Wow I’ve never been part of such a diverse group. There’s 54 of us, from 25 nationalities. It’s amazing, and what’s really special is it’s really west, east, north, south, it’s from all around the world, so I’ve really enjoyed learning about different cultures, how business is done in different cultures, and I think that really sets this program apart, because in Europe or the US, you don’t get such a diverse group of people.

I definitely think the word to describe it diverse, not just diverse by nationality, beliefs and so on, but I think it’s definitely been diverse at a deeper level. So you’ll have people that on paper you’d think should be quite similar yet everyone has something new to offer.

Because we’re such a small cohort and we’ve been able to interact with each other often we’ve definitely become closer to one another, and I do believe that the connections that we form here are ones that will last for a very long time.

This is my first time having friends from Korea, China, India, so to me that rich culture is very nice. We talk about so many things every day, I’m learning a lot from them and they are also open to understanding my own culture.

Listening to perspectives of doctors, engineers, physicists, it’s been very insightful for myself because I haven’t necessarily worked with people from those backgrounds before.

Our cohort is very supportive. Whenever I just drop any line in the group chat asking for a city walk or any activity there’s always people tagging along so I just like the feeling that there’s always someone there for me for anything.

Out of the class a lot of us in the cohort really hang out, you know we go to restaurants, play some games, we went to some Broadway shows we’d be travelling during the long weekends exploring different parts of the country and I think that’s something that’s very interesting because it kind of gives us that room to not purely focus on the studying, which of course a big chunk of what we do anyway, but also also focusing on really broadening your own cultural knowledge and experience and just enjoying yourself as well.

Spending 16 hours a day with friends is something I haven’t done since I was 21 years old and so those relationships, those bonds that I already know – just 5 months into the program – will last forever are memories and elements that I will cherish the most.

Speakers

Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA students: Katarina Hlavata, Abdallah Abdelhamid, Situ-Coralie Amega, Layla Almulla, Maiqi Zuo, and Neel Vohra.

In this video

In this video, students from the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA Class of 2025 share what it’s like to learn alongside 54 classmates representing 25 nationalities, and why the diversity goes beyond passports. From different cultures and beliefs to a wide range of professional backgrounds, the cohort experience shapes how students think about business, expands perspectives, and creates friendships and networks built to last.

This accelerated MBA program is a 12 month program that’s meant to minimize your time out of the office. The program is designed in a modular format. The first 2 modules, from January to May, happen in Abu Dhabi. The next 2 modules, over the summer, are in New York City. And then the final 2 modules take place, once again, in Abu Dhabi.

The first 2 modules will cover the core curriculum. The core curriculum is really the business foundation, courses that all of our students will take. These courses include finance, marketing, strategy, accounting. Once they’ve completed that first semester of courses, they will then spend the summer semester in New York City. We will have some courses that we require students to take, but also they will have the flexibility to tap into the broader curriculum of New York during the summer to take courses that are more aligned with their interests and also how they see their career trajectory. After the summer semester is completed in New York, they come back to Abu Dhabi to finish the program.

The fifth and sixth modules are really the electives modules where students will begin to take additional classes to further enhance the skills, the knowledge and experience that they’ve already built.

We have 5 specializations that will be available to students. We have finance; marketing; technology, innovation & entrepreneurship; leadership, management & strategy; and also business analytics. So students will get the opportunity to really examine all 5 specializations and determine which is more aligned with their career interests and trajectory. The core curriculum is the same for all the Stern MBA programs, but we have adapted key elements to ensure that it is relevant for the region.

So, for example, the cases that students use to study. In the United States they typically study large US companies and the trials and tribulations faced by large US companies. That will be adapted for the region. And so they’ll study regional champions, large companies that operate here in this region, and the kinds of challenges that they face here, in this region.

If you think about the UAE, it’s a melting pot. There are people here from all over the world. And the likelihood is that those people who graduate from this program will have to manage incredibly diverse teams. And so we will focus several of our courses on how to manage diverse teams, how to manage across cultures, how to manage when people don’t come necessarily from the same place, they don’t speak the same languages. How do you lead, inspire in those kinds of environments. And most importantly, how do you listen. And how do you take into account that people’s cultural understandings might be different from your own.

