They cracked UPSC, got IAS. 13 years later, Roman Saini and Divya Mittal moved on

Roman Saini left IAS within 20 months to build Unacademy. Thirteen years after clearing UPSC, that chapter has now changed too. Divya Mittal stayed in the IAS for 13 years before resigning. Their journeys offer a different look at success, ambition and choosing what comes next.

In Short

• Roman Saini left IAS within 20 months and went on to build education giant Unacademy
• Thirteen years after clearing UPSC, Saini's Unacademy chapter has now entered a new phase
• Divya Mittal spent 13 years in IAS before choosing to leave the coveted civil service

For many UPSC aspirants, clearing the UPSC civil services examination is the dream that can take years of preparation, multiple attempts and enormous sacrifice.

But what happens after you get there? Roman Saini and Divya Mittal offer two striking answers.

Saini cleared UPSC at 22, joined the IAS and left in roughly 20 months. He then helped build Unacademy, one of India's biggest edtech companies. Now, with Unacademy acquired by upGrad after more than a decade, another chapter of his career has come to an end.

At almost the same time, 2013-batch IAS officer Divya Mittal has resigned from the service after around 13 years.

Their stories are different, but together they raise an unusual question: What if the career you worked hardest to get is not where you want to spend your whole life?

SAINI LEFT THE IAS BEFORE HIS CAREER HAD REALLY BEGUN

Roman Saini's decision was particularly unusual.

He had cleared AIIMS at 16, completed his medical degree and then cracked UPSC Civil Services Examination 2013 with an All India Rank of 18. At 22, he had secured the career that millions of young Indians dream about.

Yet the IAS lasted less than two years.

During his time at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Saini spoke with entrepreneur Gaurav Munjal. That conversation eventually led him to quit the civil services and work on Unacademy.

Looking back now, Saini described that moment himself.

"Unacademy is getting acquired by upGrad today," he wrote on X. "It has been one helluva journey since that stroll in LBSNAA" when he decided to quit IAS and build the company.

It was a huge gamble at the time.

Unacademy had started in 2015, when online teaching was still far from the mainstream. Saini recalled calling around 200 people in the first month to persuade them to teach online.

The gamble paid off spectacularly during the pandemic. At its peak, Saini said, Unacademy was hosting more than 100,000 live classes a month and had nearly one million paid subscribers.

13 YEARS AFTER UPSC, ANOTHER CHAPTER CLOSES

Now comes the interesting part. Saini cleared UPSC in 2013. Thirteen years later, in 2026, Unacademy's journey has reached another turning point.

upGrad has completed its acquisition of Unacademy for slightly more than $200 million. The deal brings the company Saini helped build into a new phase under another education major.

Thirteen years after clearing UPSC, the man who walked away from the IAS for entrepreneurship is once again at a career crossroads.

And on the other side is Divya Mittal.

MITTAL STAYED FOR 13 YEARS

Divya Mittal's route was almost the exact opposite.

The IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore graduate had previously worked in London before returning to India and joining the IAS in 2013. She went on to hold several administrative positions in Uttar Pradesh, including district magistrate roles in Deoria, Mirzapur and Sant Kabir Nagar.

Her resignation on August 30 ended roughly 13 years in the service.

In a farewell message, Mittal called it an "unforgettable 13-year journey". She has not publicly given a specific reason for leaving.

Her career included work that went well beyond the image of a desk-bound bureaucrat. In Mirzapur, for instance, she became known for helping bring piped water to a remote hill village that had waited decades for it.

And yet, after 13 years, she too decided it was time for another chapter. That is what makes the comparison worth noticing.

TWO UPSC SUCCESS STORIES, AND THE 13-YEAR CIRCLE

Roman Saini and Divya Mittal took very different routes after clearing UPSC. But in 2026, their stories have arrived at an oddly similar point.

Saini cleared UPSC in 2013, entered the IAS and left within about 20 months. He then spent the next decade building Unacademy. Thirteen years after clearing UPSC, that entrepreneurship chapter has now entered a new phase with Unacademy being acquired by upGrad.

Mittal, who joined the IAS around the same UPSC generation, did almost the opposite. She stayed in the civil services for 13 years before deciding to leave in 2026.

So, 13 years after the UPSC milestone, both have moved beyond the careers they chose immediately after entering the civil services.

Saini's first big decision was to walk away from the IAS and build something of his own. Mittal's was to spend 13 years in public administration before walking away from it.

That makes their stories less about quitting a prestigious career and more about something many UPSC aspirants rarely imagine while preparing for the exam: what happens when you achieve the dream, live it for a while, and then realise you want to do something else?

For Saini, the answer was entrepreneurship. For Mittal, it is another chapter after a long stint in administration.

Their journeys suggest that clearing UPSC does not have to lock someone into one definition of success for life.

Sometimes the hardest decision is not clearing the exam. It is deciding what to do after you have already cleared it.

- Ends