Meet Carnegie Mellon Tepper’s MBA Class Of 2027

COVERING MORE GROUND WITH MINI-MESTERS

Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh feeds off Carnegie Mellon’s startup spirit, with the regional startups attracting $2-billion in early-stage funding from 2023-2025 – nearly four times the average metro. Even more, according to StartupBlink, the Pittsburgh startup ecosystem grew by 14.3% between April 2025 and April 2026. Still, it is the quality of life in Pittsburgh that often leaves the biggest impression on Tepper graduates like Maressa Guynn, a 2025 P&Q Best & Brightest MBA.

“It’s a city where young professionals, students, and blue-collar workers all share the same streets and coffee shops, creating a dynamic environment that feels truly inclusive. Pittsburgh’s industrial roots and tech-forward renaissance coexist in an inspiring way, giving the city an air of constant possibility. Each neighborhood has its own distinct personality—ranging from the vibrant art scene in Lawrenceville to the academic bustle of Oakland—and the mix of backgrounds, traditions, and ambitions reflects the very best of the American melting pot.”

Another unique facet of the Tepper MBA is the “mini-mester.” Rather than courses running three months, they are broken into 7-week blocks. As a result, says Sam Hinojosa, Tepper MBAs can take more courses and explore more topics. From a faculty standpoint, adds ’25 alum Ruben Antonio Quesada, they can produce classes addressing new topics and best practices faster.

“Carnegie Mellon is one of the best universities in the world to learn about AI, and its curriculum is evolving rapidly to keep pace with advancements. New AI-focused courses open every minimester, including AI Venture Studio, which was first offered when I started.”

A LOOK INSIDE TEPPER’S AI PROGRAMMING

Last fall, Tepper deepened its commitment to AI by rolling out 10 Interactive Learning Labs. Covering disciplines ranging from finance to ethics, the labs use three AI roles – Socratic Coach, Stakeholder Persona, and Environmental Simulator (Competitors, Customers, Market Shifts) to help students make decisions within specific contexts. Even more, every single prompt or choice is tracked so faculty know exactly what students are thinking. For example, in the Search Ads Strategy Lab, Tepper students produce a campaign for noise-canceling headphones, which requires them to pore through customer data and develop questions to guide the development.

Param Vir Singh, associate dean for research, was among the faculty to run the Search Ads Strategy Lab in a course. “The students loved it,” he tells P&Q. “There was a huge range in performance — but everyone was learning, and the faculty could pinpoint exactly where the gaps were. That kind of insight is rare. This is real value for the tuition dollar.”

Vinicius Santos Avelar, a ’25 alum also points to another Tepper asset for enriching his understanding of AI. “The Tepper School’s approach to AI goes beyond just tools and models. Through the Center for Intelligent Business, faculty collaborate with CMU’s world-class engineers, social scientists, and policy experts to ensure that students don’t just learn AI—they learn how to use it ethically and responsibly. This commitment to AI as both a technological enabler and a strategic force aligns with what Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, said: ‘AI isn’t replacing human jobs—it’s replacing jobs that don’t use AI.’
Experiencing AI in both technical and strategic contexts reinforced my belief that it is not a replacement for human decision-making, but rather a tool that enhances strategic thinking, automates routine analysis, and allows leaders to focus on people and higher-level decisions.”

THE LATEST AT THE TEPPER SCHOOL

This year, the Tepper School is experiencing a leadership transition, with Dean Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou leaving the post on July 1 to return to the faculty. It has been a successful six-year run for the outgoing dean, whose achievements include introducing several Master’s programs and quickly integrating AI across the curriculum. What’s next on the docket at Tepper? Last year, P&Q reached out to Tepper to learn about new developments at the program, along with the latest on how they are immersing students in AI and supporting international students and alumni alike. Here are the responses to these questions furnished by the school.

P&Q: What have been the two most important developments in your MBA program over the past year? What type of impact will they have on current and future MBAs?

Carnegie Mellon: “Two significant developments have occurred in the past year:

1) An AI concentration was introduced;

2) International capstones were expanded and diversified.

An AI concentration is no surprise given that the Tepper School is part of Carnegie Mellon University. This new concentration consists of not only Tepper School classes but classes from across campus, including the top-ranked CMU School of Computer Science. Under the direction of Associate Dean Oliver Hahl, the international capstones have greatly expanded and earlier this year students did projects in Chile, South Korea, and South Africa. These faculty-led experiences are key to not only learning, but expanding the global mindset of our students.  These projects were also recently added to the top-ranked Tepper School Online Hybrid MBA program, with students headed to Thailand in October 2025.

P&Q: What do you see as the main differentiator that distinguishes your MBA program from other schools? How does it enhance the student experience and make them more attractive to employers?

