Master's in Data Science

An Interview with Arizona State’s MS in Business Analytics Founding Director

by

Headshot_UdayKulkarniDr. Uday Kulkarni is an associate professor of information systems at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. He was the founding director of the University’s Master of Science in Information Management (MSIM) degree program launched in 2005 and the online Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program launched in 2013.

Dr. Kulkarni has more than 35 years of teaching and industry experience in database management, business analytics, and knowledge management. He has authored over 50 research publications and has been recognized for excellence in teaching on numerous occasions. He conducts presentations and executive seminars for senior-level audiences all over the world.

We spoke with Dr. Kulkarni to find out what it takes to study business analytics at Arizona State University. Read on for his advice on how to stand out in the admissions process, unique opportunities offered to ASU business analytics students, and the most exciting projects he’s seen his students tackle.

Q: What kinds of students will get the most out of the program?
The short answer is – smart, curious and quantitatively oriented students! We designed this program for a student who has recently completed his/her undergraduate degree from any field, but who has shown an ability to complete quantitative coursework with flying colors. We believe that today data analytics can be applied to solve real problems in any domain. Hence, a student can leverage the basic training in their field of choice with our analytics degree program. The students who will get the most out of our program are those who have an analytical mind, an aptitude for quantitative methods, and who can relate to the application of analytics to real problems.
Q: What advice would you offer students hoping to stand out in the admissions process?
One of the essay questions we ask the students to write about is to describe a situation in their academic/professional experience where they think a suboptimal decision was made because of unavailability or ignorance of data, and how they would have gone about improving the decision with the use of data. This is just an example; we like the applicant to show us in every way why THEY will build a successful career. Saying that there is a great demand for analytics professionals and therefore wanting to be part of the bandwagon is not enough. It is about who they are and what they plan to accomplish.
Q: What opportunities does Arizona State offer students that they might not find in other Business Analytics programs?
What is unique to ASU is the nature of the program and the diversity of the student body. The program is composed of three elements: modeling, information technology and business context. Unlike many programs in which the faculty is from a single unit (such as statistics, economics or engineering), our instructors are drawn from the full-time faculty from multiple disciplines, including information systems, supply-chain and operations, marketing, and many others. As a result, students not only get rigorous training in modeling and technology, but they are also exposed to a diverse set of application domains. Second, our students come from a diverse set of backgrounds and from many different countries (more than 70 percent of them are from international locations, such as Asia, Latin America, and Europe). So, culturally and socially, it is a rich melting pot. Our faculty are used to this sort of a cross-section and thrive on the diversity.
Q: What are some of the most exciting projects you’ve seen your students tackle?
One of our student teams competed in and won the 2015 SABR Analytics national competition. This is an application of analytics in a baseball player trading context. Although that stands out as one of the most prominent examples, our student teams have worked with many local companies on real-life projects that range from data cleansing to modeling with large real-life data sets.
Q: What’s the number one piece of advice you’d give students on how to succeed after graduating?
Keep your outlook broad. Think beyond the modeling and the technology skills that you will learn. Think about the business problems you are solving, what difference you are making, how to measure the improvements, and, most important, how your contributions fit in the overall scheme of things in the organization that you are a part of.