As part of the challenge, Travelers asked the students to imagine they worked as modelers for the company’s fraud detection department and tasked them with creating a predictive model that could help the company identify the key drivers that cause fraudulence. “The problems that we put out there for modeling competitions are not easy, and they tend to be of the type where the answer is not obvious,” explains Girish Modgil, SVP and chief AI officer at Travelers and a member of the MS in Business Analytics program’s curriculum advisory board. “It allows them to get direct and real time feedback from industry leaders on what they’re learning.”

Good Models Matter, but Communication is Key

Teams that are the most accurate or precise in terms of the metrics Travelers looks for in the competition generally do well, noted Modgil. “But it’s also about the communication,” he says. “How [the teams] are able to communicate about what the problem was, how they tackled it, how they worked together, how they brought diverse opinions and thought to it, and how they were able to cobble together an answer that was presentable and showed some progress toward achieving a solution.”

Qiu and her team went on to win the competition. She believes her team won, in part, because of its presentation and its business insights.

Everyone can do modeling. What really makes you stand out are your communication skills, your presentations skills.

Wenye Qiu 22MSBA

As a result of the competition, Qiu earned an interview—and ultimately a job—at Travelers. There, she builds pricing models for small commercial lines of business as a senior associate data scientist in the Data Science Leadership Development Program, a three year rotational program at Travelers. Qiu, who lives in Atlanta, also became Travelers’ campus representative for the modeling competition and, in 2024, took on the role of organizing the event. “I was happy to take the lead and give back to the program because I know they are awesome students,” Qiu says. “They deserve to have this opportunity to show off their skills.”

This past year, 30 teams from eight different schools—including three teams from Goizueta’s MS in Business Analytics program—presented as part of the Travelers University Modeling Competition. Two Goizueta teams tied for first place.

“For our MS in Business Analytics students, these experiential learning opportunities aren’t just valuable—they’re fundamental,” says Scott Radcliffe, the program’s managing director. “They transform classroom concepts into tangible skills, preparing our graduates not just to analyze data, but to drive impactful business decisions from day one.”

Mutually Beneficial

In 2024 Travelers, headquartered in New York, NY, opened a 2,800 square-foot office in Midtown Atlanta’s Technology Square. The site houses the company’s AI, data science, and other technology operations. “As part of our continued expansion and involvement in the community, we want to make sure that when we hire the talent, they’re well-equipped with the coursework and the experience that they ought to have to come in and start driving value,” says Modgil. “With that in mind, the best way is to go to the source.”

In addition to the modeling competition, Modgil’s work on the MS in Business Analytics program’s advisory board allows him to gather insights from students. During the advisory board’s bi-annual meetings, a handful of current Goizueta students are selected to give presentations on their research interests and career aspirations. “We get to see and experience what the current crop of students are hoping to do—and possibly adjust the ways we interview and recruit accordingly,” says Modgil. “And from an academic perspective, Scott and his team learn what is current, what companies are looking for and the types of skills we need.”

Coming Full Circle

When asked about her current role, Qiu explains that while she builds the pricing models first, she needs feedback from the teams using the models to make sure they work and work well. “My role actually involves a lot of presentations—delivering your model and your business insights to your business partners,” Qiu explains. “It’s a really good combination of technical and business.” This is something Modgil also underscores when describing Goizueta’s MS in Business Analytics program as “the perfect intersection” of business and data analytics. “Since Goizueta is such a good business school, you see a more well-rounded candidate coming out of the program,” says Modgil.  

To learn about career opportunities at Travelers, please visit https://careers.travelers.com/

Learn how Goizueta’s MS in Business Analytics program turns data-driven students into business-ready leaders. Explore a curriculum built on experiential learning, industry collaboration, and real-world impact.

The post From Modeling Challenge to Career Win at Travelers appeared first on EmoryBusiness.com.

“The goal of the summit is to educate, connect and empower,” said Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education & Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management Andrea Hershatter. “To that end, the greatest thing we can do for our current students and the alumni who attended is to bring in these powerful role models to share their insights and stories.”

Kickoff Conversation: A Fireside Chat with David Glattstein

To open the summit, Hershatter sat down with Glattstein for a fireside chat-style conversation in front of approximately 200 attendees. After his earning his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) at Goizueta, Glattstein immersed himself in the investment and private equity world, where he gained experience investing in and helping small businesses grow. Along the way, he earned an MBA from The Wharton School and in 2017, joined forces with David Bessler, VMD, to co-found VEG ER for Pets.

Glattstein and Bessler have reimagined the veterinary emergency business model. With a customer-centered approach, trained emergency veterinary staff, and rapid response times, each of VEG’s locations is open 24 hours, seven days a week, holidays included. VEG locations are open concept so that pet owners can “see everything and participate in” their pet’s care, notes the VEG website. “We want to provide mind-blowing customer experiences that people would never imagine,” Glattstein said.

Glattstein advised the students to think about the problem they’re solving for when they start a business. “For us, ER professionals—doctors and nurses—didn’t have a great place to build their careers, so we gave them that,” he said. To help existing veterinarians shift to emergency medicine, VEG provides a six-month fellowship program that offers mentorship and continuing education. VEG strives to create a culture that makes it “so obvious that that they would want to join us,” Glattstein said of employees, which are known as VEGgies. Glattstein admits that creating that environment took years.

Calling Glattstein amazing and “one of the kindest, most uplifting people I know,” Hershatter added that Glattstein is also “relentless and driven and expects his VEGgies to rise to the same level of commitment. He has built this into the incentive structure and into a culture of innovation.”

During his conversation with Hershatter, Glattstein also explained “IKIGAI,” the concept of combining one’s purpose and profession with one’s passion. “If I’m not going to be passionate about what I want to do and good at it, it’s going to be really hard to be successful,” said Glattstein. “You don’t just have to go into finance or banking or consulting to be successful.”

In addition to building a lasting, generational business and “genuinely doing something meaningful to drive positive impact,” Glattstein is committed to coaching and mentoring what he calls “the next generation of stars. I really want to be there for young people as they start their career and inspire them, help them, coach them,” he explained. “That’s something I really want to focus on.”

According to Glattstein, VEG ER for Pets’ revenues are growing 40% annually and are expected to top $1 billion in the next year. The company’s current investors include Fidelity Investors, Sequoia Heritage, and D1 Capital Partners.

Luminary Lessons: Breakout Sessions with Entrepreneurs

During two separate sessions on day two, after brief introductions, each of the luminary entrepreneurs went into breakouts with students to discuss pre-selected topics.

For the first session, Designing for the End User Experience, the entrepreneurs included Vanessa Jeswani 08BBA, co-founder of Nomad Lane; Adam King 09MBA, co-founder & CEO of 1587 Sneaker; Colin McIntosh 12BBA, founder & CEO of Sheets & Giggles; and Scott Roskind, Partner at R3 Venture Partners.