A recent survey by corporate recruiters cited that strategy, data analysis and communication were the top 3 skills that they need for their businesses to succeed. Not only now, but in the future. Our curriculum provides that. 80% of the employers said we need graduates who have high cultural competency. So it’s this curriculum that we’ve designed in which employers have said we feel MBAs need these skills in order to succeed, not only in our company, but in the region.

Speakers

Professor Robert Salomon, Dean of Stern at NYUAD.

Jemima A Frimpong, Associate Dean of Programs.

Arnold Longboy, Executive Director of Admissions.

In this video

In this video, learn how the program’s modular format spans Abu Dhabi (Jan–May), a summer term in New York City, and a final return to Abu Dhabi to complete electives. You’ll also hear how the core curriculum builds strong business fundamentals, how electives allow you to tailor your learning, and how the program is adapted for the region through locally relevant cases and a strong focus on leading across cultures, a key capability for working in the UAE’s diverse business environment.

Our Career Services will work with students to identify the strengths of our students, to work with them to identify the kinds of companies where those strengths might be put best to use. To work with our students to talk about what they’re looking for in their career development, where they want to be 10, 15, 20 years after their MBA program, and we will work closely with our students to help place them at the kinds of jobs that best fit their skillset and their desires.

We already have organizations who are ready, willing and able to meet with our MBA students, so the careers team will work on having a pretty packed schedule of highly sought-after organizations come to you to meet with you about possibly working within their organization.

We’ll have dedicated career coaches, we’ll have an Executive In Residence program, we’ll have networking sessions. There will be a lot of opportunities for you to work on your career development while you are a student here, and even after you graduate, as you’ll have lifetime career support.

One of the benefits of lifetime support is that, as the market shifts, you’ll have help from Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi in terms of a career coach to help you navigate any of those changes. We understand that what you’re working in now might not be what you want to work in in the next 5 to 10 or maybe even 15 years. We’ll always be here to support you throughout those changes.

Speakers

Professor Robert Salomon, Dean of Stern at NYUAD.

Garvin Reid, Head of Corporate Relations.

In this video

In this video, discover how the Career Management Center team helps students identify their strengths, clarify long-term goals, and connect with organizations where they can thrive. Students benefit from a packed calendar of employer engagement, dedicated career coaches, an Executive in Residence program, and networking opportunities, plus lifetime career support to help navigate shifts in the market throughout their careers.

The projects you’ll work on as a MBA student will not be anything remotely close to what you might think of in a typical internship.

These will be high-level MBA projects with some of the largest organizations here in the UAE.

Students will be matched with projects that they get to work on with local companies that are aligned with their interests and their career goals.

Students will learn concepts and principles in the classroom and then translate it in real-world settings where they get to engage with business leaders and other managers to practice what they’ve learnt in the classroom.

They will be tasked with some strategic problem to address, working together as a team they will come up with creative and innovative ways to try and address these problems.

The types of organizations you’ll be working with in this internship course extends from technology companies, where you might working on some key projects that are well known elsewhere but have not really penetrated the market here in the UAE. Real Estate companies, where you’re working on the forefront of developing entire communities. Infrastructure projects where you’re building out brand new neighborhoods, brand new highways. Consulting firms where projects range widely from government projects to private sector projects. Banking in the realm of growing developing nations beyond the UAE.

It will get students exposure to local companies. It will allow students to learn about different industries and different functions to see if that is career they would like to pursue.

It will give companies the opportunity to evaluate students and see if those are the kinds of students that they want to hire.

The experiential learning portion of the MBA program is highly beneficial, not only for the students but also for the surrounding community because we are now able to deploy talented, highly skilled MBA students to work on projects in Abu Dhabi and the greater UAE, where it benefits both parties.

So the MBA students are getting a feel for what it’s like to apply some of the skills that they’ve learnt in the classroom in some of these organizations, and the organziations are getting a feel for having highly talented, locally sourced MBA students in their organization which hopefully they then go on to hire full-time.

The added-value is that you’re doing this in a country that is growing at a rapid pace, which is exciting because by the time you graduate you’ll be able to drive by that project and say ‘I worked on that’ or open up your phone and say ‘I had a hand in this’.

Speakers

Garvin Reid, Head of Corporate Relations.

Professor Robert Salomon, Dean of Stern at NYUAD.

