Spring 2011

Young Alumni Dean's Club Member Profile: Kabir Shahani

2004 Informatics Alumnus Kabir Shahani

Informatics Alumnus Kabir Shahani was happy to give back to the school that taught him the important principles of connecting people and information. So when he was asked, not long after graduation, to make a financial gift to the iSchool, Shahani didn’t hesitate. As he puts it, “I got a bargain deal at the iSchool—an outstanding education for an exceptional value! The iSchool taught me the value of the real application of technology—how to think about its use, instead of just features and functions. For this, and other important lessons, I am extremely grateful.”

Shahani has been a member of the iSchool’s Young Alumni Dean’s Club for four years. The traditional Dean’s Club recognizes donors who give $500 or more to the iSchool each year, but donors under 30 years of age receive Dean’s Club recognition with a gift of $250 or more. Dean’s Club, and Young Alumni Dean’s Club, members receive special benefits at the iSchool such as invitations to special events—including the annual Dean’s Club Dinner at the Seattle Yacht Club, recognition in the iSchool newsletter, an opportunity to meet other alumni and friends of the iSchool, and the knowledge that your alma mater is stronger because of your commitment.

Kabir was recognized as one of the Bloomberg Business Week’s “Best Young Tech Entrepreneurs” of 2009. He is the co-founder and CEO of Appature—creator of a cloud-based marketing platform that allows healthcare marketers to quickly gain new customer insights and create programs to deepen brand relationships and drive greater sales growth. Leaders in the pharmaceutical, medical device, and health and wellness industries utilize Appature to assist them in realizing the true potential of their marketing efforts.

Kabir credits the iSchool for helping him “charter the unknown” and for helping him answer questions correctly in his first job interview. He appreciates that the Informatics program gave him the fundamentals that he needs to be successful — a combination of training and academics.

“The Informatics program is designed to help you think and restructure how your mind thinks through problems, and it marries that skill with practical, real, knowledge. It provided me a breadth of skills to be proficient in a number of areas.” After studying at the iSchool, Kabir was a PM at Avanade—a multinational IT consulting and software software company that develops business software based on the Microsoft .NET platform. He gets energized when he explains what he learned at the iSchool, ”It’s “surprisingly simple®” like Appature’s tagline……How do you make information and technology simple and practical?” he says, “I felt stretched, and very challenged—the right combination for an extraordinary education.”

For more information about becoming a Dean’s Club or Young Alumni Dean’s Club member, contact Peggy Fine, Assistant Director for Advancement, at peggyo@uw.edu or 206-543-6833.