For the Venturing in Disruption & Technology discussion, the luminary entrepreneurs were Jeffrey Chernick 04BBA, the founder of several successful companies as well as an advisor and angel investor; Camerson “Cam” Duncan 17BBA, co-founder & CEO of Axle; David Gaspar 02BBA, co-founder & Head of Innovation at Gather; and Glen Surnamer, COO of Pensare LLC.

Students recorded their takeaways from their breakouts with the entrepreneurs. Those takeaways included: 

+ “A bad product with a good team can succeed but a great product with a bad team will never succeed.”

+ “You won’t change the status quo unless you ask why. Ask why five times to get the answer—then dig deeper.”

+ “If you want advice, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice.”

“What these Luminaries share is a perpetual intellectual curiosity and cycle of continuous learning, an incredibly strong work ethic, resilience, and a strong desire to control their own paths and destiny,” explained Hershatter.

Pitch the Summit Competition

The Goizueta Emory Entrepreneurship summit concluded with the final rounds of the Pitch the Summit Competition, which provides Goizueta and Emory undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to learn to pitch an idea for a new venture.

The student teams competed not only for funding for their businesses in the form of cash prizes, but for access to the Emory Venture Mentoring Community. “This year featured perhaps the most competitive group of student-founder-led ventures in the competition’s history, all of whom are also participants in the 2025 Techstars Emory Founder Catalyst program,” explained Brian Cayce, managing director of The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Cayce adds that the luminary entrepreneurs had committed to mentoring the student founders as well.

The top teams were:

Undergraduate

1^st place $7500: Subscription Intern

2^nd place $3500: Commonology AI

3^rd place $1500: Safe Squeeze Headgear

Graduate

1^st place $7500: Workforce IQ

2^nd place $3500: Corridor

3^rd place $1500: moji

“Our panel of Luminaries was notably impressed by the caliber of innovation and drive they witnessed,” said Cayce of the student Pitch the Summit teams. “It is a powerful reminder that with the right support, Emory entrepreneurs are truly poised to lead transformative ventures,” Cayce added.

Discover how The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation is reshaping business and empowering the next generation of leaders.

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The conference lineup included a mix of speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities around how best to drive one’s career journey. “The power to shape that journey lies in our hands, and today is about equipping ourselves with the tools, insights, and connections we need to keep moving forward,” said René Hallock 20EvMBA, president of Executive Women of Goizueta and the director of integrated marketing for international markets at Intuit Mailchimp. “This is an opportunity to grow both personally and professionally and to deepen the relationships that strengthen our collective success.”

Unlocking Potential Through Purposeful Relationships

In her keynote address, “Potential—Have you ever wondered about your potential?” Grace Chadwick 14EMBA, chief operating officer of Crumbl Cookies, talked about growing up in Mexico City and the influence her family, especially her mother, had on her. “As I studied my mother, I discovered that there are three key elements for us to really, really hone in on if we want to maximize our ability for our potential. And those three elements are purpose, power, and vision,” Chadwick told the audience. “Potential is about existing in possibility, which means all of us have the capability to reach our potential. It is available right now to each one of you.”

During her session, “Building your Personal Board of Directors,” Marina Cooley 14MBA, assistant professor in the practice of marketing, asked the audience to be intentional about building a personal board of directors, one that includes mentors, sponsors, sounding boards, and challengers—all very different types of board members. “This is a group of people who can help you in a variety of ways,” Cooley explained. She challenged audience members “to come up with two to three names of people who fit into these chairs that would help you meet the goals that you’ve said you have.”

Breakouts: Managing Upward and Storytelling

The first of two breakout sessions, “Managing Upward: Controlling Your Narrative,” examined how to master the art of managing relationships with supervisors and higher-ups. The session was moderated by Danielle McGivney 16EvMBA, vice president of organizational change management and strategic communications at KWI. The panelists included Regenia Sanders, Atlanta office managing partner at EY, Luci Rainey, Executive Coach, career and business Coach at DAY ONE Consulting and Coaching, and Jenny Mitchell, senior vice president of customer success at Advisr.

The “Storytelling: Communicating and Advocating for Yourself” breakout explored how to craft and share one’s story in a way that authentically communicates value and advocates for one’s career goals. Moderator Tyler Ewing 05BBA, co-founder of Switch Consulting Group, was joined by Lauren McGlory 16MBA, media productions global lead for strategy and accounts at LinkedIn, Liz Stanton 10MBA, vice president of financial planning and analysis at Delta Air Lines, and Jackie Martin 02MBA, executive people & culture leader.

Leveraging AI and New Ways of Working

In the fireside chat: “Leveraging AI,” Rubina Ohanian, managing director at Accenture, spoke with Executive Women of Goizueta board member Hope Cowan 88MBA, principal consultant at Hope Cowan Consulting, about artificial intelligence (AI)—including how daunting it can be for women to enter the male-dominated field. Ohanian, who leads LLM, AI, and AI education efforts for Accenture in North America, explained that not everyone is “a geeky type of person like me,” but then added that it’s urgent to learn AI. “You can learn anything. But you’ve got to take that step forward,” she said.

The final topic of the day, “New Ways of Working: Growing in a Distributed Environment,” was tackled by moderator Ty Heath 12MBA, director and co-founder at The B2B Institute at LinkedIn, and panelists Rachel Nelms, principal and founder of formations consulting (and former director of Goizueta’s Executive MBA program), Nicole Mejias 21EvMBA, client account lead for retail media at Microsoft Accounting, and Jackie Blankenship, director of performance development at Protiviti. The session explored how to excel in the modern work landscape by leveraging technology, fostering strong communication, and building relationships across virtual and in-office platforms.

Scholarships and Awards

Each year, Executive Women of Goizueta supports the advancement of women in business by providing financial assistance to exceptional candidates pursuing their MBA at Goizueta. The $5000 scholarship aims to demonstrate a commitment to excellence, diversity, and making a positive impact in their careers and communities. This year’s recipients were pediatric surgeon Alexis Smith MD 03C 26EMBA and Victoria Johnson 25MBV, commercial operations site lead at Johnson & Johnson.

The Guiding Star Award recognizes an up-and-coming business professional who has made progressive achievements in their career, demonstrates potential for the future, and guides others through their professional example and leadership in their community. This year’s recipient was Ariel Lomax, senior program manager at Medallia.

The Bridge Award recognizes a senior business leader with a demonstrated track record of creating opportunities for others, championing diversity, and producing results for the betterment of their community and/or workplace, which was awarded to Sarah Stansberry, senior vice president of Marketing at Fiserv.

