Ashish Agarwal joined the Abilitie Faculty Network in early 2022 ​​as a key contributor to the bespoke McKinsey Business Essentials program utilizing Abilitie's Finance Challenge simulation. Since 2023 he has expanded his reach into Enterprise Challenge with successful deliveries for Dell and Allianz.

Based in Gurugram, India, Ashish founded Skillfin Learning and specializes in online instruction for finance, data analysis and data visualization. Prior to Skillfin, Ashish spent time at BlackRock Solutions and earlier at McKinsey & Co in their Strategy and Corporate Finance practice.

Q. What is your pro tip on maintaining engagement with virtual audiences like McKinsey?

A. Starting with a strong ‘why’ for the participants has been a great way for me to maintain their engagement from the start of a program.

Discussing the ‘so what’ of the program and what’s in it for them has helped me to get a sort of buy-in from them as to why they should be engaged throughout the sessions. Also, constant reiteration of the ‘why’ does help to retain the engagement throughout the program.

Q. Have you had any A-ha moments or other notable interactions on a recent Abilitie delivery?

A. On a recent Abilitie delivery, I kind of had goosebumps to see the reaction of a team that won the simulation game unexpectedly. They were in 4th position in the Finance Challenge for 4 rounds on the verge of bankruptcy with cash drying out. However, they kind of stuck around with a few good decisions and turned around to be the winner of the game at the end of Round 6. The high fives that they were doing in their team room (some of them were co-located) was a huge aha moment for me to understand how deeply people get involved with the simulation game.

Q. What is your favorite hobby or activity outside of facilitation work?

A. Outside of facilitation, I try to spend a lot of time with my 7-year-old trying to catch up and answer his curious questions. If it were to him, I should just be playing all the time with him outside of my working hours.