Jemima A Frimpong, Associate Dean of Programs.

In this video

In this video, learn how students are matched to projects aligned with their interests and career goals, collaborate as teams to tackle strategic challenges, and work directly with business leaders. Projects span industries such as technology, real estate and community development, infrastructure, consulting, and banking, giving students exposure to different functions and helping employers identify future talent.

We brought this full-time MBA program to the UAE because there’s a real need here. This is one of the fastest growing, most dynamic regions of the world.
When you speak to employers, one of the things that they tell you is what they need is MBA talent

The Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-Year Full-Time MBA is a program that’s been designed to have maximum regional impact. Our program is targeting a global audience that has aspirations to either start their career or build their career in the MENA region.

The program runs from January through December. We cover a full curriculum in one year. The design of the program is modular. Students will spend the first semester covering the core curriculum. These courses include finance, marketing, strategy, accounting.

Once they’ve completed the first semester of courses, they will then spend the summer semester in New York City, there they will take elective courses.

After the summer semester is completed in New York, they come back to Abu Dhabi to finish the program. So this last semester they have a new set of electives.

A great feature of our program is spending time with leading companies here in the UAE in actual real projects that companies have asked us to help with.

In addition to that, you’ll spend a term in New York getting to see what global business is like in a leader business center of the world.

The experiential learning internship will be with some of the largest organizations here in the UAE. Students will be matched with projects that they get to work on with local companies that are aligned with their interests and career goals.

And when you think about the uniqueness of the UAE, we’re at a crossroads right now where the UAE is growing at a rapid pace, there’s lots of opportunities for MBA level talent to get involved on projects that you would not get a chance to work on had you been in other countries, you’ll get to work on from day one.

This curriculum we’ve designed which employers have said we feel MBAs need these skills to succeed not only in our company, but in the region.

Employers recognize that a Stern degree is different. They recognize that a Stern degree is indicative of the quality that they are going to be hiring. We’re looking to attract anybody who has an interest in the region, anyone from anywhere in the world who has an interest in developing and building their career here in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, or in the broader MENA region. This program is for you.

Come join this journey, this is the beginning of the next 100+ years.

Speakers

Professor Robert Salomon, Dean of Stern at NYUAD.

Arnold Longboy, Executive Director of Admissions.

Jemima A Frimpong, Associate Dean of Programs.

Garvin Reid, Head of Corporate Relations.

In this video

In this video, learn why the MBA was brought to the UAE, how the January–December modular format works, and what makes the experience unique: a strong core foundation, a summer term in New York City, and hands-on consulting-style projects with leading organizations in the UAE, matched to your interests and career goals.

We’re one of the only MBA programs in the world which has multiple campuses that are all interacting as part of the educational experience.

We are trying to teach our graduates a global mindset to get a global perspective, and rather than just focusing on that in the classroom here in Abu Dhabi, one of the powerful things about this program is you actually get to spend a term in New York City, getting to see how global business is conducted in this global city of New York.

New York is probably the biggest and most important financial center in the world. It’s a center for talent and for corporations. The UAE is an emerging center for talent and operations, and so what we’re doing is bringing both of those together, and there really isn’t any other degree in the world that does it in the same way.

The ‘Doing Business In’ course is meant to expose students to a different environment. How business is done in New York versus how it’s done in Abu Dhabi, and to gain an appreciation for the fact that people do different business in different ways in different places.

They will have the opportunity to visit companies in New York, to learn about how multinationals that may be based here in Abu Dhabi or the region but also operate in New York may function differently, or some of the operational overlaps that may have, even thought it’s the same company operating in different settings.

And what our students will get is exposure to extraordinary local diversity but also global diversity and an understanding of two key labor markets in the world, as well as the industries in both places and the talents and skills and people that are drawn to both of those markets.

While they’re in New York the students will be taking all of their classes in the NYU Stern building which is centrally located on the NYU campus. The staff that they have known in Abu Dhabi for the past 6 months will be there with them for the orientation. We will introduce them to key resources at NYU Stern in New York, and they will be together. This is the cohort that they know well, they’re comfortable with, they will have been taking classes together for 6 months.