About Executive Women of Goizueta

Started 22 years ago by Sarah O’Brien 03EMBA, Executive Women of Goizueta’s mission is to create a community that advances personal and professional leadership for Goizueta women and allies.  Executive Women of Goizueta’s Advancing Women in Leadership Annual Conference is open to the entire Emory University community and to friends of the organization. Current board members include: Hope Cown 88MBA, Abby England, Julie Friedberg 87C 23EMBA, Kuki Gandhi 15EvMBA, Tara Sconzo Halfon 14EvMBA, Rene Hallock 20EvMBA, Kristy Hoffman 17EvMBA, Tara Hornsby 24EMBA, Jen Kostyrna 04C 18EvMBA, Caren Lusk 13MBA, Lorry Perkins 15EMBA 17L, Setu Shah 15MBA, Missy Taylor 22EMBA, and Liz Wolfe 16MBA 16PH.

Learn more about Goizueta Business School’s Executive MBA and Evening MBA programs.

Enjoy more scenes from the 2025 Advancing Women in Leadership Conference below.

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“Our success in the competition would not have been possible without the invaluable lessons learned at the intersection of Goizueta’s undergraduate business degree and MS in Business Analytics programs,” says Andy (Khang) Dang 25BBA 25MSBA, a Data Swoop team member. “The Business Analytics program equipped us with the technical skills and methodologies to tackle complex challenges, while the undergraduate program prepared us to think critically about stakeholders and strategic decision-making. These complementary skill sets were instrumental in achieving this accomplishment.” Jason Evans 25BBA 25MSBA, Ian Poe 25BBA 25MSBA, and Zetao “Tommy” Pan 25BBA 25MSBA rounded out the Data Swoop squad.

“This win is a testament to the quality of our students and the market-relevant skills they acquire through the undergraduate BBA program and the MS in Business Analytics program,” says Zuzana Hlavacova Gurung, associate dean, specialized masters programs. “We are excited to see students apply their business and analytics skills to real world business problems and triumph in the competition.”

Data4Good: The Case and The Cause

The client at the center of the case competition was Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors—TAPS—a non-profit organization that, according to its website, provides “compassionate and comprehensive resources to all those grieving a death in the military or veteran community.” As part of its mission, the organization has developed a “survivor journey map” to guide staff in how best to care for bereaved families and help survivors navigate their grief journey. However, creating and updating the survivor journey map is labor-intensive. As a result, the organization’s ability to use the map to connect survivors with the most relevant care is limited.

For the competition, the teams’ task was to leverage “interaction data” between the survivors and the program to improve how the organization offers support . The teams developed an AI-powered solution that would automatically map survivor survey responses to the existing survivor journey map. The teams also created an innovative methodology that would aggregate and analyze survey data to generate improved versions of the journey map over time. Data Swoop’s strategy focused on creating customized support programs tailored to the unique needs of survivors and their loved ones.

As part of the competition, teams received free expert training for AI-900: Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals Certification, access to DataCamp courses, and INFORMS Job Task Analysis (JTA) Training. “This holistic experience not only provides an opportunity to use data, technology, process, and research-based methods to make good decisions for good problems, but also connects participants to leading data analytics organizations through credentialing and networking,” states the Data4Good’s case competition webpage.

Following the win, Dang thanked the organization for “the opportunity to solve a meaningful problem.”

“The competition broadened my perspective on the transformative potential of data science to drive positive societal change, while reaffirming my passion for combining data-driven insights with strategic decision-making to create lasting impact,” says Dang.

A Powerful Academic Combination

Andrea Hershatter, senior associate dean and undergraduate program director considers the Data Swoops victory a terrific example of the educational scope of the dual degree program. “The MS in Business Analytics program is built at the intersection of business, data, and technology and shapes cutting-edge business data scientists. Our undergraduate BBA students enter the Business Analytics portion of the program already equipped with foundational core business knowledge and contextual, strategic understanding of data-driven decision analysis,” explains Hershatter.

The joint degree is an incredibly powerful academic combination that clearly prepares students quite well, not just for competition in this instance, but also in making deeply informed and actionable recommendations in a business environment.

Andrea Hershatter, Senior Associate Dean and Undergraduate Program Director

The dual degree allows Goizueta undergraduate business students to complete both degrees in four and a half years rather than the typical four-year undergraduate degree followed by the one-year MS in Business Analytics program. Admission into the program is reserved for current Goizueta undergraduate students who are encouraged to apply during their junior year. The dual-degree students devote their senior year to the business analytics curriculum, after which they return to the undergraduate program to complete their final semester.

Discover how Goizueta’s dual degree programs can equip you with the skills to make an impact. Learn more.

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Since 2013, the Start:ME program has helped more than 500 entrepreneurs in underserved communities in Metro Atlanta start and grow resilient microbusinesses by providing business knowledge, mentorship, and access to capital. Collectively, previous Start:ME businesses will generate more than $20 million in annual revenue this year.

 “The Start:ME program grew out of the hypothesis that talented businesses are everywhere but the access to supportive knowledge, networks, and capital is not,” explains Erin Igleheart, program director of the Start:ME Accelerator.

These businesses are oftentimes overlooked in their critical importance in both creating an opportunity for income generation and wealth accumulation, as well as their collective cumulative impact on job creation and creating welcoming community spaces.

Erin Igleheart, Start:ME Accelerator Program Director

Over the course of the 14-week program, which began in January, more than 100 mentors will guide the entrepreneurs through topics such as business planning, pitching and storytelling, market research, and financials. These mentors also provide the microentrepreneurs with business insights, advice on how to start and grow their businesses, and help connect the entrepreneurs to supportive networks.

Additionally, each community has a grant pool of $15,000 to invest in a select number of this year’s businesses through a peer-review process. To date (not including the 2025 program), Start:ME has provided $420,000 in peer-selected capital to 149 ventures, furthering its mission to strengthen small businesses and the communities they serve.

Anchored in Partnerships

The Start:ME Accelerator program is delivered by Goizueta Business School’s Business & Society Institute, in partnership with community-led nonprofit organizations including the East Lake Foundation, Focused Community Strategies, Friends of Refugees, Grove Park Foundation, and Purpose Built Schools Atlanta. Bank of America, Emory University, Goizueta Business School, Regions Foundation, Target Corporation, and Truist Foundation are among the organizations that support the program.

“Truist Foundation is proud to be a longtime partner of the Start:ME program,” says Katie Saez, Truist’s regional president for Georgia. “We have watched this program grow from its inception and it’s exciting to see it expand this year into Northwest Atlanta. Supporting the small business ecosystem is especially important in underserved neighborhoods and helps foster economic mobility.” A longtime partner of the Start:ME program, Truist Foundation served as the program’s inaugural external seed funder, issuing the first grant to the Start:ME program’s Clarkston cohort in 2013. 

