Introduction to Ana Bakshi
The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship has announced that Ana Bakshi has been named its new executive director. Bakshi stepped into the role at the start of the fall semester and will collaborate closely with the managing director, Ethernet Inventors Professor of the Practice Bill Aulet, to elevate the center to higher levels.
Background and Qualifications
“Ana is uniquely qualified for this role. She brings a deep and highly decorated background in entrepreneurship education at the highest levels, along with exceptional leadership and execution skills,” says Aulet. Bakshi has a decade of experience building two world-class entrepreneurship centers from the ground up, serving as the founding director at King’s College and then at Oxford. In this role, she was responsible for all aspects of these centers, including fundraising.
Experience in Entrepreneurship Education
While at Oxford, she authored a data-driven approach to determining efficacy of outcomes for their programs, as evidenced by a 61-page study, “Universities: Drivers of Prosperity and Economic Recovery.” As the director of the Oxford Foundry (Oxford’s cross-university entrepreneurship center), Bakshi focused on investing in ambitious founders and talent. The center was backed by global entrepreneurial leaders such as the founders of LinkedIn and Twitter, with corporate partnerships including Santander and EY, and investment funds including Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE).
Achievements and Impact
As of 2021, the startups supported by the Foundry and King’s College have raised over $500 million and have created nearly 3,000 jobs, spanning diverse industries including health tech, climate tech, cybersecurity, fintech, and deep tech spinouts focusing on world-class science. In addition, she built the highly successful and economically sustainable Entrepreneurship School, Oxford’s first digital online learning platform.
Joining MIT
Bakshi comes to MIT after having worked in the private sector as the chief operating officer (COO) in a rapidly growing artificial intelligence startup for almost two years, Quench.ai, with offices in London and New York City. She was the first C-suite employee at Quench.ai, serving as COO and now senior advisor, helping companies unlock value from their knowledge through AI.
MIT’s Commitment to Entrepreneurship
Since its inception, then turbocharged in the 1940s with the creation and operation of the RadLab, and continuing to this day, entrepreneurship is at the core of MIT’s identity and mission. "MIT has been a leader in entrepreneurship for decades. It’s now the third leg of the school, alongside teaching and research,” says Mark Gorenberg ’76, chair of the MIT Corporation.
The Future of Entrepreneurship Education
The need to raise the bar for innovation-driven entrepreneurship education is both timely and urgent. The rate of change is getting faster and faster every day, especially with artificial intelligence, and is generating new problems that need to be solved, as well as exacerbating existing problems in climate, health care, manufacturing, future of work, education, and economic stratification, to name but a few. The world needs more entrepreneurs and better entrepreneurs.
Leveraging AI and Emerging Technologies
MIT is at the forefront of helping to develop people and systems that can turn challenges into opportunities using an entrepreneurial mindset, skill set, and way of operating. Bakshi’s deep experience and success will be key to unlocking this opportunity. “I am truly honored to join the Trust Center at such a pivotal moment,” Bakshi says. “In an era defined by both extraordinary challenges and extraordinary possibilities, the future will be built by those bold enough to try, and MIT will be at the forefront of this.”
Conclusion
Ana Bakshi’s appointment as the new executive director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship marks an exciting new chapter for the center. With her extensive experience in entrepreneurship education and her commitment to leveraging AI and emerging technologies, Bakshi is poised to make a significant impact on the future of entrepreneurship education.
FAQs
Q: What is the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship?
A: The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship is a center at MIT that supports entrepreneurship education and provides resources for students and faculty to turn their ideas into successful ventures.
Q: Who is Ana Bakshi?
A: Ana Bakshi is the new executive director of the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. She has a decade of experience building two world-class entrepreneurship centers from the ground up and has worked in the private sector as the chief operating officer of a rapidly growing artificial intelligence startup.
Q: What is the focus of the Martin Trust Center?
A: The focus of the Martin Trust Center is to produce the next generation of innovation-driven entrepreneurs while advancing the field more broadly to make it both rigorous and practical.
Q: How does the center support entrepreneurship education?
A: The center supports 60-plus courses and extensive extracurricular programming, including the delta v academic accelerator, and provides resources such as AI-powered tools like Orbit and JetPack to help students turn their ideas into successful ventures.
