Rodrigo Zamorano

Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford

“Passionate about innovation as a means of aligning social and economic goals.”

Hometown: Lima, Peru

Fun fact about yourself: My favorite book was written by a Roman Emperor, over 2000 years ago.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Universidad de Lima, Industrial Engineering

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Credicorp, Corporate Innovation Manager

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Papernest, Barcelona

Where will you be working after graduation? TBD

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Said Future Leaders Scholar, Co-Chair of Finance Oxford Business Network

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Being a Student Investor at the Oxford Seed Fund, investing in Oxford startup founders and helping develop the University’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? The professional achievement I am most proud of is the development and launch of a solution enabling payment on delivery for e-commerce orders in Mexico.

I developed this solution while working at Zubale, a technology startup that builds software solutions for e-commerce retailers. The project was particularly meaningful because Mexico remains a largely cash-based economy. As a result, many consumers lack access to traditional digital payment methods and are excluded from online commerce.

By enabling customers to pay upon delivery, the solution expanded access to e-commerce and allowed a broader segment of the population to benefit from its convenience and efficiency.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Saïd Business School for three main reasons: the structure and duration of the program, its strong focus on financial services and fintech, and its integration within the broader University of Oxford ecosystem.

First, the one-year program was ideal for the stage of my career. I was not seeking a change in industry or function, but rather an opportunity to broaden my international exposure while strengthening specific skill sets. In addition, Saïd’s flexibility, particularly the ability to select electives early in the program, was highly appealing because I had a clear sense of the areas where I wanted to focus.

Second, specialized electives such as the Finance Lab and the Fintech course, both taught by experienced industry practitioners, offered the opportunity to develop practical and highly relevant skills in areas central to my career interests.

Finally, living in Oxford and experiencing its unique collegiate system has been truly transformative. The opportunity to spend a year immersed in this historic academic environment, while interacting with exceptional people from diverse backgrounds, has broadened my perspective on both my professional aspirations and my broader purpose.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was John Gilligan, who leads the Finance Lab. His more than 20 years of experience in private equity came vividly to life in the classroom through his highly practical and interactive teaching style. Each week he also invited leading practitioners from the industry, giving students the opportunity to engage directly with highly respected professionals and gain insights grounded in real-world experience.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course during the MBA was the Entrepreneurship Project, led by Professors Pinar Ozcan and Thomas Hellmann. Their extensive research on founders, venture capital, and technological disruption provided a strong intellectual framework for evaluating new ventures. The course created an environment where we could explore innovative business ideas while collaborating closely with classmates to develop and refine them.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? One of the most memorable traditions at Oxford is taking final exams in full academic dress, a centuries-old university custom that requires students to wear a suit and academic gown during examinations.

Cycling through Oxford in full academic dress on the way to the examination hall, alongside my classmates, created a truly unique atmosphere. After completing the final exam, gathering together to celebrate with a drink made the experience even more special. It is a tradition that beautifully connects today’s students with the long history of the university.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently during my MBA, it would be improving my bidding strategy for final-term electives.

I bid too conservatively for several electives I was particularly excited about because I wanted to preserve points for other courses that I considered “nice to have.” As a result, I missed out on some of my top choices.

The experience taught me an important lesson: it is often better to fully commit to the opportunities you truly care about, even if it means taking risks and letting go of less important options.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? One of the most impactful case studies I encountered during the MBA examined Avianca Flight 052 to New York, a tragic aviation accident caused in part by communication failures.

The case illustrated how a hierarchical culture can discourage junior team members from speaking up, particularly when delivering negative information. When leaders are not given complete or transparent information, they may make decisions based on incorrect assumptions, sometimes with catastrophic consequences.

The key lesson I took away was the importance of organizational cultures that promote psychological safety and open communication. Efficient decision-making depends on the free flow of information, and leaders must actively foster environments where people feel empowered to speak up.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I loved most about Oxford was living at Jesus College and being part of the university’s unique collegiate system.

Oxford is composed of more than 40 colleges, each affiliated with the university but operating as an independent community that provides housing, dining, and academic support. Every student belongs to one of these colleges, each with its own traditions and culture.

Being part of Jesus College allowed me to live and dine in a building that is more than 500 years old, participate in college sports such as football and rowing, and build friendships with students pursuing a wide range of disciplines, from computer science to biology. This interdisciplinary environment added a rich dimension to my MBA experience.

