Gideon Ratner describes his professional journey in two words – phenomenally satisfying.
It is a career that may not have been possible without an MBA.
After starting his career as a software engineer, Gideon went on to a management consultancy position at Accenture until he found a place with NAB as a strategist and marketer.
But Gideon was keen to take his future to the next level, and by the time he made it to NAB he was keen to find a way to broaden his business skills.
In 2012 he enrolled in a part-time MBA at Melbourne Business School (MBS).
“For me, the MBA was a great platform to take my technical knowledge and apply it across marketing, consulting and business, where you need to be familiar with contracts, accounting and a whole range of things,” he said.
During his time at NAB, Gideon met the very innovative Quantium CEO Adam Driussi. Quantium, at the time, was a Sydney-based data analytics start-up.
“I knew Adam from negotiating an agreement with Quantium at NAB,” Gideon said.
“I realised that he was a very impressive guy. I liked his philosophy on business and analytics, and when I was looking for other opportunities, he said, ‘Come join our business.’”
With a solid software background and an admiration for innovators, Gideon was keen to part of the team. He eventually joined Quantium after obtaining his MBA and spending a semester at top Spanish business school IESE.
Since that decision, Quantium has been expanding internationally under Gideon’s guidance as Group Executive – International Markets and Strategy.
The company has grown from 120 to 500 people, with its Melbourne office expanding from just a handful of staff when Gideon joined in 2013 to 60 present day. Gideon hopes the Melbourne office’s ranks will continue to grow and include some of MBS’s current Master of Business Analytics students.
Having enjoyed a number of successful years of professional development, Gideon is now somewhat of a poster-child for the MBS’s MBA program.
Accompanied by Quantium colleagues who also graduated from MBS, like Pui-Ching Lee who obtained her Master of Business Analytics degree in 2015, Gideon has previously visited the campus to pitch Quantium as a great place for Master of Business Analytics students to work or undertake a practicum as part of their studies.
Gideon said his MBS experience really helped him cope with the pace and uncertainty of a fast-growing business.
“I had no idea what I was stepping into. Effectively, my role was to start up Quantium’s Melbourne analytics and insights practice and drive growth. It’s just been an absolute rollercoaster but phenomenally satisfying.”
