First Date With TAU University

Towards the start of the 2022/23 academic year, as part of an orientation day for first-year bachelor students, the Tel Aviv University Alumni Organization, headed by Sigalit Ben Hayoun, hosted a panel of inspiring alumni, who told their stories from the time they graduated to their professional and personal success:

Alon Arvatz, a Faculty of Law alumnus, Co-Founder of IntSights. IntSights provides intelligence alerts before cyberattacks and was sold to Rapid7 for $335 million.

Adi Ofek, a Coller School of Management alumna, is the CEO of Mercedes Benz Research and Development.

Omer Keilaf, an alumnus of the Faculty of Engineering and the Coller School of Management, CEO and Co-Founder of Innoviz Technologies. Innoviz is the first Israeli startup to enter Wall Street through a merger with SPAC, and last year it closed a $4 billion deal to integrate the technology it developed into all Volkswagen vehicles.

Karen Schwok, an alumna of the Coller School of Management, Owner and CEO of Lucid Investments.

Tomer Blustein, an alumnus of the Faculty of Exact Sciences and Life Sciences, Founder of Pink Park and Chief Business Development Officer at Bayit Bakfar.

The panel was moderated by Noam Furer, a Tel Aviv University alumnus with BA in Communications and Political Science and an MA in Communication from the Faculty of Social Sciences, VP Strategy and Digital at Ben Horin & Alexandrovitz.

During the panel, Alon Arvatz noted that he owed a lot to the university: he met his business partners at the university and the offices that served as his first startup were a room in the Library of Social Sciences at the university, to which he returned and made a donation when he was financially successful and was able to acknowledge the investment in him.

When a question was raised from the audience about the feasibility of investing time in public activities on campus despite the workload of studies, Alon spoke about the great contribution of his activity in the Student Union to his business success, as public activities helped him develop a network of acquaintances and gave him abilities that contributed greatly to his professional life, and therefore he said as a tip for students- learn and be inspired by students who are studying a year or two above you, ask many questions and engage in volunteer activities relevant to what you want to do in the future- this is an investment that will pay for itself.

When asked who was the lecturer that influenced him the most, Alon noted that the university’s president, Prof. Ariel Porat, influenced and continues to influence his way of thinking to this day.

Adi Ofek, who lived and worked in Asia for many years as part of her international career, noted that her studies prepared her for changes and allowed her to advance to positions she did not believe she would be chosen for. She explained to the participants that although there’s a trend in these days of young people choosing not to study and entering directly into the high-tech industry, when she sees, as CEO, a candidate’s resume who graduated with an academic degree, she understands that this is a person who invests in himself and his future and someone who understands how important this is. She also gave a tip for students who are studying in the humanities, social sciences and arts in a technological world: she explained that each of us has several pegs in our toolbox that we’ve collected during our studies and professional experience. To enter a new field, it is enough to find one relevant peg, and to study the new field around it. She explained that with examples for her career, telling about when she joined Mercedes-Benz using the peg provided by her academic background in management, whereas today she manages a research center in the cyber field, which is a field that was completely new to her and which she made sure to get to know and study in depth to succeed in the role. Today, Adi is the only woman in the senior management team of Mercedes-Benz.

Omer Keilaf also emphasized the importance of studying at the university and the fact that many in his company are university graduates. He encouraged the participants with his tip, to study what they love, to engage in activities that challenge them and that will bring them great pleasure.

Karen Schwok mentioned her unique experience by telling about the challenges as an Olah Hadasha and the fact that the university gave her the tools for critical thinking, which allowed to develop, dare and thrive.

Tomer Blustein told the students that he was excited to be in this place, envied their position and would like to study for a doctorate. He noted that his studies at the Faculty of Life Sciences gave him tools which he used in his startup, Pink Park: he applied a method from the life sciences to the parking shortage in Tel Aviv, after a lecture he heard at the university made him try to think of a problem that he could solve.

All six participants mentioned how proud they were to be alumni of the university. At the end of the meeting they stayed and personally answered new students who approached them with questions and specific advice.