Northwest Atlanta Launches New Cohort

Several years ago, Ciara Mokeme, Head of Strategy, Adaobi Group, joined Start:ME as a mentor for the Southside community. This year, Mokeme became the program lead for the new Northwest Atlanta cohort. “Northwest Atlanta is going through a transformation right now,” Mokeme says. “The leaders in the community are really putting their foot down to promote economic development and to put together the foundational pieces that small business owners will be able to reap the benefits of beyond our 14-week program.”

I have no doubt that the business owners and the entrepreneurs that are in this first cohort are going to make changes in their operations. They’re going to provide more jobs. They’re really going to show up and show out in serving their community and their constituents. And I’m really excited to see it.

Ciara Mokeme, Start:ME Northwest Atlanta Program Lead

A serial entrepreneur herself, Mokeme’s involvement in Start:ME is, in part, an effort to pay it forward. “I’ve been there,” she says. If it weren’t for the people who gave Mokeme a chance and looked out for her, she “wouldn’t be where I am today,” she explains. “I think it’s important that we all recognize that we have a collective responsibility to one another.”

All About Microentrepreneurs

While business knowledge anchors the program, Igleheart underscores the importance of the individual entrepreneurs themselves. “They bring the ideas. They bring the solutions. They bring the passion. They bring a lot of the lived experience that they share with entrepreneurs of other backgrounds,” says Igleheart.

What oftentimes is the most valuable is those relationships with other small business owners who may be in a totally different stage or may be going down a slightly different path, but they’re sharing that knowledge and experience with one another.

Erin Igleheart

Meagan Naraine, executive director, Culturally Relevant Science (CRsci), an inclusive K-12 STEM education non-profit, calls the fellow entrepreneurs and mentors in her 2024 Start:ME cohort “a huge family.”

Before taking part in the Start:ME program, Naraine had applied twice for a Camelback Fellowship without being selected. The fellowship is comprised of a 16-week program and a $40,000 grant. After going through the Start:ME program in 2024, Naraine reapplied for the fellowship. This time, she got it. “When I got the Camelback, the Start:ME people were the first people I wanted to tell—and to thank them for everything they gave me,” says Naraine, whose day job is as a science instructional coach for Atlanta Public Schools. She credits Start:ME for getting her financials in order and for helping her interpret the data she’d been collecting. “They were all knowledgeable in stuff I had no clue about. That’s what I really needed, whether it came to financial advising or revenue streams—all that technical stuff that a teacher with an education background doesn’t have much experience in,” she explains.

Not only were you learning things, you were doing the things that they were talking about. You walked away with tangible products.

Meagan Naraine, 2024 Start:ME graduate

CRsci’s YouTube channel and curriculum subscriptions are beginning to generate revenue. And in an effort to scale the business, Naraine is looking to develop a digital platform so that CRsci can get its courses into more schools as well as protect its content.

New for Start:ME

Earlier this year, the Start:ME Accelerator Program received a nomination for Emory’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award, which honors individuals and agencies from the university and Atlanta communities “who have led with love and peace while advocating for justice for all,” according to a press release announcing the award. The award ceremony will take place later this month.

The Start:ME Accelerator program recently launched a new website that includes an online store where visitors can purchase products and services from businesses that have gone through the program.

On May 1^st, the 2025 Start:ME program will conclude with an in-person graduation at Goizueta Business School.

Learn more about the Start:ME Accelerator program and its impact on Atlanta’s small business community.

Learn more about Goizueta Business School’s Business & Society Institute and its programs supporting entrepreneurs and inclusive economic development.

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Designed to introduce Goizueta BBA students to the skills necessary to prepare and deliver effective client presentations, Bcomm 365 culminates in a professional communication strategy case competition. During the month-long competition, students put their new-found communication skills to the test as they work with a company—in this case, UPS—to address a real business challenge.

In late October, UPS representatives explained its project to 18 student teams. UPS’s ask: create a strategy that increases use of UPS self-service options from 70 percent to 80 percent. UPS allotted the teams a hypothetical budget of $900,000 to come up with their strategies. “UPS presented a real challenge for our students through this highly ambiguous and open-ended problem,” noted Steve Savage 21EvMBA, assistant professor in the practice of Organization & Management.

Three weeks after the initial meeting, the teams presented their plans to their Bcomm professors—Savage, Molly Epstein, professor in the practice of Organization & Management, and Nikki Graves, associate professor in the practice of Organization & Management. Following those presentations, each professor selected two student teams to present their strategies to the UPS team.

“All six of the teams who presented to UPS executives exceeded our rigorous expectations,” said Graves. Those teams were Team Charlie, Unstoppable Problem Solvers, Beyond Boxes, Sammy’s Team, Savage Consultancy and Tobinators.

“As a Goizueta alum, it is great to see the continued excellence that these students bring to the challenges put before them with their creativity, executive presence, and rigor of their final presentations,” UPS Experience Strategy Senior Manager, Neal Marshall 21MBA wrote in an email.

Charlie the Chatbot Takes First Place

During initial brain-storming meetings, the members of Team Charlie, Erin Koo 27BBA, Ishaan Attal 27BBA, Ashmit Dua 27BBA, Jezmin Chavarria 27BBA, Kaitlyn Furbay 27BBA, Ellis Whiteson 27BBA, and Zhuyue “Julie” Jiang 26BBA, decided the best strategy would be one that cut costs versus one that would increase revenue. Research done by Team Charlie indicated that customer service calls cost UPS $20 million a year. But when the students went through the UPS My Choice app, they encountered a less-than-optimal user experience. “We realized that creating a super-functional and convenient app would be a key strategy and really effective in pushing consumers to utilize self-service,” noted Ellis.  

Team Charlie’s winning idea was anchored in what Graves called “an interdisciplinary approach:” the creation of Charlie—an AI chatbot that would guide users through the UPS’s My Choice self-service platform as well as the creation of a rewards campaign encouraging users to download the app.

While Team Charlie was not the only team to suggest a chatbot, Team Charlie did have an advantage—Chavarria, who Furbay described as “a pro at graphic design.” Chavarria was able to utilize her graphic design and coding skills to create a workable mockup of Charlie. “That was probably one of the things that put us over the edge,” said Attal. “Showing them what a prototype could look like.”

During their presentation, Team Charlie incorporated a slide demonstrating how the chatbot would respond to voice commands. The task was assigned to Dua. Getting the mockup to work “was an amazing feeling,” Dua said. “Seeing everyone—our professors, the UPS reps—in the room smile when we did that slide, it was honestly surreal.”

