When Aaman Basra (’26SPS, M.S. in Applied Analytics) enrolled in Columbia’s M.S. program, he couldn’t write a single line of code.
Four months later, he was building analytical models from scratch. Today, he’s the one many students turn to when that same fear catches up with them.
“I have prospective students messaging me on LinkedIn all the time, and they all come with the same question: ‘I don't know how to code, will I be fine?’” Basra said in a recent interview about his experience in the Applied Analytics program. “And I tell them: ‘Look at me. I went from someone who had never written a single line of code to someone building full analytical models in the span of four months. You’ll be fine!’”
Basra, who was born in India and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia, now works as a product analyst at Channel Factory, an ad tech company in New York City — a job he landed shortly after finishing the master’s program at Columbia last December. He was also one of two students in the School of Professional Studies (SPS) graduating class selected as a student speaker at this year’s graduation. Nominated by faculty, staff, and students, he earned the recognition in part through his deep engagement with the Columbia community — including the Columbia Women in Data & Technology Club and the Applied Analytics Club — and through friendships he built with classmates from more than a dozen countries.
He spoke with SPS about what initially brought him to the Applied Analytics program, how it helped him land his current position, and why he sees his Columbia education as a critical component to his long-term career plans as a future entrepreneur.
Can you tell us a bit about your background and what brought you to Columbia’s Applied Analytics program?
My father built his career in advertising, and for a long time the plan was simple: study marketing and finance at Penn State, then come home to Jakarta and follow in his footsteps. I still intend to join him — but not before I’ve built something of my own first. That shift started during an internship with McKinsey at Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison in 2023, when I realized that, even though I had the business acumen to handle strategy, marketing, sales, and even finance, I was lost the moment a conversation turned technical. They could have told me almost anything, and I would have believed them. That’s when it hit me: if I wanted to start my own company one day, I couldn't just rely on business acumen — I needed a real technical foundation to match it. That’s what first pulled me to the Applied Analytics program at Columbia.
How has your Columbia education helped you in your current role as a product analyst?
I don’t think Columbia’s Applied Analytics program just helped me land the job — it’s the reason I landed it! For one, my company's chief product officer is also a Columbia alum, which turned out to be a great conversation starter when I was applying for the role. But more than that, the program provided me with the exact skill set the job demands. My company runs managed placements: clients come to us wanting their ads placed on YouTube, Reddit, and Facebook on content that’s safe, meaning it has strong brand suitability and it fits the audience they are targeting. Part of what I do is make sure our channel classification across those platforms holds up, and when something is off, I fix it.
Another big reason I landed this job, though, was a project from my Applied Deep Learning and AI class. I’d built an NLP-based misinformation detector that could analyze social media content and news articles and flag whether the information was likely true or false. My interviewer was especially interested in that project, since it slotted directly into what the company does.
Did you have any favorite classes or professors?
Two professors immediately come to my mind when I think about who really made me feel at home in the program and who made me believe in myself. One of them was Siddhartha Dalal, who teaches the Applied Deep Learning and AI class. It was incredible. You’d walk into class, and he’d mention offhand, “Oh yeah, my friend made this,” or “I have a patent on that.” I’ve never had professors who were the actual patent holders or creators of the strategies we were learning in class.
The other professor was Vishal Lala, who taught Applied Machine Learning I and Applied Machine Learning II — the courses that took me from someone who knew almost no code to someone confident enough in it to impress interviewers. Applied Machine Learning I moves at a fast pace while still letting you build a real foundation in coding.
What changes are happening in your field that you think students should be prepared for?
Students should be prepared for the rapid pivot to AI. I don't think it will surprise people that it’s happening, but the scale might. Everything is being automated! Insights and data come back faster because of AI, creating an urgent need to make decisions more quickly to scale the business. There’s almost always a race among companies to see who can adapt to AI quickest. My company has built agentic workflows, which are systems where multiple AI agents communicate with each other, reason over each other’s outputs, and converge on a decision autonomously. Everyone knows Claude, everyone knows ChatGPT, and everyone knows Gemini, but not many people understand agentic workflows, or how they’re already being deployed at scale in production systems.
I also remember being asked during one of my job interviews whether I’d used Claude at any point in the interview process. I said yes, because I wanted to be honest. The interviewer said that was good — they didn’t want to hire someone who doesn’t use AI today. Companies want to see how well you can work with AI to arrive at solutions, not whether you avoid it.
Any other advice you would give to current or future students of the Applied Analytics program?
Please be open to meeting people! Some of my closest friendships started with nothing more than a shared row of seats in class. I’d just get up, walk over, and start a conversation. I’ve never believed in waiting for people to come to me — I’d rather go first. Those friendships, alongside my family, have shaped everything about where I am today and where I'm headed next.
And you’re in New York — make the most of it. I caught some unforgettable Broadway shows: “The Lion King,” “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” and “The Great Gatsby.” So many of my friends landed jobs through a chance conversation in a café or by throwing themselves into Columbia’s clubs. Keep learning, absolutely. But being woven into the Columbia community and the city itself matters just as much — maybe more.
About the Program
Columbia University’s Master of Science in Applied Analytics prepares students with the practical data and leadership skills to succeed. The program combines in-depth knowledge of data analytics with the leadership, management, and communication principles and tactics necessary to impact decision-making across industries and organizational functions.
Learn more about the program here. The program is available full-time and part-time, online and on-campus.
