AlphaSights Values, Culture, and People

I completed my first week at AlphaSights in New York this Friday. The first week focused on a week-long company orientation, teaching interns both broad and specific introductions to AlphaSights, what kinds of clients the organization works with, why co-founders Max Cartellieri and Andrew Heath created the company in 2007, the company’s current challenges, future business and development goals, and reasoning behind the organization’s emphasis on people. AlphaSights hired 92 interns for its Summer Associate role in New York this summer — the largest intern class in company history — so Vice Presidents and Managers were keen to teach us more about what the company does, our role, and why they hired us during the first week.

During orientation, leaders focused on the organization’s culture in every presentation and information session. AlphaSights values five major categories in all employees, including interns: drive, results, adaptability, humility, and emotional intelligence. According to the organization’s co-founders and recruiters, the success stems from balancing drive and results with humility, adaptability, and emotional intelligence. Leaders advised interns to seek to further individually develop each of these qualities through our interactions with colleagues and clients during our time at AlphaSights, as these character traits are transferrable and highly sought after among most major organizations. Orientation sessions explained AlphaSights values constant structured constructive feedback sessions for all employees and maintaining a humble, mature mindset will help us as interns progress through skills and improve without taking suggestions too personally.

A large portion of orientation week, besides learning about clientele and company policies, focused on meeting different individuals across company teams and departments. Several organization leaders, including co-founder Max Cartellieri, came to speak with the intern class to express how proud and excited they are about the company’s milestone of hiring 92 interns this summer. Every individual was highly engaging, intelligent, approachable, kind, and accomplished — qualities that reflect AlphaSights’ emphasis on hiring not only the brightest associates, but also individuals who can become mentors and friends to one another. AlphaSights balances formal and informal communication methods; when working on company projects, associates are highly professional, but during lunch breaks or outside the office individuals are more casual and comfortable speaking about their personal lives or sharing jokes. The company is generally young in terms of associates’ ages, shaping how associates present themselves to others and providing unique opportunities to be mentored or led by an individual less than 10 years older than oneself.

Overall, AlphaSights culture is founded on mutual respect, ambition, passion, and growth mindsets that allow interns and associates to become effective employees to build the next generation of the company’s business and people. AlphaSights is a fast-paced, ever developing company and leaders want employees — especially interns — to recognize their ability to impact the company’s culture and business during their internship. The company is driven by its people; no algorithms or computers can provide our services to clients, so individuals emphasize the importance of being respectful, authentic, and open with one another at work. The first week of my internship definitely got me excited and ready for the next nine weeks to come!