Ellis called the team’s focus on Charlie’s implementation rather than a typical communications campaign “a very calculated risk.” Attal added that the team decided it wasn’t “a productive use of our time” to go into detail when they defined demographic groups. “We [decided] to say, ‘We’re targeting Millennials.’ We thought [the UPS executives] knew what a Millennial was,” he said.

Team Charlie recognized that other teams would have similar ideas and that they needed to do something to stand out. “We were competing with a ton of smart business school students who were going to come up with great ideas,” Furbay explained. She added that the team’s dynamics led to constructive conversations. “None of us were afraid to speak up when there was a mistake or provide each other with constructive criticism,” Furbay added.

“As someone who is working on UPS chatbot technology, Team Charlie did their research and highlighted current trends, cutting edge technologies, and packaged their insights for their UPS clients superbly,” said John Mccauley 21MBA, UPS Experience Strategy Senior Manager.

Team Charlie’s second recommendation called for the integration of a rewards program. Customers would earn points for downloading the UPS MyService app, for interacting with Charlie to address quick fix issues, and for completing short surveys. Team Charlie also recommended that UPS establish a “quid pro quo” campaign with some of the corporation’s most visible partners, including integrating Charlie into its partner’s branding.

“We were so impressed with all the teams and especially with Team Charlie,” said Kelsey Lindsey, UPS Experience Strategy Senior Manager. “It was clear they understood our customer pain points and their ‘Charlie’ AI chatbot solution effectively demonstrated how it could assist customers digitally while improving the user experience.”

Team Unstoppable Problem Solvers also chose to tackle UPS’s digital experience, recommending a reorganization of the existing UPS app as well as clarification on how to access the app’s self-service options. The team—Sara Larson 26BBA, Ashima Girdhar 26BBA, Oliver Hutchison 26BBA, Abel Zurita 26BBA and Sean Baik 27BBA—also suggested UPS engage with micro-influencers to extend the company’s existing “Be Unstoppable” campaign, which was created to empower diverse-owned small businesses and help them recover from the global pandemic.

“This team was special. Driven, dedicated, and highly communicative with each other— in both the easy and more difficult conversations,” said Savage. “The depth of research they performed and the level of integration they brought from their other majors at Emory (including psychology), added that extra layer to their deliverable in the most compelling way. I couldn’t be prouder of what they achieved this semester.”

UPS’s McCauley was impressed with all the finalists’ presentation skills. “Generous eye contact, appropriate hand gestures, confident tone, excellent pacing, and overall professional demeanor way beyond an early career level,” he said.

Alumni Judges Passing the Torch

Of the UPS executives that served as case competition judges, two—McCauley and Marshall—were alumni. “Our alumni see these opportunities as vehicles for repaying the support they received when they were students,” Savage said. “That fosters the attitude in our current students to do the same one day. It’s a real hallmark of the enduring community and support that our school is known for.”

Real Solutions for Real World Problems

Graves described experiential learning as “the backbone of Bcomm 365.”

“Working with a corporate client on a live business problem equips students with critical thinking, teamwork, and presentation skills essential for success in the workplace,” said Graves. “Students thrive on the real-world challenges that the case competition provides, and our clients benefit from the innovative recommendations that our students provide.”

Going through the class often causes students to adjust their thinking. “At first, I wasn’t sure how much I could gain from the class, but it completely shifted my perspective—even inspiring me to become one of Graves’ teaching assistants this [spring] semester,” said Dua. “The class stood out from all my others because it focused on real-world application rather than just theoretical concepts.”

Taught during the first year of the BBA program, Bcomm 365 is often a BBA student’s first foray into experiential learning. In their final year, BBA students are required to enroll in an immersive project-based elective where they address and analyze a real-world organizational or societal need.

Goizueta’s undergraduate business program empowers student to make significant positive contributions to the organizations they serve and to society as a whole. Learn more about pursuing a BBA at Goizueta.

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That experience is called “Team Building with Taste.” It’s a cooking competition in the style of Bravo network’s “Top Chef,” except with the ultimate goal of improving team dynamics. Located in the Atlanta suburb of Doraville, the Team Building with Taste venue has everything a chef might need—multiple prep spaces, deep fryers, gas stoves, commercial griddles, utensils, seasonings, and proximity to an H Mart grocery store.

While the students’ primary goal may have been to create a tasty dish the judges would love, the greater goal of Goizueta’s undergraduate BBA program was to teach team dynamics. “The thread of team dynamics and leadership is woven into the entire BBA program,” says Jeremy Billetdeaux, director of co-curricular programs for the BBA program office.

The challenge is a part of the program’s Team Dynamics and Leadership class. The course requires second semester undergraduate business students to participate in an immersive, team building activity. Over multiple weekends this fall, student teams were given a $50 budget, a set time to plan and shop, and one hour to cook and plate their meals. The teams then presented their dishes to a panel of judges. The competition spanned a total of four hours from start to finish.

A Low Pressure Setting

“Most of our students, in some way or another, will be working in teams throughout their careers and will take on different leadership responsibilities,” says Billetdeaux. “This experience is one of many reflection points that are built into the undergraduate program.” After the experience, the students were asked to evaluate themselves and their fellow team members. They then met with their program advisor for a coaching session. The aim of the session was to help students assess their capabilities as a team member and help them acknowledge, going forward, if there were things they would like to do differently.

“I’ve often observed how easily students interact when they are on athletic or other co-curricular teams,” explains Andrea Hershatter, associate professor in the practice of organization and management and senior associate dean of undergraduate education. “Yet the same students sometimes struggle to determine their most effective roles when working together in academic settings.”

Team Building with Taste combines the more collegial aspects of out-of-class experiences with the structure of a course assignment. I think it is a fabulous way for participants to exhibit and reflect on their own productive behaviors in a lower pressure setting that they can then transfer back to classes and work settings.

Andrea Hershatter, Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education

“Learning Together” through Collaboration in the Kitchen

The early start wasn’t the only thing that caused Liu to be apprehensive. It turns out he’s not much of a cook. But Team Building with Taste assigned a chef to each student team to help them plan and execute their dishes, and that helped Liu and his team “learn together about cooking,” he says. “And everybody took a leadership role because we were all in charge of making something.” His task? Making rice and curry for the team’s chicken dish.

Because Billetdeaux compiled the teams at random, Raaj Kumar 25BBA didn’t know any of his team members very well. When they all sat down to plan the meal, “we skipped over the get to know you part. It was like, ‘Okay, here’s the task, let’s work towards it,’” says Kumar. “Everyone was really upfront about their abilities and where they wanted to serve.” Given that Kumar’s cooking skills are limited to pasta and quesadillas, he let the more seasoned chefs in the group take charge. “I played more of an assistant role,” he says. Kumar cooked tofu and made a sauce for the team’s vegetarian dish, but it was the presentation where he felt he could contribute most. “My strong suit is communication,” he says. “I helped out where I needed to on the cooking but took more of a lead on the presentation.”

