Alumni stories – my career in business analytics

With the fast adoption of digital technology, businesses and governments now have access to vast amounts of data. Today, business analysts are in high demand as they can deliver key insights (from big data) for organisations to use in strategic decision-making.

In this blog, we will learn from two graduates of Kaplan Business School about their career in business analytics and the lessons they have learned.

Nirvaan Gokulsing, Mauritius

Master of Business Analytics (Extension)

Solutions Specialist, Galvin Engineering

A bit about my background

I was raised in a close-knit family where community, food and education sat at the centre of life. I was a short to mid-distance athlete, competing in inter-college championships. In my free time, I enjoyed fixing gadgets and building simple spreadsheets.

I was taught accounting and business in high school and learned early on how to build a business mindset. After I graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) Finance, Accounting and Management from the University of Nottingham in the UK, I started my career as an Associate Executive at an offshore management company, supporting hedge funds, multinational clients and corporate structures.

After building a strong business foundation, I wanted to solve high-value problems such as forecasting demand, optimising operations, and translating data into insights that leaders could use. Business analytics was the bridge between data and business, so I started researching places to study online.

Choosing Perth, Australia

Australia offered three things I wanted: high-quality education, practical experience while studying and a multicultural community.

Perth had fresh air, big blue skies and clean streets. I loved the short commutes, beaches, parks and the multicultural food scene. There was a supportive business community. People remembered your name, collaborations came together quickly, and there was room to think. I could do serious, meaningful work and still get a sunset at the beach.

My studies

The Master of Business Analyticsat Kaplan Business School (KBS) felt less like a degree and more like a launchpad. It didn’t just teach tools; it taught end-to-end thinking. With every question, I learned how to define the problem, structure the dataset, model it, tell a clear story and drive adoption. I learned how to communicate actionable outcomes to stakeholders. I was excited to get to a place where I would be able to make an impact on decision-making.

My lecturers had industry experience, classes were small enough for proper feedback, and assessments were built around useful exercises such as forecasting, designing frameworks and dashboards, and explaining complex ideas simply.

I became a KBS Student Ambassadorto improve my skills in communication and leadership. The role was hands-on; welcoming new students at orientation, running campus tours, helping with events, and contributing to marketing content. That experience mirrors my analytics work today – I have discovery conversations, turn requirements into plain English and guide teams through change. My fellow ambassadors became lifelong friends, and we shared many laughs along the way.

Joining Galvin Engineering

I joinedGalvin Engineeringthrough a KBS academic internshipand was offered a full-time role within a month. My role today is a Solutions Specialist where I help teams design data products. This means clarifying the decisions they need to make, shaping requirements, modelling data from core operational systems, and building reliable BI tools.

I enjoy the end-to-end nature of the work. I’m involved from discovery to adoption, translating needs into plain language, aligning metrics, designing and testing, documenting, and coaching users. The best part is seeing tools used in day-to-day operations. When everyone is looking at the same definitions, collaboration and momentum build. That’s the kind of impact that keeps me energised about what I do.

The biggest lessons I've learned

A big lesson that I’ve learned in my career is that a solution isn’t complete when it loads; it’s complete when people use it. After a solution is created, I plan training sessions, guides and a change path, so teams feel confident from day one.

Another lesson is to measure outcomes, not outputs. The win isn’t about ‘how many reports you’ve generated,’ it’s about improvements in reliability, speed, customer experience and financial impact.

Top 3 things you need to know about working in the business analytics industry

If you're thinking of working in the business analytics industry, there are 3 things you should know:

• Aim to be T-shaped. This means having knowledge across all business operations with one deep technical spike. Learn SQL, get comfortable in a BI tool, and pick up enough Python to automate simple tasks. Record your solutions to real customer questions.
• Know where data comes from. Spend time with operational systems and care about definitions and data quality. Trustworthy work is repeatable, documented and easy to maintain.
• Always keep learning, whether it’s through internships, short projects or volunteering. Show up, follow up with something useful and keep notes.

In the future

Over the next few years, I want to be driving bigger, measurable outcomes and either leading or playing a key role in a high-trust team. My focus will be on turning complex problems into simple, reliable solutions people can use every day, while staying hands-on and learning as the field evolves. I intend to mentor others and build a culture of plain language, good documentation and continuous improvement.

Connect with Nirvaan

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nirvaangokulsing/ 

Kevin Pun,

Master of Business Analytics

Data and Reporting Analyst, Crown Resorts

A bit about my background 

My parents did all they could to ensure I had a good education. This was because they didn’t get to finish high school. My mum had to drop out early to support her family and my dad did too to join the British army.

When our family bought our first computer, I started developing a passion for technology and became motivated to learn how to build computers. Playing online games fuelled my creativity – my best ideas came from gaming and chatting with friends.

I wanted to be a firefighter, but my parents wanted me to have a more stable job. When I looked into finance, I found that it was more than ‘managing bank accounts’. There was a wide range of areas such as risk, credit, pricing and customer behaviour.

My career journey

I began my career at Westpac in the contact centre, helping customers with everyday banking issues. After a year, I finished as the top sales banker and received the ‘Banker of the Year’ award.

I moved to St. George Bank as an auto finance sales specialist, processing car-loan applications and organising paperwork. After mastering car finance, I stepped into mortgages at Macquarie Bank for three years—first in Retentions where I handled tough save conversations, then in Internal Lending which meant structuring funding for renovations and property purchases. These roles taught me how to balance risk with real-world needs and explain complex bank jargon in plain English.

I then joined Nano Home Loans to help build a faster, cleaner home-loan experience and then moved to Lumi as a commercial credit analyst. It was at this point in my career that I wanted to learn more about data and automation.

My studies

I decided to study a Master of Business Analytics at Kaplan Business School as the course content would take my career further in the finance industry. The best part was the teachers. They brought real-world examples to every class, and many came from industry. Having access to people with current, practical experience was a goldmine!

Working at Crown Resorts

In 2023, I started working atCrown Resortsas a Group Reporting & Data Analyst. I joined at a challenging time, when the company was under intense scrutiny about its casino licence. I was responsible for building the compliance reports that proved to regulators and executives that we were meeting obligations and improving.

Today, I lead the reporting stream as we migrate data from one learning management system to another. I help teams see why the change matters and how it makes their work easier. I’m the acting Subject Matter Expert for data validation, migration, and analysis; collaborating with stakeholders to define requirements, explaining how reporting works, and implementing a governance framework so metrics are consistent and accurate.

The lessons I’ve learned

There are three big lessons I’ve learned:

• Actively listen to stakeholders. I have an acronym I use in every conversation which is W.A.I.T — Why Am I Talking?

Even when I think I have the answer, I pause first. I listen to my stakeholders and ask open-ended questions to get the whole picture.

• Always be curious, patient and coachable. The ‘Five Whys’ is a great way to start an engaging conversation. It’s a problem-solving technique where you first identify a problem, then ask “Why?” five times until you uncover the underlying reason.
• Be transparent about data quality, make your work reproducible, and follow through to see if it changes a decision. Analysts are quiet leaders—use that influence wisely.

In the future

Over the next few years, I want to use my skills to help large-scale organisations through digital transformation so they can better prepare for the future and increase business efficiency.

Connect with Kevin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-pun/

Interested in a career in business analytics? Check out our Master of Business Analytics (Extension), and the benefits of studying business in Australia.