It’s rare that a person earns an Executive MBA from the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and receives the highest international honors for architects, but Jayesh Hariyani (EMBA ’05) holds that unique distinction.
With his induction into the 2026 cohort of Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA), Hariyani has solidified his standing as a towering figure in international design. Combining this award with his 2021 elevation to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows (FAIA) shows Hariyani’s impact on the world. He is only the third architect from India to receive both honors.
Building a Strong Base
Hariyani loved to draw as a child; becoming an architect was a natural fit. It wasn’t until his career was established that he saw the need for an advanced business degree.
“I grew up in a business family, so business was part of my DNA before I studied it formally. I watched my father and grandfather deal with challenges as they came—often with remarkable practical wisdom, intuition, and resilience, without an MBA,” he says.
When he became a principal practitioner, he saw an MBA as a logical next step in his education.
“Architecture and urban planning taught me how to think about design, context, people, urban systems, and the physical environment. But as the responsibilities grew, I increasingly felt the need to understand another kind of structure: the organization itself,” says Hariyani. “The Executive MBA provided other lens through which to look at organizations, strategy, finance, global business, decision-making, management, and growth beyond boundaries.”
Hariyani graduated from the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad, India, was an exchange student at ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and later earned his post-professional advanced standing Master of Architecture degree at Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, he attended a lecture by the chairman of Burt Hill, which resulted in a job offer to join their practice in Pittsburgh.
“I initially thought I would remain in the United States for only a few more years to gain experience working on more complex interdisciplinary projects,” says Hariyani. “That decision ultimately changed the course of my life and led to an entire career at Burt Hill.”
He is currently the founder and senior principal of INI Design Studio, in Ahmedabad, India. He and his wife and professional collaborator, Bindu Hariyani—who also graduated from Pitt’s Executive MBA program in 2005—have turned INI Design Studio into a growing multidisciplinary international practice with over 500 professionals.
Winning Combination: Architecture and MBA
Both use their business knowledge in different ways at INI Design Studio. He leads the practice and oversees projects while she leads the operational side, including accounting, finance, IT, legal and HR.
The couple enrolled in the Executive MBA program to spend more meaningful time together over weekends. “Pursuing it alongside our full-time professional responsibilities became another important, shared experience in our journey,” he says.
Early in his career he designed houses and furniture; now he’s designing and planning some of the most complex and large-scale urban and architectural projects around the world. One example is Rajkot Smart City, in Gujarat, India. This greenfield master plan spans over 900 acres, organized around smart infrastructure, walkable districts, water systems, and public amenities.
His family upbringing, combined with his MBA, gave him the skills he needed to have success with large-scale projects.
Highlights of his work include a masterplan for the Kedarnath temple town that was washed away in the Uttarakhand floods of 2013; The Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM) in Houston, Texas; and the Dumas Sea Face Masterplan in Surat, India, which links plazas, play areas and viewing decks along a continuous promenade.
“I see the MBA as complementing what I learned growing up. My father gave me an instinct for business and for dealing with real-world challenges. Katz gave me more frameworks and perspectives to make those instincts more strategic, deliberate, and scalable. The combination has been particularly valuable in my leadership journey—bringing together practical experience and structured thinking, while being able to work globally and regionally at the same time,” he says.
Hariyani has worked on projects around the world, when asked what he’s most proud of, he says, ”projects that improve quality of life, strengthen communities and context make me more joyful. These projects play transformative role and create lasting value for the society.”
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