Carlos Pardal

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

“Grounded leader, mentor, and first-generation student uniting AI and strategy with a human heart.”

Hometown: Guarulhos, Brazil

Fun fact about yourself: I walked 500 miles across Spain on the Camino de Santiago with only a backpack and a dream. It was one of the best decisions I ever made…and one of the more blister-filled ones. I am now training for an Ironman 70.3, which suggests I have not fully learned my lesson.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Faculdade de Engenharia Industrial (FEI), B.Sc. Industrial Engineering with a full-tuition merit scholarship through ProUni, a Brazilian government program.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school?
Unilever as a Financial Performance Manager overseeing 12 countries in the Americas for the Home Care division.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Salmos AI as Chief of Staff to the CEO working at the intersection of strategy and finance for an early-stage startup in Virginia.

Where will you be working after graduation? I plan to work in corporate strategy or consulting, helping high-potential businesses navigate growth and long-term sustainability.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

* President, Latin America Student Association (LASA): Led one of Darden’s largest affinity clubs, managing a 10-member board and events for 600+ community members.

* Stock Pitch Competitor: Represented Darden in equity research and valuation competitions.

* Teaching Assistant: Served as a professor’s assistant for Managing International Trade and Investments.

* Peer Mentor: Formally and informally supported classmates through technical and recruiting preparation.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Serving as LASA President. While I am proud of the scale of our events, I value the smaller moments most: a first-year student telling me that LASA was the first place at Darden where they truly felt they belonged. Latin Americans are a minority group here, and I saw it as my job to ensure everyone’s unique journey was celebrated.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of the distance between where I started and where I am today. My father works in public security, and my mother is a salesperson; neither went to college. Receiving a full-tuition merit scholarship to earn a bachelor’s degree in engineering was a first for my family. I finished that degree while working full-time at Itaú Unibanco, ranking in the top 10% of performers. Navigating these different worlds taught me that the most valuable thing I can bring to any room is a mind that understands the numbers and a heart that remembers the people behind them.

Why did you choose this business school? I noticed that the most effective leaders in the corporate environment weren’t just the best analysts but the ones who could read a room and defend a position under pressure. I chose Darden specifically for their case method approach to enhance that skill. Being cold-called in front of 60 classmates forces you to take a stand and adjust your thinking in real time, eventually making the uncomfortable feel comfortable.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Allison Elias is a powerhouse of creative pedagogy who treats the classroom as a laboratory for the soul. As my Negotiations professor, she constantly curated a rich tapestry of movies, television shows, and deep dive readings to show how strategy lives in the real world. Her simulations were masterpieces of design. They were high stakes, immersive environments that did not just test our technical edge, but forced us to collaborate and explore our own limits.

In her room, the traditional walls of business school came down. She created a space where we felt safe to try on new approaches and be ourselves. Allison brought out the engineer and the unifier in me. She proved that analytical precision and a servant’s heart are not opposites but partners. I left her class a sharper negotiator and will leave Darden a more integrated man. I finally understand that my greatest power is showing up as my whole, undivided self.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Applied Security Analysis with professors Joe Andrasko and Will Snellings. The course involves building and defending real investment theses against hard pushback. What stayed with me was the concept of “deliberate practice”: the idea that expertise comes from effortful, reflective repetition that most people avoid because it is uncomfortable. That idea has changed how I approach my own development well beyond investing.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? It was “Cold Call,” our Thursday happy hour at Darden. At many schools, there is a structural distance between faculty and students. At Darden, it is the opposite. I have often spent my Thursday afternoons continuing a complex class discussion with a professor over a drink, picking up a conversation that started in the classroom days earlier. It is the weekly ritual that makes our integration of rigor and humanity visible. It proves that we can push each other to be world-class professionals while still remaining a close-knit, supportive community.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it?
The Anadarko acquisition, which Professor Yiorgos Allayannis spread across two full M&A class sessions. It was a lightbulb moment because it revealed how M&A is rarely just about the numbers. I was blown away by the complexity: how two companies can chase the same target for completely different strategic reasons and how a single “small” detail in a bid can shift the entire trajectory of a deal. It also made me realize how rich and multidisciplinary a deal can be by involving negotiations, strategy, game theory, valuation, legal issues, and tax issues.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Charlottesville is a place where nature and ambition live side-by-side. I loved the combination of exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains and enjoying the local wineries. What truly makes this town special is its energy. As a big sports fan, breathing the air of a “champion university” was incredible. However, the smaller moments were what I valued most. There is something unique about a town where you can run into your professor grabbing a croissant on the Downtown Mall. Charlottesville is a place that makes you feel like you truly belong to a community, not just a school.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Darden integrated AI by making it a core part of our strategic thinking rather than just a technical tool. In my Business of AI class, I read six books that reframed the technology from a story about software into a question about the people and institutions shaping it. This course changed how I read the world around me with a speed that few others have matched. In my Technology and Operations classes, we looked at how companies are actually deploying these tools and how they change competitive dynamics. The question that stayed with me was simple: are you using AI to do what you already do faster, or are you using it to do things that were not possible before? I believe real advantage over the next decade will belong to those who choose the second path.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Fernando Casarotti, Darden MBA’24. Fernando was instrumental in my journey to Darden, providing support long before I arrived on campus. I admire how he manages his network not for personal gain, but to uplift his entire community. Even years after his graduation, he remains a constant source of guidance and a true inspiration in how he supports those around him.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? First, I want to work with a consulting firm to help high-potential businesses navigate the complexities of expansion and long-term sustainability. I want to use the skills I’ve acquired to help businesses serve as engines for good in their communities. I believe that well-run organizations are the best vehicle for closing the gap between where people are and where they could be.

Second, I intend to own and run an investment fund. My whole career has been about understanding how businesses create value, and I want to sit on the other side of the table and make long-term bets on companies and management teams that I believe are creating genuine value and positive change in the world.

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

“Carlos is an exceptional MBA candidate whose rare combination of intellectual capability and interpersonal insight sets him apart as truly deserving of this P&Q recognition. He demonstrates outstanding quantitative ability, approaching complex problems with clarity, rigor, and precision. Equally notable is his deep capacity for empathy—Carlos is highly attuned to others, consistently showing genuine care and respect for diverse perspectives. He exemplifies an uncommon pairing of high analytical intelligence and emotional intelligence, a balance that is difficult to find. What further distinguishes him is his generosity: he gives his time freely to support and uplift his peers, motivated by a sincere concern for their success and well-being. His enthusiasm for learning is both authentic and contagious, elevating the classroom experience for those around him. It is rare to encounter an individual who so seamlessly integrates analytical excellence with empathy and collaboration, and I offer my strongest recommendation for Carlos as a Best & Brightest MBA student.”

Allison Elias
Assistant Professor of Business Administration

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2026

© 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.