So there are a lot of faculty and administrators working in Abu Dhabi on the MBA program who can provide tips ahead of time. This is something that NYU Abu Dhabi has done for many years in terms of preparing students for life in New York City. We have a lot of resources available to students who may have questions, who want more information about the NYU campus, safety and security in New York City more generally, there are a lot of resources available to students to help them best prepare for the time that they’ll be spending in New York City in the summer.

Speakers

Professor Jeff Timmons, Associate Dean of Faculty, Stern at NYUAD

Arnold Longboy, Executive Director of Admissions, Stern at NYUAD

Rob Salomon, Dean. Stern at NYUAD

Jemima A Frimpong, Associate Dean of Programs, Stern at NYUAD

Renee Dugan, Executive Director of Student Experience, Stern at NYUAD

In this video

Experience what makes the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-Year Full-Time MBA truly global: a program built across multiple campuses, including a full term in New York City.

In this video, learn how the MBA’s New York component helps students develop a global mindset by comparing how business is done in Abu Dhabi vs. New York.

Doing business in New York provides our students with an extraordinary opportunity to engage with the range of industries that really make New York a global capital. So whether your interests are in finance, technology and entrepreneurship, healthcare, consulting, fashion, a big advantage for our students, something that we really couldn’t replicate anywhere else when they’re spending their summers here in New York, within a mile, within two miles, we have the largest concentration of global leaders that you will find anywhere on the planet.

Being in this environment, seeing the sheer amount of activity, the volume of people, of participants in every industry, whether you’re looking at venture capital, whether you’re looking at food technology, whether you’re looking at agricultural technology. We just had NYC Tech Week here last week and being in all these different events, meeting all these different people, the amount of networking that you can do in the summer in New York is at a whole different scale.

Here the economy, the business, everything is just booming. It’s exciting.

So I would say the new module really enables us to learn about doing business in New York. Meet more of the Stern MBA graduates who are based here. And I would say it really enriches the experience and gives us that global outlook.

We spend some time in the classroom building the foundations around how New York City has evolved over the last 200, 250 years. But then we go out into industry and we have the whole world at our doorsteps here in New York City. We’ll visit with banks in midtown, large financial institutions, multilateral organizations, the fashion and entertainment and media sector. All of these become part of the DBi experience.

So the doing business in New York, I think semester three months is the prime time to come here. You get to escape the harsh weather back home, but also come here to New York, explore the financial market, the hub of almost everything that happens in the world. And it’s been amazing so far. We’ve gotten to go to many, many big companies. Fortune 500. They’ve come to meet us as well.

Abu Dhabi and New York are two very different cities from one another, and those two extremely different exposures really give us a very complete picture of what ecosystems can be like and what working environments can be like.

So whether our students ultimately end up in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, somewhere else in the MENA region, or perhaps somewhere else in the world, the experience of engaging with global leaders in business, understanding how it is that they can access these markets, differences in the cultural and business norms as we go around the world becomes absolutely essential. And it’s a core part of the NYU Stern at Abu Dhabi curriculum.

Speakers

Dr Sam Chandan, Clinical Professor, Department of Finance, NYU Stern School of Busuiness

Neel Vohra, MBA Class of 2025

Situ-Coralie Amega, MBA Class of 2025

Katarina Hlavata, MBA Class of 2025

Syed Hamza Raza, MBA Class of 2025

In this video

In this video, Stern at NYUAD One-year Full-time MBA students and faculty discuss the Doing Business In New York course that is a key part of the MBA’s summer module in New York.

They share how NYC offers unmatched exposure to global industries, from finance and consulting to technology, entrepreneurship, health care, fashion, media, and entertainment. With major institutions and innovators just blocks away, the experience is packed with real-world learning, site visits, and next-level networking.

My main tip when applying to our program is to ensure that you telling a cohesive story with your application materials.

We want to hear about you, your experiences, what your goals are, how those align with our program and what it can provide you.

Our most successful candidates when applying to our MBA program are those that have thoroughly thought about what program they are considering, what makes it different, and how that will apply to their post-graduation aspirations.

So really make sure you research not only careers that you’re hoping to get post-MBA, but combine that with what the institution and program will do to get you there.

When we’re looking at candidates one factor that is very important in the overall application admissions process is this very Stern concept of IQ plus EQ.

What does that mean? Not only do we put a lot of emphasis on making sure that you, as a candidate, are academically ready for our program, but equally important is this idea of EQ, or Emotional Intelligence.

