Luis Otero

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

“A determined dreamer and believer that business can change this world for the better.”

Hometown: Cornelia, GA

Fun fact about yourself: I tried escamoles (ant larvae) for the first time in an exotic restaurant within a cave after visiting the pyramids at Tehotihuacan in Mexico City during my MBA study abroad at IPADE Business School.

Undergraduate School and Degree: The George Washington University, Bachelor of Business Administration and Master in Management

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Deloitte – Senior Consultant, Risk and Financial Advisory

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? Bain & Company, Washington, D.C.

Where will you be working after graduation? Undecided

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Co-President, The First-Generation Low-Income Initiative at Darden (FGLI at Darden)
• VP of Sponsorships, Hispanic American Network at Darden (HAND at Darden)
• Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Darden Student Admissions Committee (SAC at Darden)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? From an academic perspective, I am most proud of working with Professor Ming-Jer Chen on a technical note on leveraging GenAI in corporate strategy from a Competitive Dynamics perspective and with Professor Paul Matherne on writing case on the role of the Trump administration’s executive orders on immigration and their effects on non-profit organizations serving immigrant communities.

From an extracurricular perspective, I was most proud of being part of the Social Innovation Group, a team of fellow Section B classmates (GO BIRDS!), in which we placed among the Top 3 teams at the Emory Goizueta Business School’s John Lewis Case Competition, a national case competition that focuses on the intersection of business and racial equity, during our first year at Darden. Half of our prize money went to support The Hispanic Organization Promoting Education (HoPe), which is a Georgia-based nonprofit organization promoting the educational outcome of underprivileged high school students.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? My proudest achievement is undoubtedly my board service on two important organizations. One is serving as the youngest Trustee on the Board of Trustees of my undergraduate alma mater, The George Washington University, and the other is serving as a Director on the Board of Directors for The Hispanic Organization Promoting Education (HoPe). Being able to pursue my MBA during my time on the board of these two organizations has allowed me to apply the rigorous business acumen that I have developed during my time at Darden in order to help create opportunities for other first-generation students to succeed.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose this business school because of its truly inclusive and collaborative culture. Everyone I have met is incredibly accomplished and intelligent.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is extremely hard because I could truly name many, but Panos Markou helped me assimilate into the Darden environment in addition to being an amazing Professor of Operations in the core curriculum. Throughout my two years, Panos served as a mentor who I could go to for advice as I considered my future while at Darden and beyond. He is truly a one-of-a-kind professor, and Darden is a better business school because of him.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite tradition at Darden was certainly Darden Cup. Darden Cup. Similar to Hogwart’s houses and quidditch tournament, it is a series of yearlong games and events where our sections compete in a friendly competition for points. Darden Cup was a great way to show friendly competitive camaraderie with our classmates across both years and all sections. It always made for a fun-filled environment after a rigorous week of business cases.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I wished I would have made the time to try even more new experiences, such as going to more student organizations’ events or sporting events. However, as many MBAs will attest to, these two years go by very fast. Unfortunately, time is such a finite resource, especially when you are balancing a rigorous case load and recruitment schedule.

What is the biggest myth about your school? The Darden Case method may be too demanding, and some subjects are not conducive to being taught in the case method. While Darden’s case method is rigorous in nature, it is completely doable, especially if you leverage your learning team effectively. This also extended to being able to better understand some quantitative subjects that may not initially seem to be conducive to being taught in the case method, but the case method actually showed me how I could defend my position even in quantitative classes.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Having completed my undergraduate studies in an urban setting, I truly appreciated Charlottesville’s more tranquil environment near the mountains. Additionally, I will forever cherish Charlottesville as I proposed to my now fiancée in its downtown mall using the marquee of the Paramount Theatre.

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? I would say Ted Lasso because, while things can get difficult for any business leader (or in Ted’s case, a soccer coach), you must show your team that you BELIEVE in them and that they have your back. I do BELIEVE that if a business leader does this, even in the harshest of times, success can be obtained.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Professor Dennie Kim, in his Strategic Analysis and Consulting class, helped us learn how to better leverage AI in strategic analysis by working with prompt generation by asking the right questions. He showed us that while GenAI is not a complete replacement for strategic analysis in business, it does help us further refine our strategic thinking by testing our assumptions through prompt generation and question refinement.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The classmate I most admire is Nico Martinez. He is a role model in all that he does from his inside the classroom in finance-heavy subjects to leading our Hispanic American Network at Darden club as the President. He is unwavering in his values as guided by his faith, and I think that is something to admire in today’s business world.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

I would like to start my own investment firm, Otero Capital Group (OCG), and establish my own foundation to help other immigrant and first-generation students reach their own educational and professional aspirations.

What made Luis such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“At UVA and at Darden, one of our driving missions is to be “Great and Good.” Mr. Otero is the embodiment of this phrase, and he has been an outstanding addition to and steward of the Darden School. Without a doubt, Mr. Otero is one of the most ambitious, sincere, empathetic, and thoughtful individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting. He has both the drive and capability to enact change for the better: as merely one example of many, his work on the International Students Subcommittee here at Darden is a testament to his aspiration to ensure that all individuals have a fair shot at a great education and social and economic mobility.

What further sets Mr. Otero apart is his ability to meaningfully engage with his peers. The Darden classroom and case study environment flourishes when students are able to debate each other’s arguments and assumptions, and also when they are able to guide their classmates to build a greater understanding of and intuition for the course material. To this end, Mr. Otero possesses a talent for respectfully challenging and refining the arguments of classmates, while working towards a deeper understanding of complex concepts. Mr. Otero excelled in fostering collaborative classroom learning environments that enabled his peers to explore, question, and learn from each other carefully and thoughtfully. It is clearly evident that his peers hold him in high esteem: while walking with him through the Darden classroom hallway one afternoon, it made an impression on me just how many other students stopped to say hello to him. Clearly, the Darden classroom and community have benefited from Mr. Otero’s presence, and they would not be the same without him.

Mr. Otero stands out for his academic achievements, leadership skills, and personal journey, which highlight his potential as a successful future professional and advocate for social good. His blend of intellectual talent, leadership ability, and a strong moral compass makes Mr. Otero an ideal candidate for the Poets & Quants “MBAs To Watch” Class of 2025.

I recommend Mr. Luis Otero enthusiastically and without any reservations.”

Panos Markou
Assistant Professor of Business Administration 

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2025

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.