Inflection Points: From Industry to Bain to Tech Startup

In this episode re-release, we re-introduce Kelly Boone Swaintek, a partner in our Austin office who transitioned to a career in consulting after serving in the U.S. Army. Knowing firsthand the challenges veterans face reentering civilian life and the workforce, Kelly continues to advocate for and support veterans as they transition to a career at Bain. This episode was originally shared on the podcast in November 2021. Learn more about Veterans at Bain affiniity group at bain.com/careers/life-at-bain/affinity-groups/.

Guest Host Daniel Yellin speaks with John Dryden, a lead data scientist based in our Los Angeles office. John spent a decade working in industry data science roles before joining Bain in 2022. He recently won Bain’s Global Hackathon by creating CreationSpace (formerly known as Seer), an AI-driven consumer insights platform, which is now part of our Founder's Studio and will soon spin out as a standalone startup. Listen to John's journey from industry to consulting and how Bain helped him develop a tech startup.   John isn't the only data scientist who has stopped by the show to share their Bain experience. After hearing from John, listen to our episode with Sharona Sankar-King on "Why More Data Scientists are Coming to Bain."    Curious about how Bain's Global Hackathon produces new startups and CEOs? Listen to our episode with Patrick Obeid ("Patrick Obeid’s Journey from Bain Consultant to an ESG CEO"), a previous winner who now leads as CEO of ESG Flo, the leading ESG software that leverages AI to seamlessly automate the collection and transformation of ESG data into audit-ready metrics. 

Guest host Daniel Yellin talks with manager Alice Saltão da Silva and senior manager Lee Foster, both based in our Atlanta office, about transitioning into consulting. Alice went from professional dancing to earning a dual DPT/PhD and joining Bain through our ADvantage program, while Lee shifted from teaching and policy work with Teach for America to consulting after earning her MPP. They highlight how diverse backgrounds enrich Bain's teams and align with the firm's principle of "Diverse Teams, One Bain," demonstrating that varied experiences can enhance consulting success.

In our 3-part series “Inflection Points,” guest host Daniel Yellin discusses impactful career moments with our people. At Bain, we’re committed to a culture of learning and development, offering global training opportunities. In this episode, Daniel speaks with Diego Verastegui, an expert associate partner in innovation, and Harry Brennan, a senior manager, who participated in our Leadership Development Training session. Diego, who led the training, emphasizes its importance for newly appointed managers, while Harry shares his experience teaming with Daniel. This conversation highlights Bain’s investment in professional growth through innovative, senior-led apprenticeship training.

Arpan Sheth is Bain’s Global Capability Leader of our digital delivery platform, Vector. Throughout his time at Bain, Arpan has combined his engineering and business expertise to help build and grow our practices in India, lead our Innovation and Design capability, and support mergers and acquisitions of digital capabilities. In this encore episode, listen to Arpan share his journey to Bain, how he expanded our practices in APAC, and give insight into Vector, our digital delivery platform. Since this episode’s original release in November 2022, we have 1,500+ diverse in-house members part of Vector and its family of capabilities in our Innovation and Design, Enterprise Technology, and Advanced Analytics practices. In addition to our acquisition of Vertical mentioned in this episode, Bain has had many more acquisitions that are enhancing our machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities across the globe. Learn more at bain.com/vector-digital

Kara Gruver, our Chief Talent Officer, has spent 35 years at the firm leading in various roles including Head of Americas Consumer Products practice, Bain Boston’s Office Head, and Chief Transformation Officer. Now as our CTO, hear how she’s focused on our people-first priorities, including building our effective teams, developing talent, maintaining a consistent Bain experience for all employees, and more.

Ignacio Otero and Antonio Martinez Leal, Bain's current and former Managing Partners of our Iberia offices, have been supporting each other throughout their careers personally and professionally. As we conclude our Operating Principles series, join us as these leaders share how the principle, "A Bainie Never Lets Another Bainie Fail," has shown up for them during their years at the firm.

Ivan Hindshaw, our Americas Regional Managing Partner, has been living our Operating Principle “Guided by True North” throughout his extensive Bain career and personal life for decades. Sharing experiences of how his career has made him have to have tough conversations in order to do the right thing, Ivan joins us as we continue our Operating Principles series and breaks down what “Guided by True North” means for our clients, people and communities.

Connie Kwok, an Expert Partner in our Singapore office, was taught practicality early on and made career decisions based on this approach. After studying at Oxford and the London School of Economics, she joined Bain as an associate consultant in 2004. She’d later gain experience outside of the firm working with world-renowned restauranteur, Alan Yau, and Amazon before returning to Bain to lead in our Retail practice. Embodying our Operating Principle, “Practical and at Cause,” Connie joins us to share how she’s applied this principle throughout her career.

Melissa Artabane, Executive Vice President of Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, is passionate about ensuring Bain is a place where everyone feels accepted and can be themselves. Based in our Boston office, Melissa joins us to talk about our Operating Principle, “Diverse Teams, One Bain,” and shares how her unique childhood sparked a personal interest in DEI, leading her to champion Bain’s focus on diverse teams.