A Side Dish of Networking

According to Billetdeaux, creating teams of students that either don’t know each other or don’t know each other well is intentional. “The most valuable resource that the students have at Goizueta is each other, they just don’t recognize that now,” he says. “The people that are here are going to go on to do amazing things. So, expanding your network, interacting with new, different people—while not the overt goal of this experience—is one of the side goals.”

Liu is still in touch with two of his teammates from his Team Building with Taste experience, and one of Kumar’s takeaways was to be more open to new people and new experiences. “We tend to be really clicky,” he says. Since freshman year, Kumar has had the same set of friends. He considers himself social, but admits to “not branching out that often.” Now, he’s vowed to get better at hosting dinners at his apartment or getting meals with different people. “I think food is a way of merging interests and cultures,” he adds.

Building Competencies through Memorable Experiences

Hershatter explains that the undergraduate BBA curriculum is structured to provide experiences that help students build not only academic business capacities but also professional competencies. “There is a programmatic trajectory that starts at orientation and goes all the way through to a final required immersive elective. These opportunities provide students with multiple interactive experiences that focus on working synergistically together, stepping outside of their comfort zones, dealing with ambiguity, building resilience, and adding value when faced with a complex problem,” she says. “Although Team Building with Taste is just a short exercise, it is a memorable one and is followed by reflection and coaching. This set of experiences allows Goizueta BBA students to distinguish themselves by being self-aware and intentional in their behaviors.”

Goizueta Business School’s undergraduate BBA program develops students as professionals through cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and relational growth. These opportunities enhance student self-awareness, cultivate personal leadership abilities, and build community within the program. Learn more about the Goizueta BBA experience.

Get your fill of some winning dishes below:

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Join us in celebrating Veterans Day throughout the month of November, as we profile three remarkable veterans in the Goizueta community, each on a unique path but united by their shared commitment to excellence, both in service and beyond.

At Goizueta Business School, supporting veterans and active-duty military members has long been a core value, woven into the school’s identity. Goizueta welcomed its inaugural class of the new Master in Business for Veterans program earlier this year. The fully accredited 11-month program is designed for active-duty military, veterans, National Guard, and Reserve personnel. It provides tailored resources and experiences to help veterans transition into business leadership roles.

The new program is only the most recent testament to Goizueta’s enduring dedication to those who have served our country. This year, Goizueta also celebrates its largest cohort of veteran students across all programs.

Meet Bren Lemoine 25MBV

Bren Lemoine 25MBV doesn’t fit the typical profile of a U.S. Army veteran. An immigrant and a woman, she is “proud to have served this country, whether or not I was born here,” she says. “There are so many amazing, diverse veterans who have accomplished so many things.”

The Journey Begins

Lemoine’s journey to the U.S. Army began in Haiti in late 1991, when a military coup overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first popularly elected president in Haitian history. When the new military regime took power, one of the first groups it went after was the press. Lemoine’s father was a broadcast journalist. So, in 1993, when she was eight years old, Lemoine and her family fled Haiti. “You had to choose safety,” she explains.

The family moved to Canada, where Lemoine’s grandmother lived and where Lemoine’s mother, who was battling a cancer diagnoses, had relocated to receive treatment. In 1994, Lemoine’s mother passed away, and her father moved the family to Uniondale, New York, a town on Long Island. In less than three years, Lemoine had left her homeland, lost her mother, and made two major moves.

It definitely built up a strong sense of resilience in me—which I’m very grateful for. I can do hard things.

Bren Lemoine 25MBV

From Adversity to Resilience

Lemoine’s grandmother became one of her greatest sources of support and inspiration. She instilled in her granddaughter a sense that “service connects you to things,” Lemoine says. After high school, Lemoine attended college, but struggled. “I was consuming information with no sense of direction,” she explains. With her grandmother’s blessing, Lemoine left school and enlisted in the U.S. Army. “I was on a journey to discover myself and how I could connect more to this country,” she adds.

While serving in the Army, Lemoine found the connection she longed for, as well as camaraderie and a sense of fulfillment. When she deployed to Iraq, she had the opportunity to learn just how much she was capable of. As a financial soldier, Lemoine occasionally ran pay missions to exchange U.S. dollars into the local currency. At times, she walked through villages with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in her backpack. “In those moments, your training tells you to put aside fear and focus on the mission,” Lemoine says. “I think that can serve you sometimes.”

After the Army

After her time in the Army, Lemoine earned a degree in nutrition science and dietetics. She became a registered dietitian, and put her experience in the Army to work.

My deployment to Iraq gave me firsthand experience managing resources and planning under pressure. These same skills now guide my strategic contributions in the business world.

Bren Lemoine 25MBV

“This background drives my mission-focused work today, whether through business strategy or community engagement,” Lemoine says.

For close to a decade, her private practice has focused on medical nutrition therapy, a treatment that uses nutrition to help manage health conditions in acute and long-term settings. Applying the mission-oriented mindset and adaptability she learned in the military, Lemoine has worked with the City of East Point, Georgia, “to equip people with essential tools and knowledge to improve health literacy and wellness.” She also volunteers with two Atlanta-based nonprofits, Urban Oak Initiative and Soul Food Cypher. Both organizations aim to enhance health and community.

Her experience in healthcare has shown Lemoine that “healthcare requires strategic decision-making—similar to the high-stakes responsibilities in my military experience. Our healthcare systems need innovation and systems-based thinking to truly serve communities and people best,” she says. That’s one of the reasons she decided to pursue a business degree.

Goizueta was the best environment to acquire the tools to create real change in community and health-focused projects, just as I worked to create positive outcomes during my deployment. 

Bren Lemoine 25MBV

Back to Business School

When Lemoine began the Masters in Business for Veterans program earlier this year, she discovered the same camaraderie she felt in the Army.

With service members there’s just an unspoken, instant connection. Everybody wants to see everybody else succeed.

Bren Lemoine 25MBV

Lemoine adds that everyone involved in the new program—administration, staff, leadership, and faculty “play a pivotal role in preparing every veteran to excel and make a difference at the highest level of their respective fields.”

Lemoine’s sense of service has rubbed off on her 14-year-old daughter, a freshman in high school and a current member of her school’s Navy JROTC program. “She loves it,” says Lemoine. She and her daughter have even talked about her applying to the Master in Business for Veterans program one day, continuing “a shared path of service and leadership,” Lemoine says. “She’ll likely outperform me in any of the program’s courses, but her love for math and numbers makes her especially drawn to finance!”

