Business Student Will Start at Amazon After Graduation

Arish Balasubramaniam ’21, who landed two internships at Amazon as a Saint Mary’s student, has scored a full-time job there following his graduation this fall. The Business Analytics grad will be an associate solutions architect, specializing in machine learning and artificial intelligence. 

Balasubramaniam was an intern at Amazon Web Services (AWS) for two summers, in 2020 and 2021. He helped sales teams provide technical service to customers using their products. “During this internship, I traveled to Washington, D.C. [Amazon Headquarters 2] and Seattle [Amazon Headquarters 1] to present and work on my solutions with the customers,” Balasubramaniam said. “I collaborated with vice presidents, directors, and principal engineers to complete projects and meet customer concerns.” 

Set to graduate this fall, Balasubramaniam will soon start his full-time position specializing in machine learning and artificial intelligence. While he’ll be central to the East Palo Alto office, he’ll often be traveling like he did last summer––collaborating with others to provide customers with a better understanding of AWS’s technical products.  

Balasubramaniam credits SEBA Professor Navid Sabbaghi for helping him get this internship. While taking Sabbaghi’s Technical Engineering in Business course, Balasubramaniam grew more confident around topics like artificial intelligence and coding. “Before entering the cohort, I was scared of coding. I didn’t know how to do it,” he said. 

This cohort also helped Balasubramaniam grow more confident in himself. When he started to think about internship opportunities, Sabagghi pushed him to be ambitious and consider places like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft. “He told me I could apply to these big companies, and when I doubted myself, he believed in me,” Balasubramaniam said. 

Balasubramaniam largely credits the seminar class at Saint Mary’s for helping him develop his public speaking and writing skills. In seminar, he said, he was able to better communicate with others and learn to relate to various points of view. This continues to help him in his various roles of customer relations at AWS. “I’m getting a business report published at Amazon, and I think Saint Mary’s really helped me with those writing skills,” he said. 

His internship experience has also helped him complete his last couple of years at Saint Mary’s, Balasubramaniam said. “Amazon is a self-learning environment where you have to take ownership of your work and ask for help when you need it. After I came back from my second internship, I’m using those skills in my classes now.” He advises that new students at Saint Mary’s do the same: “Be up front. Ask professors for help when you need it.” 

While Balasubramaniam is excited for his new chapter, he’ll be taking a lot from Saint Mary’s with him. “Saint Mary’s courses helped me become the person I am today,” he said. 

Learn more about the School of Economics and Business Administration here.