Dr. Amine Arezki
London Business School
Age: 40
“A well-balanced business and technical leader. Creative and innovative approach to business, technology and people.”
Hometown: French/Algerian, living in Stuttgart, Germany
Family Members: Married with 2 children (7-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter)
Fun fact about yourself: I tell everybody that Karaoke is not for me, but when I grab the mic I never release it.
Undergraduate School and Degree: PhD, in Robotics at Versailles St Quentin en Yveline and Master in Robotics and Smart Systems at University of Pierre and Marie Curie, France
Where are you currently working? Director of Marketing at Thales Group
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:
- Founder of AMaskForAll.com, a 3D printable mask 100% free licence to help fight against COVID. (Short listed at the ADC Awards 2021)
- Founding Member of OneGoldenNugget, a platform to collect and share wisdom.
- London Business School:
- Senior VP Marketing and Communications, Africa Club at London Business School & supported the organisation of the Africa Business Summit
- Class social representative for the Executive MBA London September 2022
- Pitched for the “best company” award at Silicon Valley Global Business Assignment
- Most creative presentation in class to summarise a case study at the “Pathways to startup success”
- Profile article in Think (London Business School magazine):
- Group first place for Data Analytics for Managers internal competition
- Group first place for General Management internal competition
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I was very pleased that Joe Foster, the legendary founder of the iconic brand Reebok, accepted my invitation to speak at the Tell Series (LBS Talk event). I even had the honour of introducing his talk.
Joe Foster was sharing his entrepreneurial journey and how he had created the Reebok brand from scratch until it became a 4-billion-dollars company.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Creating the department of strategy in autonomous driving and signing a couple of partnerships with major European customers. Starting from a vision and achieving concrete results is what I am most proud of.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? Niro Sivanathan, who runs a course about Negotiation and Bargaining. Because life is about negotiation and the professor delivered a very well-structured course, with a good balance between practice and theory. There was excellent interaction in class and the course provided impactful learning which can be applied straight to real life.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I picked it based upon the school’s reputation, the quality of the professors, and the guest speakers. Many professors have professional experience and not only academic. Also, the school is based in London, which offered an easy commute.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? Time management. I learnt that time management is really important and that nothing is impossible if there is no choice other than to just get something done.
In terms of hard skills, I have found that many of the frameworks I learned about have been very useful and I have applied them straight to my current job. Using frameworks brings structure and organises the work so that the right collective decisions can be taken.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? When you have a family, it is key to have family support; my wife and children always supported and encouraged me on that journey.
People who know me say that I like to challenge myself. Doing an executive MBA at a big School like LBS in London, while living in Germany, and in parallel to holding down a full-time job with responsibility for a business that has about +1B€ in yearly order intake, can definitely be considered challenging. At the same time, I took on a number of additional responsibilities within the EMBA cohort, acting as the class representative for Social activities and also the role of Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications of the Africa Club at the London Business School.
All these roles helped me to plan more efficiently and pushed me to delegate and develop others in order to have more impactful results.
The role of social representative came at a challenging period when most of the interactions between the different EMBA students was online because of the pandemic. Therefore, we had to adapt in order to keep student interaction going through online social events such as a yoga session with an Olympic champion or a virtual escape room. However, when the school reopened, more traditional events were organised (trips to restaurants, visits to other cities in Europe, etc.).
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Make sure that your family is onboard and fully supportive as the journey is not an easy one. When you start, you will be helped and supported, and time will fly. You just need to take the first step and start.
It is clearly an experience you cannot have somewhere else; it is very unique. Furthermore, the Executive MBA is only the start of a longer pleasant journey of being part of the LBS alumni.
What is the biggest myth about going back to school? Some people questioned why I needed to go back to school as I was already in a senior role. The answer is easy. We can always learn, and the learning offered by an EMBA is a real booster; it is like recharging a new brain and gaining a brighter and clearer vision.
The second myth is about the pain of going back to exams, but when you follow the classes, they are genuinely really interesting and exams are just something that has to be done rather than a torture.
What was your biggest regret in business school? I have no regrets. It was all about learning from professors and networking with great leaders from the class.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Vasudha Khandeparkar. I admire her because she had challenges in life (e.g. having a baby during her EMBA), but she still managed, first and foremost, to be a great student and, additionally, to do even more by helping the class out with any academic issues.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The Executive MBA allowed me to mix with senior professionals, but it also allowed me to get that real campus experience and interact with people while at the same time being able to manage my time with work. Exchanging ideas with other senior executives is one of the major advantages of being in an Executive MBA.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I would like to lead a successful company, be that my current company or another company. I like to challenge myself and I envisage rebuilding and transforming a company or even creating one in order to have a real impact.
What made Amine such an invaluable addition to the class of 2022?
“Amine’s journey through his Executive MBA has been an impressive feat of energy and passion. In the best tradition of an Executive MBA student, he has made the most of every opportunity both in and out of the classroom alongside working full time and family life. His volunteer roles at London Business School include being the Senior VP Marketing and Communications of the Africa Club supporting the organisation of the Africa Business Summit and class social representative for his EMBA cohort. Amine is Director of marketing at Thales Group. He has a PhD in Robotics and a passion for 3D printing. He co-founded AMaskForAll.com at the beginning of the pandemic, to provide free, printable face-masks for anyone who needed them. He is also a founding member of One Golden Nugget, with a mission of collecting and spreading positivity worldwide, as well as a TEDx speaker.
Amine is an exemplary LBS Executive MBA student; he inspires others with his commitment, positivity and creativity and demonstrates our values of being open, inclusive and curious.”
Hannah Daniels
Programme Director for EMBA London and EMBA Global
EDITOR’S NOTE: Amine Arezki received the London Business School’s Student of the Year Award at his class’ congregation (graduation).
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