Profiles in Success: Bren Lemoine 25MBV

Veterans Events in November

Veteran in Leadership Speaker Series
Nov 21, 6 – 9 p.m., Featuring Takiesha Waites-Thierry, Bank of America: Learn More

Master in Business for Veterans Information Session at Goizueta
Nov 23, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., online or in person: Register Now

Learn more about Goizueta’s new Master in Business for Veterans program.

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“The Executive MBA Class of 2026 students are phenomenal and excited to start their MBA journey,” says Jaclyn Conner, associate dean, Executive MBA and Evening MBA programs. “I have already been impressed by their depth of knowledge and desire to expand their thinking. They have bonded together rather quickly and will have a tremendous impact on our school and the greater business community.”

Goizueta’s Executive MBA program is the top ranked program of its kind in Georgia by U.S. News & World Report and the #9 Executive MBA program in the nation by Financial Times. To accommodate the demands of working professionals, the program offers multiple delivery formats—on campus, hybrid, and online. Students can customize the curriculum, pairing core courses with electives that best fit their career goals. The program prioritizes immersive learning, hands-on practice, immediate feedback, and the development and fine-tuning of leadership skills.

The class of 2026 includes c-suite leaders, surgeons, an expert marksman, and an award-winning architect.

Other impressive members of this class include:

• – A Platoon Sergeant in Army Special Operations who was awarded a bronze star and purple heart and who loves to play guitar.
• – A senior director for Boston Consulting Group who sits on the board of Banksgiving, a community nonprofit aimed at strengthening and empowering the youth of Philadelphia.
• – A director of marketing and communications at the Rhodes School for the Performing Arts who leads a team that produces Broadway-caliber shows and has worked with Beyonce.
• – The chief financial officer for Georgia Diamond Corporation and Ascot Diamonds, who made the list of UGA’s 40 under 40 in 2022.
• – An architect who won New York City’s “Better Bin” trash bin design competition. This winning design led to the replacement of 23,000 trash bins across five boroughs. The design was named one of the best inventions of 2023 by Time Magazine.
• – A director of data and AI at Microsoft, who manages a $180 million business within the company’s manufacturing business.
• – The director of the Winship Brain Tumor Registry, a Neurosurgery Fellowship Director, and assistant professor at Emory who has made media appearances on PBS.
• – A director of Hyperscale Projects at QTS Data Centers that managed the development of more than a dozen data centers worth over $4.9 billion and who also writes short fiction and poetry.
• – A trauma and acute care surgeon at Emory University Hospital and community advocate for the American College of Surgeons Stop the Bleed program, which prepares members of both the healthcare industry and the public on actions to stop hemorrhaging and save lives.
• – A special agent in Federal Protection Services at Department of Homeland Security who is an expert marksman.
• – Professor of anesthesiology at Emory, vice chair of research, and executive editor of International Anesthesiology Research Society.
• – A veterinarian who advocates for wellness/mental health support for veterinarians, who received the “Wellness in Practice” award from UGA and was named one of UGA’s 40 under 40 in 2023.

Goizueta’s EMBA program builds business fluency, diversifies perspectives, and expands leadership capabilities. Learn more about how to take your career beyond.

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“The cohort includes students from healthcare, consulting, manufacturing, finance, and a variety of other industries,” says Jaclyn Conner, associate dean of the Executive MBA and Evening MBA programs. “I look forward to their classroom experiences and the wealth of knowledge and perspectives they will share. In the spirit of Goizueta, let’s go beyond!”

Taught by faculty experts in an intimate learning environment, Evening MBA students learn to apply theory to real-life problems, challenge business-as-usual mindsets, and seek out innovative approaches. Students can choose from a variety of concentrations and adjust the pace of the program to best fit their needs. Experiential learning activities are built into the program, as is the opportunity to gain firsthand knowledge of how global companies manage their businesses by partaking in Global Experiential Modules.

The Evening MBA Class of 2027 includes:

• – The only audiologist in the entirety of the Grady Hospital system.
• – A consumer-packaged goods leader at Chick-fil-A who has worked on branding for Cinnabon, Moe’s, and Krispy Kreme.
• – A real estate investment senior associate who has helped raise more than $50k for youth scholarships as an executive board member for The Emerging 100 of Atlanta (part of the 100 Black Men of America organization).
• – A civil engineer and a design lead on the transit plan for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles who also happens to be in two improv groups.
• – An EY analyst who hosts a podcast on sports betting and is an avid fan of Monte Carlo simulations.
• – A student who is the recipient of the Sam Nunn Security Fellowship, the Leading Edge Fellowship, and has been recognized for his work in biomedicine, innovation, and invention.
• – A portfolio manager at Comerica Bank who has managed multi-million-dollar deals, has raised $70k in youth scholarships, and who leads financial literacy programs for Detroit youth.
• – A research associate at Morgan Stanley who coaches at several Atlanta OrangeTheory locations and has developed a cult following due to his strenuous workout routines.
• – A company commander for the 878th Battalion in the U.S. Army who is also a lead engineer at one of the top infrastructure firms in Georgia.
• – A former Florida State University football player who is now an advanced product development engineer with a focus on emergency response, military, and industrial safety markets.
• – A professional dancer and dance educator who ran the Gwinnett Ballet Company for several years before transitioning to real estate.
• – A senior analyst at Delta Air Lines who helped launch the airline’s social media presence, orchestrated Delta’s partnership with the 2024 Paris Olympics, and has won and been nominated for several Shorty Awards.

Learn more about Goizueta’s top-ranked Evening MBA program—the full MBA experience in a part-time schedule.

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There are 20 MBA students and six undergraduate BBA students currently serving in the program’s fourth and fifth cohorts. Of these fellows, many have either started their own businesses or innovated within one. According to Cayce, nearly a quarter of the fellows either currently manage a startup or have in the recent past.

These students have some level of experience that indicates they’re willing and ready to explore what are otherwise unconventional paths for a lot of Goizueta students.

Brian Cayce, Managing Director, Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

As fellows, the students will have access to unique learning opportunities in three areas. These include venture development, capital formation, and corporate innovation and creativity. These opportunities include classes, experiential learning, and opportunities to connect and work with members of Atlanta’s startup and venture community.

From Healthcare to Film: Meet Two of the 2024 Fellows

Omid Razmpour 26MBA/PhD

The early stages of Omid Razmpour’s 26MBA/PhD nursing career coincided with the worst part of the Covid pandemic. Razmpour soon found himself battling burnout and let his manager know he was struggling. But rather than provide him with the resources he needed, Razmpour’s manager told him everyone was facing the same issues. So, when the struggle became unsustainable, he left. “That wasn’t my goal—to leave my job within the first year,” says Razmpour. 

