Daiki Kawata

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“Baseball enthusiast and former bullet train “Shinkansen” driver.”

Hometown: Fukuoka in Japan

Fun Fact About Yourself: When I was a student, I played baseball as a pitcher for ten years in Japan and one year in the US. After that, I worked as a bullet train ‘Shinkansen’ driver for one year.

Undergraduate School and Major:  Waseda University (in Tokyo); Commerce

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Central Japan Railway Company, Assistant Manager in Management Supervision Department

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Carnegie Mellon’s MBA curriculum and programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I believe the Tepper school’s appeal lies in its integration of Carnegie Mellon Universities technological expertise and innovation environment with the business world. Although I have no entrepreneurial experience myself, I am interested in leading the development of new business ventures in the future. The Swartz Center, which provides ample opportunities and resources to gain entrepreneurial experience, offers the chance to test business ideas and participate in the process of turning them into viable businesses. There are many programs such as Undergraduate, MBA, MSM, MSBA, MPA…, so collaboration with these students at Swartz Center may provide the best opportunities to engage in innovation.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Carnegie Mellon? The Tepper school’s academic courses, such as quantitative-based classes and capstone projects, are the most attractive for me. The final deciding factor in where to go to school was the classes and programs that were unique to this school. In particular, I am looking forward to classes on optimization and operations research, as I believe these are useful approaches for a wide variety of business situation such as pricing, budget allocation, and improving operational efficiency. After I get as much input as I can in the classes, I want to apply these knowledge and skills to solve real world’s business problems in capstone projects.

Next, the BECI program, a 9-week program designed for international students before the MBA program, was a fantastic opportunity. We not only learned English and American customs, but also gave a group business case presentation each week. Additionally, thanks to the staff members who took us to various sights and restaurants in Pittsburgh, we were well prepared for the MBA program.

The Tepper MBA is known for intensive one-on-one coaching and personal development. What area do you hope to strengthen during your two years in business school and why? I aspire to become a leader who can drive companies or departments in the future, so I wish to enhance my leadership skills. While I can develop hard skills as a business leader through the quantitative approach courses offered by Tepper, I’m refining my soft skills through 1-on-1 mentorship as a member of the Dean’s Scholar Program, which specializes in leadership training. Furthermore, with around 40 clubs available for a class of about 160 students, there are ample opportunities for leadership positions in extracurricular activities – and I want to try these challenges. I want to take advantage of these programs and opportunities to maximize my learning from the classes.

The Tepper MBA is also known for being highly data-driven. Why does the program’s focus on quantitative analysis and decision-making appeal to you? How have you been able to leverage this approach in your career so far? I have experience working in three different departments within my company and was seconded to a boarding school as a staff member for one year in order to gain management skills. Throughout these experiences, I often felt ambiguity in strategies and goals, and recognized the necessity of utilizing data and acquiring relevant skills as a future manager. And when I joined the company’s first project to analyze millions of pieces of big data, we were able to find new insights and I learned the effectiveness of leveraging data for business. I feel that the Tepper school is the best place to develop the ability to analyze all phenomena quantitatively, find pathways, and motivate those around me. This will not only help me acquire solid skills that are universally applicable, but also enhance the accuracy and confidence of my future managerial decisions.

Looking at your recruitment, what was the moment when you realized Tepper was the right program for you? Why? In addition to visiting the campus from Japan, I had personal conversations with about 10 alumni and students. Through these interactions, I felt that the Tepper school has an environment that values people from diverse backgrounds and attracts those who cherish connections with others. While the Tepper school’s quantitative approach and technology environment are appealing, the lifelong connections with people from all over the world and the learning and stimulation from deep relationships are invaluable assets, not just momentary ones. I believe this is the essence of an MBA and something that can be maximized at the Tepper school, which has a small class size of 160 and a culture that values individuals.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My team and I recently launched a new cross-department project in our company to create a new private room service on bullet trains. This was challenging because we had limited experience with cross-department projects for creating new things, and all the departments had different opinions. However, through gradual discussion and analysis of passenger preferences and needs, we were able to reach an agreement and create an attractive concept and design that made headlines in Japan.

DON’T MISS: MEET CARNEGIE MELLON TEPPER’S MBA CLASS OF 2026