I worked at Plentify, a South Africa-based clean energy startup that specializes in providing AI-driven hardware installed on water heaters in households in order to optimize electricity usage and purchasing price in an environment where electricity supply is not stable due to various factors such as government incapability, infrastructure deficiency, and intermittency issues caused by usage of renewable energy.

I was assigned to survey the Nordic market’s electricity, water heater, and intelligent hardware products that are similar to those of Plentify. In doing so, the management team aimed to understand the market dynamics, worth of entry, and potential cooperation/partnership with local firms on the ground that could induce synergies. Aside from market research, I was also designated to communicate with a potential partner in the Nordic market to discuss business opportunities.

As an MBA candidate, I applied the management skillsets that I learned through courses, case interview prep, and other extracurricular activities I was exposed to at the school to tackle business problems with confidence. Among them, strategy, leadership, executive communication, and marketing were the things that I applied with the most frequent basis in executing this job.

The biggest challenge I faced was interacting with my team members and colleagues through online chats and communication tools since I started my internship remotely. That meant I had to quickly get to know the rules, norms, colleagues, and other nuances of the firm in order to operate in the most efficient and productive way possible. I also encountered a challenge when conducting the research, since the Nordic market is not a field of my expertise. The unique languages this market uses added another layer of difficulty to my research since I was not accustomed to conducting the task in those languages, and the English sources in those regions are particularly limited.

Working with Plentify exposed me to energy markets in South Africa and the Nordic regions, which were both quite unique. I also had the opportunity to apply skillsets I learned at the business school to make an impact.

When encountering challenges, I also had the chance to tackle them through communication with mentors, coordination with colleagues, and self-reflection, which, in turn, strengthened my ability as a business executive.