Twitter was formed in 2007 and one year later recorded a massive 752% growth. One of the people now set to steer this extraordinary social medium is Oxford MBA alumnus, Santosh Jayaram, who has recently been appointed Twitter’s Vice President of Global Business Operations.

An Indian diaspora, Santosh is passionate about the medium. “I came to the USA from India ten years ago with US$730 and two suitcases in my hand,” he says. “It can be hard to start a new life where you have no background. Now I keep up daily with the people who are important to me.” This is a sea change from Santosh’s childhood. “When I was growing up, India was always 20 years behind technology companies in the west but now, when it comes to cell phones we’re ahead of the States; everyone has one. It’s leap-frogged every other form of communication.

Santosh has plenty of experience of fast-growing companies. He previously spent two years heading up English language search operations for Google. “There were some issues with Google growing too quickly but overall they did it right,” he says.

Born in India and educated there, Santosh gained a BS in Engineering and Electronics Engineering from Bharathiar University. He went to the US in 1999 where he worked in the information technology sector for a number of companies including The Sutherland Group (as Director of Business Development).

In 2002 Santosh decided it was time to do an MBA to broaden his exposure. “My experience was all based around IT,” he says. “My goal was go out and start a business and if I wanted to be successful there was much I needed to learn.”

The Saïd Business School was Santosh’s first and only choice, due to the recommendations of friend and mentor Mike Malone, prominent American entrepreneurship journalist and founder of the Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford forum. “He said that after studying in India and working in the US, to continue my studies in Europe would complete the circle. And of course Oxford gives such a rounded international experience.”

 His time at Oxford imbued Santosh with a significant sense of confidence. “Above all it gave me the confidence to know what I needed to learn. This was profound for me, especially being educated in one country and trying to make it in another.” He also credits Oxford with giving him a strong understanding of wider business functions. “Much of what I do at Twitter now is understanding data and statistics – drawing conclusions from myriad options. Oxford helped enormously with that,” he says.