Archive · 5 Oct 2026
IIM Ahmedabad Gold Medalist Leads Microsoft Product Team in Canada
Shubham Goyal studied at IIM Ahmedabad and earned the top rank and a gold medal.
He says he did not set out to win the medal; he focused on learning and improving.
After graduation, he worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group.
He later decided to move into product management and joined Microsoft.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, his father died, a loss he described as very difficult.
Goyal now leads a 13-person product team for Microsoft in Canada.
He advises young people not to judge success only by salary.
He also says AI can be useful when it creates real value, and that work should not crowd out important relationships.
Shubham Goyal earned Rank 1 and a gold medal in IIM Ahmedabad’s Post Graduate Programme.
After graduating, he joined Boston Consulting Group as a management consultant, with a reported starting package of about Rs 27–30 lakh annually.
He later moved into product management and joined Microsoft as a Product Manager.
Goyal is now a Principal Product Lead in Microsoft’s Canadian operations, where he leads a 13-member team.
He says learning, professional skills, meaningful work, personal relationships and work-life balance matter alongside salary and career advancement.
- Who
- Shubham Goyal, an IIM Ahmedabad gold medallist and Microsoft product leader.
- What
- He leads a 13-member product team as Principal Product Lead for Microsoft’s Canadian operations.
- When
- The article does not give a date for his current appointment; it says he lost his father in 2021.
- Where
- Microsoft’s Canadian operations; Goyal was born and raised in Delhi and studied at IIM Ahmedabad.
- Why
- He says he moved from consulting to product management after reflecting on whether consulting was his long-term career path.
- IIM Ahmedabad achievement
- Gold medal and Rank 1 in the Post Graduate Programme
- First post-graduation role
- Management consultant at Boston Consulting Group
- Reported starting package
- Approximately Rs 27–30 lakh annually
- Current role
- Principal Product Lead at Microsoft’s Canadian operations
- Team size
- 13 people
- Father’s death
- Goyal said his father died during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021
- Career advice
- He emphasizes professional skills and work habits, and says salary should not be the only measure of success.