What is that? That’s your self-awareness. It’s about your motivation. It’s about your leadership potential. It’s about you being open and curious to being inspired by the diversity that you’re going to be surrounded by. And really taking advantage of that.

One of the most important pieces of advice that I can give you is to think about what you hope to get out of an MBA, and how the MBA will help you get there, and be very specific in your application. Make sure that you can’t just replace our name with any other and it would still apply.

We encourage you to apply to our program when your application is at its strongest, and we have a number of application deadlines listed on our website.

We’re very open to talking to interested candidates.We love having conversations with people who are interested in our MBA, and having that discussion to see if this is the right fit for you.

Our admissions team is here to support you if you have any additional questions about our program.

Speakers

Arnold Longboy, Executive Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Amy Kenowitz, Director, Admissions and Marketing

In this video

Planning to apply to the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-Year Full-Time MBA? In this video, our Admissions team shares practical tips for submitting a standout application, from crafting a cohesive personal story and clearly connecting your goals to the program, to showing the Stern hallmark of “IQ + EQ.”

You’ll learn what we look for beyond academic readiness, including self-awareness, motivation, leadership potential, and the ability to thrive in a diverse, global cohort. The key takeaway: be specific about why Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi is the right fit for you, and how it supports your post-MBA ambitions.

Celebrate the graduation of the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA Class of 2025. The convocation ceremony marks the culmination of an intense, transformational year, honoring the hard work, growth, and friendships that shaped the cohort, alongside the faculty, families, and Stern community who supported them every step of the way.

If you’re wondering which is the right program for you, at Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi, the MBA is for early- to mid-career professionals with no requirement for work experience.

For the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi Executive MBA program, we’re looking for experienced professionals with at least six years of post-bachelor’s work experience who are looking to build upon their leadership skills here in the UAE or in the broader MENA region.

The Stern at NYUAD One-year Full-time MBA is immersive. Students step away from work and engage fully in academics, career development, and the Stern community.

The Executive MBA is part-time over two years and it’s structured so that students can continue working while applying what they learn directly to their organizations.

In terms of similarities of the programs, both of them have 54 credits. Both of them have the academic rigor of Stern School of Business. However, it has been adapted for delivery here in the UAE with regional relevance.

The MBA emphasizes foundational business skills alongside exploration, while the Executive MBA builds on existing experience and focuses on advanced strategy, leadership and decision making in complex organizations.

A big difference between both programs is going to be the interactions that you’ll be having with the students in the class. With the full-time MBA, the target audience again, early- to mid-career professionals. In the Executive MBA program you’ll be interacting with upper-middle to senior executives who continue to work in their organizations.

We ensure that we develop your global mindset and international understanding of business through the immersive international experiences in both programs. For the MBA, you will spend a full summer in New York immersing yourself and doing business in New York and taking your classes there. Whereas in the Executive MBA, you will spend one block week residency in New York in addition to another one week residency in Shanghai.

There are situations where candidates could be competitive for either program. We’ll be really looking at what significant decisions have you made? What kind of impact have you had in your current role?

What you can do is speak to us in Admissions. We’re very happy to have that conversation with you and to guide you. Our admissions team is here to help. Call or email to connect with us.

We look forward to receiving your application..

Speaker

Charlotte Smith, Associate Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Arnold Longboy, Executive Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Amy Kenowitz, Director, Admissions and Marketing

Zhe Zhang, Assistant Director, Admissions and Enrollment Operations

In this video

Trying to decide whether an MBA or Executive MBA (EMBA) is the right career accelerator for you? In this video, the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi team breaks down the key differences: who each program is designed for, how they’re structured, and what you can expect from the classroom and global experiences.

The Executive MBA program is designed for working professionals. Those with anywhere from about 6 to 15 years worth of work experience. It’s for those people who want to get an MBA to help advance their careers without having to give up their full-time job.

It’s a program that meets one weekend per month, which fits in to executive’s schedules. In addition to those weekend class experiences. The students get two global modules.

The Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi Executive MBA provides a globally relevant curriculum, but it’s informed by the needs of the local business community and the local environment. We offer specializations that are relevant to the local market. We cover cases on companies that operate here in this region, and our faculty are located here, which means you have access to them even when you’re not here for class weekends.

