Nikolaos Demiridis

My professional career

I come from an engineering background and have had quite a diverse career so far in terms of roles and experience. My career highlights span from design and engineering to niche consulting and management roles in large-scale capital programmes, transformational change and high-risk R&D initiatives.

Why I chose the Global Online MBA?

What sparked my interest in an MBA programme was my curiosity and my constant strive for growth, learning and self-improvement. Although highly entrepreneurial already, I considered at the time that more structure in my business thinking would largely assist me in several aspects of my everyday work. But, besides that, other reasons drove my choice; first of all, the disruptive and increasingly interconnected nature of the world we live in; second, the need to rejuvenate my professional network to be able to thrive in such a new reality; and last, but not least, a personal aspiration to reinvent myself, having already been on a constantly growing career curve centred around engineering for about 20 years, which had started to flatten out.

"Although highly entrepreneurial already, I considered at the time that more structure in my business thinking would largely assist me in several aspects of my everyday work."

Imperial’s Global Online MBA has been eye-opening in this respect and I do not regret my decision so far; both as an educational experience as well as an opportunity to delve into myself and build my leadership capabilities in a comprehensive and structured way, the programme and everything around it is top-notch.

What is your favourite module?

I am currently on my second term and my favourite module so far has been Managerial Economics. Coming from an engineering background, and although already deeply involved in commercial engineering and management operations, this module has transformed the way I have been looking at the world as a whole. As engineers, we are largely accustomed to deductive thinking; economics and the whole business curriculum provides you with a new take on the world that embraces ambiguity and forces you to start thinking in a largely abductive and far more creative way.

Studying on The Hub

The newly configured Hub is a wonderfully designed educational platform where everything happens online; from recorded sessions to interactive quizzes and live classes. There is so much leeway built into your learning journey and you can tailor the experience to suit your constraints and lifestyle. I opt to download the instructional videos for watching on my mobile device during my daily train commute to work as it helps me make the best of my non-work time.  

"The newly configured Hub is a wonderfully designed educational platform where everything happens online; from recorded sessions to interactive quizzes and live classes."

My career goals

My aspiration and personal goal through the Global Online MBA is to maximise my impact on the world and infuse positive change through my future career. I believe the programme is a game-changer for anyone who wants to update their understanding of the global business landscape and seeks to enhance their arsenal with insightful frameworks and ideas that help tackle the challenges of today. Although quite early in the programme, I feel confident that I will get there. 

Advice to prospective students

It is great to see how takeaways from the MBA programme positively affect one’s everyday work since the very start; unsurprisingly, it all revolves around two axes mainly. The first, around us all, as future leaders; and the second, around the greater picture, rather than a close-up lens view of the world one might have been accustomed to.

In my experience, and being already in higher education before both in Master’s and PhD programmes, an MBA is an experience like no other. The multi-dimensional, experiential learning of Imperial’s Global Online MBA programme is one of a kind and a truly transformational experience no one can actually appreciate before diving in. Be prepared to stretch yourself, but most importantly, be open to change