English Football, Ralph Lauren, and Marketing: Surya Shanmugam’s Study Abroad Journey

Surya Shanmugam is currently working as a Market Insights Manager at Sitecore. He holds a Master’s degree in Marketing from ESCP Business School. Surya completed his undergraduate studies at SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai, where he earned a degree in Engineering. Leap spoke with Surya about his journey from Chennai to London and how he built his career in marketing.

Q. Tell us about your background.

I studied engineering in India. But over time, I realized my real interest lay in marketing. That’s what led me to start my career in product marketing back in India, where I worked for about two and a half years. At that point, I found myself at a crossroads: should I pursue an MBA in India, or step out of my comfort zone and go abroad for a master’s? I wanted to see the world and gain a different kind of experience, so I chose the latter. My program at ESCP itself was unique.  I spent six months in London, three months in Paris, and then completed a six-month mandatory internship before graduating. It was a truly global learning experience that shaped both my personal and professional journey.

Q. What sparked the shift from Engineering to Marketing?

It’s a funny story how I got into marketing. My university was right next to Zoho’s office. It is one of the earliest product companies in India, building SaaS products locally but serving customers across the globe. That fascinated me; here was a company proving that you could sit in India, create a product, and still market it to the world.

At the same time, I was also passionate about sports. On the side, I started a fantasy football blog where I dabbled in writing, running a website, and managing social media. Without even realizing it, I was picking up the fundamentals of marketing. That combination of curiosity about product companies and my experiments online nudged me toward the field.  I picked up an internship in product marketing, which eventually led to a couple of years working in the field back in India. I chose to go to Europe since I’ve always been passionate about sports and my website is based on English football. I felt that experience would resonate more with recruiters in the UK or Europe than, say, in the US.

Q. How did Leap help you with your study-abroad journey?

I was actually referred to Leap by a friend. My application process was a bit chaotic. I was very specific about what I wanted, and I had already shortlisted the university before approaching Leap. But once I came on board, Leap stepped in and made the whole process so much smoother.  I had two or three universities in mind, and then the Leap counselors suggested a few more. They told me it’s always better to apply to four or five, so that you have a couple of admits to choose from. That approach really worked. I ended up applying to four or five universities in total. They helped me with the application, the visa, and everything else that followed until I finally moved here.

Q. How was your experience as a master’s student in the UK?

Looking back, my time studying in London and Paris was one of the most fun and formative periods of my life. What I valued most about the program was the collaborative environment. Almost all the projects were group-based, and the groups rotated regularly. That meant I got to work closely with almost everyone in the cohort. Since all of us came in with at least two to three years of prior work experience, the classroom was incredibly rich with perspectives. I learned not just from the professors, but equally from the experiences and stories my peers brought in.

Q. How did you land your job after graduation?

At first, I tried to skip the internship and apply directly for full-time roles, but I was getting rejected left, right, and center. That’s when I realized something important: without UK experience on your CV, it’s very difficult to get through the door. So I changed my approach, accepted the reality, and decided to take up an internship.

I landed a six-month internship at Ralph Lauren, and that proved to be a turning point. Once I had that UK experience on my resume, the next round of job applications went much smoothly. Recruiters immediately felt more confident because they could see I had already worked in the local market and understood how things work

Q. How do you see artificial intelligence shaping the future of marketing?

In product marketing, a big part of the job is research, whether that’s analyzing competitors, studying the market, or tracking industry trends. When I first started out as an intern, putting together something like a competitor strategy deck would easily take me a week or two. Now, with AI tools, 75–80% of that work gets done in 10 to 20 minutes.

We’re a Microsoft organization, so I use Copilot a lot, along with ChatGPT and a few other internal AI tools. These tools handle the heavy lifting, pulling data, creating first drafts, and structuring insights. My role then is to verify, add context, and bring in the company’s perspective. That last 20% is still very human; it’s about nuance, judgment, and relevance. From my experience, AI is not a substantial threat right now. It’s more about learning how to use it effectively to elevate your work.

Q. When you reflect on your journey, what part did Leap Scholar play in making it possible?

Leap Scholar was incredibly helpful, especially because I was working with very tight timelines. They supported me through the student loan process and handled the visa application, which by itself can feel like a huge task. Even with the admission process, I had to submit a creative essay and go through an interview, and Leap guided me through that as well. Doing all of this on your own can get really overwhelming, such as running to the bank to check on loan approvals, visiting the visa center, and preparing application documents.  In my case, I was also working full-time and quit barely two or three weeks before I flew out of India, so the timing was especially intense. Leap really stepped in to take that pressure off, and they supported me right through until I landed in Eu