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At IÉSEG, professors inspire, challenge, and mentor hundreds of students every year. Each month, we sit down with a faculty member to dive into their background, their vision, their teaching philosophy, and what truly drives them. This month, we met Pratik GOEL who has been teaching Financial Accounting on the Paris campus since 2016.   

Can you tell us a bit about yourself? 

I was born in New Delhi, India, and did my bachelor’s in economics at the University of Delhi. After that, I went to the University of Glasgow in Scotland to pursue a Master’s in Financial Risk Management. The next step was to complete a PhD, during which I spent my first year at INSEAD — six months in France and six months in Singapore. The PhD took five years in total. Then I joined IÉSEG in 2016. 

Before academia, I was actively involved in social programs in India. I was a volunteer teacher at the ‘Teach India English for Employability’ program, trained by the British Council, where I would go into the slum areas of Delhi to deliver Spoken English modules to young adults. I also conducted confidence-building workshops for underprivileged young women. These experiences shaped me deeply and showed me the impact a teacher can have.  

And why did you choose IÉSEG? 

First, I believe a lot in the energy I feel from the people I meet. The time I spent at IÉSEG during the interview felt right. I could feel the positive, international working environment. It was a fast-growing school and I wanted to be part of that journey. 

The second reason is Paris. When I was at INSEAD for the first year of my PhD, I fell in love with the city. It was my dream to come live here! 

What do you teach at IÉSEG? 

Since I joined the school, I’ve taught mainly two courses: Financial Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis, across bachelor, master, and PGP programs. 

Financial accounting is really learning how to speak the language of business. Imagine the daily life of a business — selling products, buying equipment, paying salaries, renting offices. Financial accounting is the art and science of capturing this chaos and turning it into standardized, neat photo albums. It’s about communicating financially about your business to your stakeholders. 

To give a concrete example, let’s say you start a lemonade stand. The first day, you buy lemon squeezers, sugar, cups. If you look at your bank statements, you might think your business has lost money. But accounting logic tells you that the money spent on lemon squeezers is not a loss — it’s an asset, because those squeezers will continue generating money for years to come. Financial accounting is understanding this logic and communicating effectively to stakeholders, such as investors. 

The Financial Statement Analysis course, is about discovering the story behind the photo album. What are those financial numbers telling us about the performance and health of a business? Students often find it puzzling that a business can have fantastic sales and a great product, yet still run out of cash and go bankrupt. In this course, I teach students to be financially intelligent, to spot a cash shortage early and take corrective action before it’s too late. 

Even if the stereotype about accounting is that it’s boring, I tell my students that cash is the lifeline of a business. Without enough cash, you cannot run your business. Without creating value for your stakeholders, you cannot succeed. These courses are important because they are necessary — even if you don’t pursue a career in accounting or finance, every business professional needs to understand a minimum of accounting to succeed. 

How do you incorporate AI into your courses? 

I tell students to use AI as their friend and guide. In class, if we do two practical exercises, I tell them what prompt to use to generate five more for additional practice. Accounting is very practical — students always need more exercises, and AI can help generate them. But I always tell them to use it with a critical mind. 

In terms of evaluation, online exams have become harder, so many are now paper-based. But for the group project in Financial Statement Analysis, where students pick two real-life companies and conduct a detailed financial analysis, I’ve incorporated AI use in a responsible way. Students begin their research using AI to obtain a starting point, but then they must use the companies’ annual reports to find concrete examples to support their work. They also perform calculations in Excel and submit those files. This way, AI is used as a tool alongside their own research — promoting a responsible, verifiable approach based on critical thinking. 

What teaching methods do you use? 

I use a plethora of methods. I’ve published six to seven case studies incorporating real and fictitious company examples. In my Financial Statement Analysis course at the PGP level, I invite a senior industry professional for the final session where students present their group projects — they get live feedback from someone who evaluates them as they would in industry. 

For classroom engagement, I use Wooclap, which enables all students to participate — especially the shy ones who know the answers but don’t speak up. It also gamifies learning: instead of putting the solution on a slide, I make a quiz where students compete and see a live leaderboard. It adds excitement and keeps the class engaged. 

I also use the flipped classroom model. With colleagues, we’ve developed e-learning modules where students learn the theory at home and we spend class time on practical exercises and case studies. 

I also encourage students to take handwritten notes — especially bachelor students. There’s strong evidence that writing by hand helps you cognitively register content better, which is increasingly important in the digital age. For senior students, I encourage it but leave it to their discretion — my role is to show them the way. 

Do IÉSEG’s values inspire you? Do you feel aligned with them? 

Very much so! Solidarity and engagement really speak to me. I make it a point to actively participate in school activities. Accomplishment is another value I take seriously. I reward hard-working students and tell them I see them and I’m proud of them. I’m usually strict with first- and second-year students. If class starts at 9:00, I lock the door at 9. No cell phones, no laptops — they write by hand. For postgraduate students, I’m more liberal with technology, though still firm on latecomers. Students write in my evaluations that I can be demanding but they understand why — because I genuinely want them to perform to their best – and this is all that matters to me.