Carnegie Mellon: “The Tepper School’s main differentiator is that we are part of Carnegie Mellon University, which means we approach business from a Management Science quantitative perspective. That doesn’t mean our MBA program is only for engineers, but it means we seek a wide variety of business leaders who will use data to solve human problems. Our motto is “data-informed and human-driven.” With a decentralized university structure, business students are encouraged to take advantage of everything Carnegie Mellon has to offer, from world-class AI courses to the learning in the nation’s first drama school. This quantitative approach infused with a qualitative layer means students leave the Tepper School with a unique perspective of solving problems that make life better for consumers and society.”

P&Q: What types of services do you provide to first-year MBAs to ease their transition into business school?

Carnegie Mellon: “We prepare our students for the MBA experience on day one, meaning that once a student is admitted to the program, the work starts. Our Career Services team rolls out a career course soon after a student is admitted, and career counselors meet with incoming students before classes begin. There are workshops and coaching for pre-MBA programs, and case interviewing prep. We also run a two-week BaseCamp before the start of school so that students are well connected with their classmates, professors, and staff, as well as the rest of Carnegie Mellon University and the city of P-Pittsburgh. Our small program allows us to know student names and backgrounds as they are welcomed into the Tepper School and CMU family.”

P&Q: What types of support do you provide to international students before and during business school to enable them to better acclimate to your country?

Carnegie Mellon: “In an effort to help our international students get up to speed on their business English and adapt to life in Pittsburgh, we created the Business English and Cultural Immersion (BECI) program. BECI is an 8-week program that is taught for 6 weeks online and 2 weeks in person prior to new student orientation. The focus is on case preparation and presentation, reading, annotating and discussing articles from business periodicals, and discovering how to adapt to new systems of healthcare, insurance, phone systems, transportation, and more. There is also a BECI program for those accompanying the students like spouses, partners and children. Spouses and partners are invited to gather to create communities and friendships through service projects, holiday traditions, and artistic and literary events. BECI has been a game changer for making students and family members feel included in the Pittsburgh and Tepper School communities.”

P&Q: How does your program integrate other disciplines, such as the liberal arts and STEM, across your curriculum to provide students with a more interdisciplinary experience in business school?

Carnegie Mellon: “Carnegie Mellon University is a decentralized university, so Tepper School students are encouraged to take classes outside the business school. There is no limit to the number of non-Tepper School credits they can take, and so many students take advantage of classes like foreign language, computer science, or fine arts. For example, with a strong drama school across the street, the Tepper School offers a very popular Acting for Business class that helps students in their presentation and storytelling abilities.”

P&Q: What are two ways that your program is incorporating Artificial Intelligence into your programming? How do they better prepare students for the future world of work?

Carnegie Mellon: “Carnegie Mellon University has been on the forefront of technology advancements like robotics and computer science, so AI is no different. Two areas that we focus on related to AI are entrepreneurship and ethics.

For example, the AI Venture Studio that is taught out of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship uses AI as a business partner to help students scale up their idea and tackle customer discovery in a short amount of time. The class starts in January and by the April Demo Day, students are ready to pitch to investors. Last April’s Demo Day had over 50 investors from all over the country coming to the Tepper School to consider putting money into new student ventures.

Ethics and AI is another topic that is spearheaded by Tepper School MBA faculty like Derek Leben, who recently published a book entitled AI Fairness. Professor Leben brings his research into the classroom so that students are better equipped to deal with the unprecedented ethical issues that Tepper School graduates will face over their careers.”

P&Q: What types of educational and career support do you provide to alumni after graduation? How does it make them more valuable to employers during their careers? 

Carnegie Mellon: “One of the advantages of being a smaller MBA program is that students create tight bonds that are supported by the school after graduation. The Tepper School focuses on a coaching approach that provides career, leadership, communication, and academic coaching, all offered during the program. The career and leadership coaching are available after a student graduates, in addition to access to a robust alumni network that hosts reunions and local events throughout the year. These connections, relationships, and events keep alumni connected and help them advance their careers as they change and grow.”

Click on the links below for in-depth profiles of Class of 2027 members.

MBA Student	Hometown	Undergraduate Alma Mater	Last Employer
Guillermo Arola	Barcelona, Spain	Polytechnic University of Catalonia, UPC	KPMG
Caitlin Hannah Benyah	Bethesda, MD	University of Notre Dame	Kohl’s
Alexander DesPois	Jeannette, PA	Harvard College	U.S. Army
Cristine Ferraz	Cacoal, Brazil	Pontificia Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR)	Recurrent Energy
Jessi Figard	Davidson, NC	Carnegie Mellon University	Capital One
Rachel Hagani	Woodbridge, CT	Carnegie Mellon University	Medtronic
Sam Hinojosa	McAllen, TX	Trinity University	Lockheed Martin
YJ Lin	Austin, TX	University of Houston	Dell for Startups
Grace McPartlin (Gomez)	Ridgefield, CT	United States Military Academy	U.S. Army Special Operations Command
Richard Pichardo	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	University of Chicago	Neuron Studios
Joshua Soulliere	Corning, NY	University of Pittsburgh	LEAF Commercial Capital
D. Sofia Trueax	Dallas, TX	Brown University	Eightfold.AI

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