Anant Yardi speaks to college grads at Stony Brook Convocation

Anant Yardi delivered a Convocation keynote speech advising business school graduates to shape their futures around goals, vision, innovation and acceptance of change.

Written by Joel Nelson

06 / 27 / 25

2 min read

Anant Yardi offered insights, earned from leading his namesake company over four decades, to new business school graduates. Delivering the keynote address at the Convocation ceremony for the Stony Brook University College of Business in New York state, Mr. Yardi described the fulfillment possible from setting goals and establishing a vision, whether personal or professional, to reach them.

“Your goals should be achievable yet just a bit outside your reach,” he told his audience of bachelor’s and master’s degree recipients, recalling the ambitious revenue goals that he set, and met, in the first years after Yardi’s founding in 1984. He traced his vision of developing real estate management software, which started with three original employees and now encompasses more than 10,000 in offices around the world.

Mr. Yardi also urged the graduates to embrace change. “The greatest opportunities are available when there’s change, and each of you will have to think about leveraging it” to achieve personal and professional goals, he said. For example, Yardi began writing programs tailored to personal computers when the devices exploded in popularity in the mid-1980s.

Equally important, he added, “make sure that you innovate” by using the latest technology to benefit customers or society at large. “Over time, your knowledge will become obsolete, and that’s why being on your toes and learning all the time is so important.”

As a final charge to the graduates, Mr. Yardi said, “You are the future and will succeed. As you achieve success, accept it with a degree of humanity and gratitude.”

AUTHOR

Joel Nelson, senior marketing writer, joined Yardi in 2007. His byline has appeared in New York Real Estate Journal, Canadian Property Management and Los Angeles Lawyer, among others. He has won multiple awards from major professional organizations including the International Association of Business Communicators and Public Communicators of Los Angeles. Joel earned a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College.

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