Last week, I had the pleasure of hosting BC alum Arnold Sookram on behalf of the Graduate Tech Club and Undergraduate Career Services. Arnold is a Senior Business Manager of Free-to-Play Digital Games at Xbox and spoke to a group of undergraduates and MBA students interested in gaming and technology. I interviewed Arnold and we discussed the breadth and depth of his impressive career in wireless and digital media. We were all really fortunate that Arnold came to share his career insights with us.

Arnold told us that gaming has exploded into a $70 billion industry across all platforms. We discussed the competitive landscape and how Xbox fans are embracing the digital-download revolution. Arnold walked us through his regular interactions with content producers, and how he attempts to maximize the impact of the release of each game add-on. For those who aren’t familiar with the model, free-to-play games are made available at no cost and generate revenue through add-on content that is made available for purchase.

Arnold also spoke to how Microsoft has been transforming for the mobile-first, cloud-first world under the new CEO, Satya Nadella. He reminded us that Nadella’s first major acquisition as CEO was Minecraft creator Mojang, a sign of Microsoft’s continued commitment to great gaming content.

When the audience Q&A session that followed the interview began, students had a lot of questions for Arnold. It was clear that the everyone present were very knowledgeable about the industry and eager to learn more, continuing to prove that #BCisTech.

On behalf of the Grad Tech Club, I would like to thank Arnold Sookram once again for engaging with us last week! It is great to have such loyal Eagles in our alumni network who are so excited to speak with current students. I am looking forward to visiting Arnold and the Xbox team in WA this January with the Graduate Tech Trek West field study program and potentially hosting him again in the Spring.  If you’re interested in hearing Arnold speak the next time he is on campus, sign up to be notified here.

John Dentinger is a first year MBA and member of the Grad Tech Club at Boston College.