From the French Riviera to Europe's "Silicon valley": the EDHEC TECH TREK to Dublin

On an intensive 5-day Tech Trek to Dublin last week, a group of EDHEC MBA and MSc participants discovered not only why Dublin is often referred to as ‘the Silicon Valley of Europe’ but also how highly developed the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Ireland is, in the IT, E-health and Fintech sectors. 

This was the 2nd annual Dublin Tech Trek, and the 1st ever joint EDHEC MSc and MBA Trek worldwide. 23 candidates across both programmes followed a jam-packed schedule of meetings with senior managers and recruiters at 8 leading tech companies: IBM, Indeed, Dropbox, Facebook, Microsoft, LogMeIn, WeWork and Oracle who all have their general HQs in Silicon Valley and their European headquarters in Dublin.  

“It was such a pleasure meeting the students and exchanging on Dropbox. Hoping to see more EDHEC graduates joining Dropbox soon!” 
Marie-Emmanuelle Flute, Product Operations Manager for Payments at Dropbox (EDHEC 2010) 

At EDHEC we always like to stay close to our wider alumni ‘family’, in fact, we have a team of Alumni Ambassadors in most major cities around the world that volunteer to organise activities. This meant that the current group of MSc and Global MBA candidates got the opportunity to network with our EDHEC alumni who work in Dublin for companies including Google and Salesforce.  

"I got invaluable advice from the alumni; they really opened our eyes to the opportunity to work for a major tech company in Europe after graduation,” says Global MBA participant Nrapendra Mishra. “Hearing about daily work routines and responsibilities help us gauge the skills and attitude required for the job, which we couldn't learn from any other online or offline resource. This kind of support is only possible because of the rich EDHEC alumni presence in Dublin.” 

Although the main focus of the trip was to give our participants an opportunity to network with major players in tech, the group also discovered cutting-edge technology and trends from some of the world’s leading innovators.  

“Whether experiencing Facebook’s VR, getting a Master Class in Marketing at Dropbox, learning about the importance of passion and authenticity from senior leadership at LogMeIn, or learning about Microsoft’s Mixed Reality platform, career treks such as these allow students to get a truly in-depth and hands-on view of what working in a specific company and industry might be like.”
Cassandra Pittman, Director of International Corporate and Alumni Relations 

Other highlights included deep-dive seminars into opportunities and business strategy at Indeed and WeWork, a fascinating presentation on AI and healthcare at IBM, and a lively session at Oracle Digital where the team were treated to a debate on Top Tech Trends which included the oft-asked question; will robots replace the workforce? 

Why not check out our recent learning expedition to South Africa, or find out about future events including free webinars and workshops, and global MBA tours near you. Or contact our admissions team for information on how to apply. If your company is interested in partnering with us on future treks, or if you are interested in future corporate opportunities with the Global MBA, contact Cécile Benchetrit.