there was understandable hesitance about taking initiative, speaking to the client and navigating a brand‑new team. I am especially grateful to a teammate who took the early lead on client communication, which helped all of us build confidence.
Concepts from Management Praxis were invaluable in helping me make sense of what I was seeing in the team and in myself. Over the following weeks, the project became a steep learning curve. We divided tasks, stepped in when others were stuck and gradually built a coherent recommendation. There were respectful disagreements, but our dynamics remained healthy and solution‑focused.
My biggest “aha” moment was realising how much smoother things felt once we had worked through the initial ambiguity. Our survey generated the responses we had hoped for, our analysis started to come together and our final presentation reflected both the client’s reality and our diverse perspectives. The CVP taught me how to trust a new team quickly and work effectively in a fast‑moving, multicultural environment.
Raising the stakes: Global Consulting Project
If the CVP was a first step into applied learning, the Global Consulting Project felt like a leap. The problems were bigger, the stakeholders more senior and the expectations higher. Projects can be self‑sourced by students or selected from a range of school‑sourced opportunities, with candidates submitting CVs and preferences before being matched to teams.
I worked on a self‑sourced remote project with AstraZeneca, focused on optimising their knowledge estate ahead of a platform migration. Our team audited the knowledge base, reduced clutter, improved discoverability and clarified ownership. We also designed a content rationalisation and governance framework to create a scalable model for ongoing knowledge management. I was drawn to this project because it sat at the intersection of healthcare and data, and offered the chance to tackle a complex challenge with real organisational impact.
Once again, I found myself in a team where everyone contributed and took ownership. Together we defined our approach, built a framework and refined it as we learned more. A standout moment was our final presentation, when the senior team commended us for delivering consulting‑level work in a short time frame, particularly our visual mapping in Miro and how it exposed the interconnected issues across the knowledge estate. In that room, I could feel how far I had come: more confident in my analysis, more comfortable saying “we do not know yet, but here is how we would find out”, and more deliberate in tailoring my communication to different audiences.
The GCP also tested my resilience. Data did not always fit neatly into frameworks, timelines shifted and stakeholder feedback sometimes pointed in different directions. In those moments, empathy, patience and the ability to keep the team aligned became as important as any technical skill. The project strengthened my consulting toolkit, but just as importantly, it helped me clarify which problems energise me, the environments where I thrive and how I want to show up as a teammate and a leader.
Looking ahead: summer and the final stretch
As the projects wrapped up, my focus has shifted to the summer term – a phase of the MBA that feels a bit like an open canvas. Cambridge offers several pathways, from internships and individual projects to Six Sigma certification and case writing, and I was keen to choose something that would move me closer to my long‑term goals.
With a background in an edtech start‑up and law, I knew I wanted to stay close to product and project management roles in mission‑driven organisations. I started by targeting internships with start‑ups where I felt I could contribute from day one and continue learning at pace. Two opportunities made it to the interview stage, and I could clearly see myself in both. When neither converted into an offer, it was a tough moment – a reminder that the MBA journey includes its fair share of “no” as well as “yes”.
What made a real difference was the support around me. With guidance from the MBA team, I switched my summer option to Six Sigma, giving myself a structured way to keep building skills while continuing to explore other possibilities. Then, ten days later, things took an unexpected turn: I received an internship offer from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, joining the EDIB team.
I started in July, and I am genuinely excited about it. The role brings together themes that matter to me: education, inclusion and impact, while allowing me to build on my previous experience in edtech. It feels like a natural next step after the CVP and GCP: another chance to apply what I have learnt, this time in an organisation whose work touches learners around the world.
The practical projects at Cambridge have not felt like academic checkboxes, but like training grounds where classroom learning is tested, stretched and transformed into real‑world skills. Through the CVP and GCP, theories have turned into conversations with clients, frameworks into decisions with consequences and group work into genuine teamwork under pressure. These experiences have clarified the kind of problems that matter to me and the values I want to carry into my career.
As I step into the final leg of the MBA journey, I do so with a deeper sense of confidence and curiosity. There is still a lot I do not know, but I now trust my ability to learn, to navigate ambiguity and to work with others to create meaningful change. Cambridge has become a place where my dream is being reshaped into a direction, a purpose and a path forward that feels both challenging and exciting.