Sai Kumar

University of Chicago, Booth School of Business & University of Chicago Department of Computer Science (MBA/MPCS)

“Someone who is committed to making a positive impact on the world.”

Hometown: Orlando, FL

Fun Fact About Yourself:

Undergraduate School and Major: United States Military Academy (West Point) – Systems Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: United States Space Force – Lead Engineer, Electro/Optical Infrared Weather System Operations Capabilities

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Chicago Booth’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The professors at Booth. I’ve read multiple books by Booth professors, and I find them incredibly insightful. Additionally, Booth’s open course selection really appealed to me, as the flexibility allows me to choose classes that truly interest me. Finally, Booth’s commitment to open debate and independent thought was an aspect I admired in an institution of higher education.

The Booth 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 believe that data and quantitative analysis skill sets will define the next wave of technology and business operations. Booth’s focus on these skills seems to be the best path forward in preparing for the future. In both my roles as an Army Aviator and Space Force Engineer, we relied heavily on quantitative analysis. In the Army, all of our operations were driven by analysis of maintenance data and fleet readiness. In the Space Force, quantitative analysis was vital to our understanding of spacecraft reliability prior to launching.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Chicago Booth? The New Venture Challenge at Booth excites me the most because I have always wanted to start my own company, and the New Venture Challenge seems like a great opportunity to trial run that ambition.

What has been your first impression of the Booth MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best Booth story so far. They’re remarkably talented and ambitious. I’m excited to be surrounded by a community of people like this.

What makes Chicago such a great place to earn an MBA? The vibrancy of the city. It’s incredibly dynamic and has an impressive amount of talent to network with outside of the program. The location in the Midwest also has the advantage of making people more open to different coasts, in contrast to East Coast schools gravitating toward the East Coast and West Coast schools toward the West Coast. The network seems to have a broader reach, with people being open to locations all over the U.S., as well as within Chicago itself.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Becoming Pilot in Command of the Blackhawk. It was the culmination of years of work and represented the first time I was truly in command of a helicopter and responsible for everyone aboard. There’s a world of difference between flying a helicopter as the second pilot and being the one responsible for everything and everyone on board.

Describe the best memory of your life. Why does that moment resonate with you? Graduating from West Point. That memory resonates because I developed significantly in terms of maturity during my time there. It felt like the culmination of a decade of work, not just four years.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Chicago Booth’s MBA program? Make a plan and allocate more time than you think it will take. My suggestion is to aim to get the test score you want as early as possible (and allocate more months to studying than you think it will take, just to be safe). Getting your test score finalized early allows you to plan out your essays and other aspects of your application more thoughtfully, rather than trying to do both at the same time.

DON’T MISS: MEET CHICAGO BOOTH’S MBA CLASS OF 2026