Razmpour’s experience as a nurse made him passionate about reducing turnover in the nursing profession. To that end, Razmpour, who is also pursuing his PhD at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, created the RETAIN (Retention Evaluation and Turnover Analysis) Framework^©, an innovative, data-driven approach to quantifying the nuanced cost of nurse turnover. With RETAIN and his PhD dissertation, Razmpour is attempting to make the business case for investing in the nursing profession. “My partners and I really think this project has the potential to be industry-changing,” he says. 

Razmpour sees his time as a fellow at the center much as a nursing student who learns in the classroom and then applies that knowledge in a lab or hospital.

I’m really passionate about entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment, but if I didn’t have the opportunity to apply that knowledge, then I feel like it’s kind of a waste.

Omid Razmpour 25MBA

“That’s what the center offers,” Razmpour explains. “I’m going to be able to get into projects, work with the team, and be able to apply my learning.”

Cayce is excited to work with Razmpour to support his curiosity on how to grow nurse-founded ventures solving big problems the entire industry faces. “The fact that Razmpour has felt the pain of the target population he seeks to serve offers him the tremendous advantage of empathy,” says Cayce. “This will serve him as he evaluates startups and makes investment recommendations in this space.”

Parallel to his involvement with the fellowship program, Razmpour has connected with Nurse Capital. The venture capital company was started by a pair of former nurses and invests in “nurse entrepreneurs.” He’s working with the company’s general partners on due diligence, potential investment opportunities, and the organization’s backend operations.

Patrycja Kepa 21BBA 26MBA

After a brief stint in consulting, Patrycja Kepa 21BBA 26MBA joined independent film-making company Anchored Lens Productions as its chief operating officer. Dedicated to producing high-quality content, Anchored Lens is also leveraging the exposure that the film industry provides to help end homelessness (10% of the company’s profits from its feature films goes to its homeless foundation). The production company’s second feature film, The Grove, will debut in theaters in February 2025, and Anchored Lens is currently in talks with streaming services to distribute the film.

Cayce is excited to work with Kepa on the business side of media and entertainment, exploring the role of technology as well as potential opportunities for startups like Anchored Lens. According to Cayce, the fact that Kepa has raised a significant amount of capital and is currently running her business while also pursuing her advanced degree “is kind of off the charts for a Goizueta student.”

Kepa hopes to leverage Goizueta’s and the center’s networks and to learn from fellow entrepreneurs—especially when it comes to a long-term vision for Anchored Lens.

I’m excited to get guidance from people who’ve actually done that. I’m very open to new opportunities and to collaborating and seeing how it can benefit Anchored Lens Productions.

Patrycja Kepa 21BBA 26MBA

The center is working with the organizers of Avant South to bring its annual gathering of creatives, entrepreneurs, and business professionals from industries such as entertainment, music, content creation, and e-sports, to the Emory campus in the coming years. “I think there’s a huge opportunity at Emory to introduce more initiatives—even courses—about media and entrepreneurship,” says Kepa. “Atlanta is such a hot spot right now, and I don’t think it’s been fully tapped into yet.”

Expanding the Fellowship’s footprint

Later this year, the center fellows will get a chance to work on two technology conferences.

This October, the fellows will create a concierge-type service that matches attending venture capitalists with startups at Venture Atlanta, a conference that supports tech companies in the Southeast. And at Startup Atlanta, a non-profit focused on connecting, growing, and promoting Atlanta’s startup ecosystem, center fellows will provide judges with the due diligence reports to help them determine winners in several showcase categories.

“Students will see the themes that are really driving innovation. And that’s not just at Emory, but across the Atlanta ecosystem and beyond,” says Cayce. “They’ll also get exposure to some of the best startups in the area and learn about their process of securing investors for their startups.”

Tapping into the Emory Ecosystem

Additionally, the fellowship program continues to build connections across the Emory University ecosystem. The collaboration between Goizueta and the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing on behalf of Razmpour is one such example. “We are diligently working to collaborate across the University with other schools,” Cayce explains.

This includes working with the University’s new vice provost for entrepreneurship, Wilbur Lam, professor and W. Paul Bowers Research Chair in the Department of Pediatrics and the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Tech. Lam has been tasked with fostering a vibrant startup culture throughout the University.

The center is also assembling a robust mentor network. It hopes to offer “venture mentoring,” a team mentoring service for startups across the Emory ecosystem. “We want to be an agent for growing the number of founders that come through Goizueta’s doors and see success with their efforts,” says Cayce.

Learn more about The Roberto C. Goizueta Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Emory University’s Goizueta Business.

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“We are thrilled to welcome the new MS in Business Analytics Class of 2025. These students represent a talented group from all around the world,” says Zuzana Hlavacova Gurung, associate dean of specialized masters programs. “The program now offers four curriculum tracks in AI in Business, Business Analytics, Marketing Analytics, and Supply Chain Analytics. We are excited to provide students the opportunity to further tailor their academic experience and personalize their analytics career path.”

Goizueta’s 2025 cohort of the MS in Business Analytics program is a globally diverse group. The program’s 74 students represent 13 countries and bring with them an average of 3.2 years of work experience. In addition, nearly half of the students are women (47 percent), and 85 percent of the cohort hail from outside of the United States. Also an ambitious group, 14 percent of the students are pursuing a dual degree at Goizueta, one of the only business schools in the country to offer such a pairing. 

The 2025 Master of Science in Business Analytics cohort includes:

• – A competitive badminton player who has traveled the world to compete
• – A 76^th generation descendant of Confucius, with a hand-written family genealogy book
• – A professional-level Overwatch (video game) player
• – A member of a dance crew that has performed in front of audiences as large as 5000
• – The director of two theater plays as an undergraduate student
• – A programmer who re-created the core features of the Pokémon game using C++

Project-based Learning

Project-based learning is at the heart of the MS in Business Analytics program. Every student in the program takes part in a semester-long experiential learning opportunity. This practicum project puts the students’ foundational coursework and training to task. As part of this project, student teams join forces with corporate sponsors to solve current, real-world business problems. Ramnath Chellappa, professor of information systems and operations management and academic director for MS in Business Analytics, calls the practicum the “crown jewel” of the program. He refers to the practicum as “a kind of internship.”

“The students go on to solve a real business problem that really matters to our client,” Chellappa explains. “That way, the students verify that all the techniques that they’ve learned are applicable to what the industry cares about.”

Each year, the business analytics program hosts the day-long Business Analytics Conference. This past April, more than 200 industry practitioners, alumni, academics, and students gathered to network, share insights, and discuss emerging trends.

Goizueta’s STEM-designated MS in Business Analytics combines business, data, and technology to make you an effective business data scientist for a data-driven world. Learn more.

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