BENGALURU: Imagine enrolling in a career program, spending three intense weeks learning real-world business skills, and not paying a single rupee until you actually land a job. That is not a marketing gimmick. That is the founding promise of Apex School of Business, a bold new career accelerator launched by IIT and ISB alumni that is already turning heads in India’s competitive job market.
For India’s ambitious graduates and early professionals who refuse to settle with a mediocre job and want to build a growing career in business development and revenue roles, Apex School of Business may be the most important institution to emerge in this decade of AI-driven business careers.
“We get paid only when our students get a job. This reflects our confidence in the training we deliver and the real demand companies have for AI-skilled business professionals. Good talent is hard to find, and companies know it,” says Shashikant Burnwal, founder of Apex School of Business. “That means we are fully invested in our students’ success. Not in filling seats. Not in selling courses. In their career.”
Burnwal is not an armchair educator. An Engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from ISB Hyderabad, he spent 15 years building businesses from scratch, including two technologystartups. Over the last five years, he personally helped more than 27 companies build their business and growth systems. That same playbook now powers the Apex curriculum, with one critical upgrade: artificial intelligence woven into every layer of it.
“Companies are not looking for people who can memorize a sales script,” Burnwal explains. “They want professionals who can use AI to find the right prospects, build smarter outreach programs, and run full business development systems.”
The program runs for three weeks across nine structured modules. Students build real campaigns, design automation workflows, and build revenue pipelines using tools like Apollo.io, HubSpot, n8n, and OpenAI. Twice a week, live Zoom sessions with mentors who have worked at Tata, Citibank, Amazon, and HDFC bring actual deal experience into every discussion.
The faculty and mentor lineupis exceptional. Alongside Burnwal is Anurag Bhatnagar, a 30-year finance veteran from Citibank, HDFC, and MaxLife Insurance, and founder of ShiftAlt Capital. Ian Jason Creado, who has consulted 20-plus companies across India and the US, rounds out the core team. Completing the faculty is Gurpreet Walia, an ISB alumnus with 22-plus years of corporate leadership experience at companies like Lenovo, Star Network, Amazon, and Allen.
After three weeks of learning, students enter a fourth week of career preparation and job placement, including resume refinement, mock interviews, portfolio building, and recruiter connections. They then receive continued support until they land the right role.
The fee structure is as unconventional as the program. Students pay nothing upfront and contribute only after receiving a job offer of 4 LPA or above, and only after their first salary is credited. No placement means no payment, period.
Abhayjeet Pandey, now a Business Operations Analyst at NatWest Group, says: “Apex taught me what business development really means. The tools, the automation, the workflows. It was an eye-opener.”
Sunny Kanojiya from the Apex School of Business team adds: “We are seeing a lot of interest from companies to hire from us, because our students do not just crack interviews, they excel at work.”