One of the key features of our Executive MBA program is a real world project that the students have to work on for their companies. It’s called the Signature Project. They get to apply what they learn to their organizations by proposing solutions and then executing on those ideas for their companies.

One of the things that’s unique about our program versus competitor programs is that we are not a fly in, fly out program. We are part of a community in Abu Dhabi. Our faculty are located here. Our full time students are located here. So when our Executive MBA students join this program, they are embedded in a community that exists here.

Stern has over 40 years worth of experience running Executive MBA programs, and we are bringing the best of that experience to Abu Dhabi.

Speaker

Professor Robert Salomon, Dean of Stern at NYUAD.

In this video

Learn about the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi Executive MBA, a program built for experienced working professionals who want to accelerate their careers without stepping away from full-time work.

Hi. Arnold Longboy, the Executive Director for Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions at Stern, NYU Abu Dhabi.
Hi, I’m Amy Kenowitz, and I’m the Director of Admissions and Marketing.
My name is Charlotte and I am the Associate Director of Admissions.
My name is Iman Yousif. I’m the Assistant Director of Admissions.
I’m ZheZhang, and I’m the Assistant Director of Admissions and Enrollment Operations.

What we’re looking for in candidates for the Executive MBA program are those professionals who see the opportunity that this country and this region has to offer.

We’re looking for leaders and those that demonstrate strong leadership potential.

Successful applicants demonstrate strong analytical ability, a clear track record of career progression, meaningful contributions in their current roles, and alignment with our core values.

We review your application under three key pillars. The first one is your academic profile. We also check your alignment with Stern core values. And finally, we want to know more about your professional achievements and your aspirations.

Our application opens in September of each year to recruit for the upcoming August intake. To apply to the Executive MBA program, you can head to our website where you will find the online application form. There are a few additional things that you will need to submit and that includes a standardized test score, the transcripts from your previous studies, a CV. We will ask you three essay questions. of them will be mandatory and one of them is optional. We’ll also ask you for two recommendations and of course the application fee.

Once you’ve completed your application, I always recommend to applicants that you take a step back and you review everything that you’ve put together.

Strong applications are both specific and reflective. Go beyond describing your responsibilities. Share real examples of leadership challenges, decisions you’ve made, and how they’ve shaped your growth. Demonstrating both IQ and EQ.

The application process from application submission to final decision takes around six weeks. You should ensure you will be available for an interview. All interviews are conducted virtually. Following your interview you will receive a final decision within two weeks. A final decision can be an offer of admission, a waitlist offer, or a denial of admission.

We look forward to receiving your application.

Speakers

Arnold Longboy, Executive Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Amy Kenowitz, Director, Admissions and Marketing

Charlotte Smith, Associate Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Iman Yousif, Assistant Director, Admissions and Recruitment

Zhe Zhang, Assistant Director, Admissions and Enrollment Operations

In this video

Applying to the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi Executive MBA? In this video, our Admissions team shares what they look for in successful EMBA candidates, and how to put together a strong, compelling application.

You’ll hear the key qualities that stand out: leadership potential, analytical strength, clear career progression, meaningful impact in your current role, and alignment with Stern’s core values. The team also walks through what you’ll need to submit and what happens after you apply, including timelines and the virtual interview process.

I saw that there was this new MBA program in Abu Dhabi by NYU that kind of merges both the GCC context while bringing in that very deep NYU expertise. And I automatically thought, okay, I think this would be the perfect program to really mesh together experiences and help me take the next step forward in my career.

There are a lot of reasons, actually, why this program was super beneficial in my opinion. Like the fact that it’s a one year program, which is really intensive, but it means that within a year we have our degree, we’re done and we’re able to jump into the working world again.

I think the Stern NYU Abu Dhabi MBA program was very special in the sense that it was only one year. I didn’t want to spend too much out of the workforce, so the one year length worked really well for what I was looking for. I also liked the combination of American education, but in the Middle East.

Because I want to further my career here, I want to grow into leadership positions in Abu Dhabi, and that’s why I’m part of the program.

I specifically look for this program that can help me to stretch beyond the technical work and get me to think more strategically. It has the exposure to both UAE and New York. I think that’s very valuable to me.