What business leader do you admire most? The business leader I admire most is Hiroki Takeuchi, Founder and CEO of GoCardless.

Under his leadership, GoCardless has become a category-defining fintech company by fostering a culture of disruptive thinking and hands-on execution. The company has also worked closely with both private- and public-sector actors to improve the efficiency and economics of payment systems.

Equally inspiring is Takeuchi’s personal resilience. After a life-changing accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, he continued to lead and grow the company with remarkable determination. His story embodies how passion, perseverance, and purpose can enable people to overcome extraordinary challenges.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? AI has been integrated into the MBA primarily by giving students the flexibility and opportunities to engage with it in meaningful ways through electives and practical workshops.

Courses such as Machine Learning and AI for Finance allow students to understand the technologies underlying AI systems, while workshops like AI-Powered Data Analysis focus on practical applications and real-world use cases. This combination of technical understanding and applied learning helps students appreciate both the capabilities and the limitations of AI.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The classmate I admire most is Sebastian Guevara from Mexico.

Before the MBA, Sebastian served as an advisor to Mexico’s Minister of Education and later as Institutional Development Director at Universidad de la Libertad, one of Mexico’s newest business schools. He is deeply passionate about improving the quality of education across Latin America and has made this mission central to his career.

During the MBA, Sebastian continued to demonstrate this commitment through leadership roles such as Education Head of the OxAI Society and Head of Finance for the Latin American Business Forum. Beyond his achievements, what stands out most is his character—he is consistently kind, optimistic, and generous with his time, always seeking ways to support others and contribute positively to the community.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Two items stand out on my professional bucket list: working in London’s fintech ecosystem and leading the launch of a new fintech solution in Latin America.

London has produced some of the most successful fintech companies in the world, including Revolut, Monzo, Wise, and Checkout.com. This success is driven in part by the city’s concentration of talent from leading universities and in part by forward-thinking regulation that has enabled innovations such as open banking.

Working in this dynamic environment would allow me to develop a deeper understanding of how emerging technologies are reshaping financial services, how modern technology stacks drive efficiency, and how new financial products can align economic incentives with broader social goals.

Over the longer term, my goal is to bring the knowledge and experience gained in this ecosystem back to Latin America and apply it to building financial solutions tailored to the region’s specific needs.

What made Rodrigo such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Rodrigo Zamorano has been an outstanding member of the Oxford MBA Class, distinguished by his commitment to innovation, thoughtful leadership within the school community, and a clear vision for how technology and financial services can expand opportunity in emerging markets.

Rodrigo joined the programme as an Oxford Saïd Future Leaders Scholar, a prestigious award supported by the Saïd Foundation that recognises exceptional MBA candidates with the potential to become influential leaders in their respective fields. The scholarship reflects both Rodrigo’s academic achievements and the ambition he brings to using business and technology to address meaningful economic and social challenges.

At Oxford Saïd, Rodrigo has been a highly engaged contributor to the student community. He serves as Co-Chair of the Finance Oxford Business Network, where he has helped foster conversations around financial innovation and emerging technologies within the MBA cohort. He has also been selected as a Student Investor at the Oxford Seed Fund, working alongside peers to evaluate and invest in promising early-stage ventures founded within the Oxford ecosystem.

What distinguishes Rodrigo is his ability to combine analytical rigor with a broader sense of purpose. His background in engineering and innovation management gives him a structured, systems-oriented approach to problem solving, while his interests in fintech and entrepreneurship are consistently motivated by a desire to improve access to financial services and economic opportunity.

Within the classroom and across the school community, Rodrigo is known as a thoughtful collaborator who approaches complex problems with curiosity and humility. His contributions consistently reflect both intellectual engagement and a genuine interest in supporting the ideas and ambitions of others.

Looking ahead, Rodrigo aims to deepen his experience within London’s fintech ecosystem before ultimately bringing that knowledge back to Latin America to help launch new financial solutions tailored to the region’s needs. His work reflects a broader commitment to aligning economic innovation with social progress.

Rodrigo embodies the global perspective, intellectual curiosity, and collaborative leadership that define the Oxford MBA community.”

Amy Major
MBA Programme Director

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