Kyle Berney

Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business

“I am a college fencer turned technologist, and am living in my sixth US state!”

Hometown: Shreveport, Louisiana

Fun Fact About Yourself: I traveled to 11 countries in 3 months just prior to starting my MBA program!

Undergraduate School and Major: Brandeis University, Bachelors of Science in Biology, double major with Business

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Capital One, Senior Associate Product Manager

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? When thinking about all the different things business school can offer, the top schools all address most of those requirements. The differentiator for me was to go to a school that specializes not just in technology, but in Artificial Intelligence. I think AI will continue to drive change and innovation across the world, and seeing CMU’s commitment to AI through their concentration offering was a key curriculum differentiator in my selection process.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Carnegie Mellon? Soft skills are often touted as the most important in the world of corporate leadership: communication, negotiation, and teamwork skills are all crucial. That is why I am most excited for one of Tepper’s most famous classes – Acting for Business. I think being able to study and practice executive presence is a unique and important opportunity I will enjoy.

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 hope to significantly advance my understanding of and experience with Python, SQL, and analytical presentations. I consider data to be the bedrock of recent corporate innovation. The application of data analytics is one that enables people and companies to build evidence-based plans that not only outperform competing plans, but which are also easier to build support for internally.

The Tepper MBA is also known for being highly data-driven Why does How have you been the program’s focus on quantitative analysis and decision-making appeal to you? able to leverage this approach in your career so far? Quantitative analysis provides new abilities to answer difficult business questions, and people and corporations that apply analysis effectively outperform their counterparts significantly. I’ve always loved using data to help understand and communicate our stakeholders’ stories. Having an opportunity to develop deeper quantitative skills at the Tepper School is one I wanted to take advantage of.

Throughout my career, I’ve used quantitative analysis and data analytics to drive decisions, adding tweaks to search engines and changes to software that service millions of client financial interactions weekly – all while building functionalities and software applications for the American taxpayers to use. Utilizing quantitative analysis allows for better solutions to be delivered to customers faster, which improves outcomes for everyone.

Looking at your recruitment, what was the moment when you realized Tepper was the right program for you? Why? After attending admitted student events at three programs – and what felt like a million interactions with current students and alumni – it became clear to me that what the Tepper School offers is unmatched. It is unmatched across its AI concentration, product management track, and location within the Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh ecosystem. I wanted the program that would best enable me to advance my management and technical abilities, recruit back into the tech industry I am coming from, and build amazing relationships across a talented and diverse class. I’m excited to realize those experiences over the next two years!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I heard that exiting consulting was meant to be easy, but I found the remote-first networking and recruiting process to be incredibly difficult when I had decided to move on. I spent 9 months doing countless mock interviews, resume reviews and reformats, recruiter phone screens, and interviews before receiving the offer I had planned years ahead for: as a product manager for a tech company. I was so proud I rewarded myself with a trip to France!

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