Kishan Patel ’25 ’26 on Bridging Engineering and Business
Through the Bahr Engineering MBA program, Patel is learning to combine technical expertise, business strategy, and the power of human connection to lead with purpose.
The Humans of Mays Business School series highlights excerpts from conversations with exceptional individuals at Mays who make a lasting impact through their leadership, drive, and dedication. Each story brings to life the diverse journeys, challenges, and triumphs that shape the Mays community. By sharing these unique experiences, we aim to inspire personal and professional growth within our halls and showcase the origin stories of today’s and tomorrow’s business leaders.
Kishan Patel ’25 ’26 is in his final semester of the Anthony Bahr ’91 Engineering MBA program at Mays Business School. With an engineering background and a growing passion for leadership, communication, and business strategy, Patel is learning how to bridge the gap between technical expertise and real-world impact. Through his time at Texas A&M and Mays, he has discovered that success is built not only in the classroom, but also through relationships, mindset shifts, and a willingness to keep learning.
Merging Engineering and Business
For Kishan Patel ’25 ’26, the decision to pursue the Bahr Engineering MBA was about more than earning another degree. It was about preparing himself to lead in spaces where technical knowledge and business communication intersect.
“The short answer is that I wanted to earn a graduate degree right after finishing undergrad,” Patel says. “I knew that five or 10 years down the road, life would probably be much busier with work and other personal obligations.”
He also saw the program as a way to expand his career beyond technical work alone.
“It was really about advancing my career long term,” Patel says. “I want to be able to do the technical work, but also stand in front of a room of shareholders and present a tangible solution. I don’t always want to rely on technical language. I want to be able to explain things clearly and tell it as it is.”
Patel’s engineering background gave him a strong foundation for the analytical side of business, especially in classes like finance, business analytics, and statistics. However, he quickly learned that Mays would challenge him in an entirely different way.
“With Mays, you’re having to do a lot more things like workshops, careers, networking, getting to know a lot more people,” Patel says. “That’s the one thing people underestimate about Mays Business School. It’s not just what you do in the classroom; it’s about what you do outside the classroom.”
A Mindset Shift
Joining the Bahr Engineering MBA program meant stepping into an unfamiliar environment. He arrived at orientation knowing only one other person in the program and had to quickly adjust to the pace, expectations, and community of the program.
He admits it was intimidating at first, but the experience forced him to grow in ways that went beyond academics. The program introduced him to a new way of thinking, one that required flexibility, humility, and a willingness to adapt.
“It’s been a matter of having to create a lot of mindset shifts and really just having to learn and navigate my way around a lot of these classes,” Patel says.“I survived an engineering degree, but this is a whole other beast.”
One class that stood out to him was business analytics with Dr. Bala Shetty. For Patel, the course connected previous concepts with practical applications that made the material feel useful in a new way.
“It was a really good refresher on a lot of the statistics that I had learned a while back from undergrad, but it’s good to see them actually be used in real-world applications,” Patel says. “Whether it be for something like a financial model or if you’re trying to see whether you’re getting a good price on a car or not based on the amount of data from the last 10 years.”
The Power of People
As Patel progressed through the program, networking became one of the most valuable parts of his experience. Attending employer events across Texas helped him see the critical importance of communication for people working at the intersection of engineering and business.
“We had a lot of these things called meets, and so we’d go up to Austin or Dallas and meet representatives who either went to A&M or were on the same trajectory between engineering and business,” Patel says.
These moments gave him opportunities to practice networking in a real setting and helped him better understand how careers can develop outside of a traditional path.
He also came away with a new appreciation for why the Aggie Network carries so much weight. What started as individual conversations quickly served as a reminder that one connection at Texas A&M often leads to another.
“People call it the Aggie Network for a reason,” Patel says. “Every time you make a new friend, they somehow know four or five other people. The Aggie Network is so strong that it makes a big campus feel like a small world.”
Leading With Purpose
As he heads toward graduation this August and prepares to step into a full-time role with RoviSys, Patel wants to become the kind of leader who understands how things work before telling others how to do them. By combining his engineering background with his business education, he hopes to lead with technical knowledge, humility, and respect for the people around him.
“A philosophy that I really believe in is that you have to know yourself in order to lead other people,” he says.
Before moving into management, Patel plans to continue developing his engineering expertise so he can lead from experience. He wants to avoid becoming a manager who gives direction without understanding what he is asking of his team.
His goal is to become someone who can communicate clearly across different groups. Whether he is leading engineers, updating project managers, or explaining technical ideas to clients and shareholders, Patel wants to be able to connect people through clear communication.
“This program will help me direct a team of engineers or specialists,” Patel says. “It will also help me talk to shareholders, project managers, clients, and people across different departments. I want to understand the technical side while also using soft skills to communicate well.”
Learning, Legacy, and Success
Much of Patel’s mindset stems from his family, especially his father, who has been one of his biggest mentors throughout his education. Growing up, Patel learned to value education, hard work, and the importance of constantly improving.
“I grew up in a household where education always came first, no matter what,” Patel said. “Having a mentor like my dad push me to be the best I can be is something I truly appreciate.The best piece of advice I ever got, especially coming from generations of engineers in my family, is that the day you stop learning is the day you die.”
As he thinks about the legacy he wants to leave at Texas A&M, Patel hopes future Aggies remember the value of taking risks, keeping an open mind, and believing in themselves before they know exactly how everything will turn out.
“Life is full of risk,” he says. “Not everything is going to be a safe bet. You have to go in with the mindset that you believe in yourself.”
That same mindset shapes how Patel defines success. It is not only about salary, titles, or career advancement. It is about building a life that feels meaningful, stable, and true to who he is.
“Money is good, but money cannot really buy happiness,” Patel said. “I would rather be in a job I am passionate about, even if I do not make as much, than be bored with the work I have.”
In the end, Patel’s journey from engineering to business leadership comes back to a simple idea: Success should not just look good from the outside; it should feel right on the inside. As he continues forward, he carries with him the lessons of Mays, the strength of the Aggie Network, and the belief that learning never truly ends.