And when I decided to come to NYU specifically, I knew that I need that New York experience. Out of all the programs out there. Having that term in New York means that I’m going to have hands on experience with the businesses and the people that I will meet.

I think this program, what really attracted me was I knew that the class is going to be extremely diverse, and I was very happy to find the people from more than 25 countries in this class represented.

The fact that this program offers a Signature Internship Project is something that I was really looking forward to as well, and I actually had the opportunity to work for one of my target companies. So in choosing this program, that’s something that really stood out to me.

Speaker

Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA students: Abdallah Abdelhamid, Katarina Hlavata, Situ-Coralie Amega, Neel Vohra, Layla Almulla, Syed Hamza Raza, and Maiqi Zuo.

In this video

Why choose the Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA? In this video, students share what drew them to the program, from its unique blend of NYU Stern expertise and the GCC/UAE context, to the intensity and efficiency of earning an MBA in just one year.

You’ll hear how the program supports career growth in the region, helps students move beyond technical roles into more strategic leadership, and offers a truly global experience through time in both Abu Dhabi and New York City. Students also highlight the strength of the cohort—representing 25+ countries—and the value of the Signature Internship Project, including opportunities to work with target companies.

I’m Kali Hailegiorgis. I am originally from Ethiopia, but have called Abu Dhabi home for the last year.

Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi is a unique place. It’s a very fast paced, exciting environment. The kind of people that are attracted to come here and study are a very specific, very interesting, very exciting, engaging group of people. So no day in the classroom is the same. No day can be boring or disengaging. I took these classes with lawyers, quantum physicists, doctors, business owners, and so people from all different backgrounds. And so as much as I was learning from my professors, I learned so much more from my cohort because they brought in a wealth of information and very diverse perspectives because of the very diverse walks of life that they came from. We represented 25 different countries, and beyond that, everybody was just so genuinely wonderful and welcoming and so warm. We’re always there for each other. So we created like such a beautiful, nurturing familial environment. So it genuinely felt like I was living in a building full of friends, and I didn’t realize how important these people were to me until actually saying bye to everybody made it so evident that these aren’t just classmates, they’re actually family now.

We have some of the best professors in the world, so it’s academically rigorous. It is intense. It’s a full time one year program. So it’s very go, go, go. You will be challenged. You will be taken out of your comfort zone. You will be in a very dynamic, diverse group, and you get rewarded with so much in terms of the quality of education, the dedication and passion that the professors bring to every single classroom is absolutely incredible and very infectious. Every networking conversation and part of every conference, everything that I read is “AI, AI, AI”. And I didn’t really feel like I understood what was happening. And so one of the classes I got to take was called ‘Introduction to AI and its Business Application’, taught by a phenomenal professor. It completely transformed the way that I use AI and interact with AI. And now I feel like I can have better intellectual conversations with people as well.

And in a time where AI kind of gets slapped on everything, including jobs. So you have to be like AI native, AI competent. You have to be able to integrate AI into the workforce and all of these things. I feel very effectively differentiated from the workforce, which was a very psychologically comforting thing to feel graduating and going into a very competitive workforce.

As soon as I started this program, I actually went to Career Services and I said, I want to go into Venture Capital. I don’t have a finance background, but this is what I want to do, so how do I make it happen? And they were kind enough to work with me in terms of how do I frame my transferable skills and my previous experiences in order to be able to bridge that transition and also helping me understand some of the questions I get asked in these interviews, who is part of the alumni network that I can connect with to have coffee chats with and to have referrals for different positions.

I actually got my job offer on the day of graduation, and since then I’ve been working as a Founders Associate at P1 Energy, which is a local startup.

Speaker

Kali Hailegiorgis, a Class of 2025 graduate of Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA.

In this video

Kali shares her experiences of the program, and what made it stand out. She talks about the diverse cohort representing 25 countries, with classmates from backgrounds ranging from law and medicine to quantum physics and entrepreneurship, and a close-knit community that felt more like family than a classroom. She also highlights the academic rigor, being pushed outside her comfort zone, and how an AI-focused course strengthened her confidence and capability in today’s workplace.

Kali also explains how Career Services supported her pivot into venture capital, helping her position transferable skills, prepare for interviews, and tap into the alumni network. She celebrates landing a role as a Founders Associate at P1 Energy, with her job offer arriving on graduation day.