Indian Institute of Technology Bombay graduate Shreyansh Barodiya once worked in the fast-paced world of high-frequency trading, handling complex systems and building a strong corporate career in Gurgaon. He even went on to lead his second company. But despite professional success, he found himself drawn towards public service.
Today, Mr. Barodiya has secured All India Rank 194 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025.
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Speaking to Indian Masterminds, he said his journey was less about studying endlessly and more about maintaining clarity and focus throughout the preparation process.
Education had always played a central role in his family. His father served in the Madhya Pradesh government and retired as joint director of finance, while holding degrees in BCom, MCom and LLB. His mother completed her MBA in her 50s, and his brother, an Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar graduate, currently works at Deloitte.
After graduating from IIT Bombay in 2018, Mr. Barodiya entered the technology sector as a software engineer before taking up leadership responsibilities in another company. Six years later, he decided to leave the corporate world and prepare for UPSC.
He approached preparation in a highly structured manner, solving numerous prelims test papers while focusing deeply on areas such as science and technology, international relations, internal security and society.
Mathematics became his optional subject because of its logical and objective nature. Unlike constantly changing current affairs, it offered him clarity and predictability.
Mr. Barodiya also joined several discussion groups with specific learning goals and relied heavily on video lectures to strengthen his understanding of humanities subjects.
Interestingly, he incorporated AI tools into his preparation strategy as well.
“I used ChatGPT a lot for creating different kinds of questions and exploring different dimensions in which a conversation can go,” he said.
For Mr. Barodiya, UPSC preparation was ultimately about building strong conceptual clarity from the beginning.
