Julia Aabjerg Bratland

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) Business School

“Curiosity for innovation and passion for equality.”

Hometown: Copenhagen, Denmark

Fun fact about yourself: I sang in a baroque concert choir for many years and love classical choir music.

Undergraduate School and Degree: BSc International Business, Copenhagen Business School.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Head of Who Run the World Records, Sony Music Denmark and Co-founder of Track That.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? N/A

Where will you be working after graduation? N/A

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

During my time at HKU MBA, I took the initiative to bring together a group of students to partiipate in a Kindness Walk organized by ImpactHK. During the walk, volunteers distribute essential items to homeless individuals living in Hong Kong. Bringing students together for this volunteer activity felt like a meaningful way to give back to a city that has offered us both valuable learning experiences and joy.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am proud of having developed the go-to-market strategy for HKU-NFT, an NFT data product and university-level teaching materials created by HKU’s Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation (IDEI). Translating cutting-edge academic research on the digital economy into a practical, market-ready product allowed me to apply my professional background and MBA learnings in a way that created tangible, real-world impact. It was a meaningful way to give back to HKU while helping make complex Web3 knowledge accessible to a broader audience.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? My proudest professional achievement is the milestones achieved by Track That. During my time at Sony Music Denmark, I co-founded Track That, a non-profit organization that facilitates producer apprenticeships for female, transgender, and non-binary music producers in Denmark.

Within only two years of its founding, two Track That participants entered the Danish Top 10 Spotify Chart and made history as the first solo female track producers to reach the Top 10. This felt like an achievement not just for the talented producers themselves – but for the Danish music industry more broadly – and being part of making that change possible was deeply meaningful to me.

Why did you choose this business school? When deciding where to pursue my MBA, I knew that I wanted to study in East Asia. Through my participation in a global leadership program with Sony Group, I had been exposed to technological innovation emerging from the region, which left a strong impression on me.

Studying in Hong Kong placed me at the intersection of finance, technology, and global business, with direct proximity to the Shenzhen technology hub and one of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems. Once I had decided on Hong Kong, HKU felt like the natural choice due to its long academic legacy, its highly international cohorts, and its small, intimate class sizes.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Alex W. H. Chan, who taught Corporate Finance, has been my favorite professor throughout my MBA studies at HKU. His enthusiasm for teaching is truly exceptional. On the very first day of lectures, he was able to address every student in our class by name, home country, and prior professional background, having clearly taken the time to study our individual résumés before the semester began.

His motivation was evident: he wanted to tailor his teaching to our individual levels and ensure that every student mastered the core skills of corporate finance by the end of the course. He consistently went out of his way to provide detailed feedback and additional office hours, demonstrating a genuine commitment to each student’s learning and success.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Strategy in a Digital World, taught by Professor Jeffrey Sampler, was my favorite MBA course. In a rapidly-changing environment, where digital innovation continuously disrupts existing business models and reshapes industries, the application of classical strategy frameworks to analyze firms and industries has limited usefulness. Professor Sampler’s course introduced new ways of thinking about strategy and sources of strategic advantage, enabling me to approach strategic analysis in a more structured and relevant manner for today’s digital context.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA event was our Christmas party. Growing up in Denmark, Christmas celebrations are an important part of my culture and something my family has always cherished. Being away from home during the holiday season, it meant a great deal to me that our class came together to celebrate.

What made the evening especially memorable was that everyone brought a small gift for a Secret Santa exchange—something that was only possible because of our small class size of just 50 full-time students. The event reflected the close-knit nature of our MBA program: an intimate learning environment where students genuinely get to know one another and learn from each other’s cultural backgrounds and professional experiences.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Looking back, the one thing I would do differently is to have brushed up on my Mandarin. While the MBA program is taught in English, there are plenty working opportunities at Hong Kong for those proficient in English. Strong Mandarin skills are complementary, as I aspire to learn local culture, and many local businesses work closely with stakeholders from Mainland China.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it?

The most impactful case study I encountered during my MBA was “Fair Employment Agency: Eliminating Forced Labor”, published by ACRC through Ethical Business Practices. I was particularly inspired by how Fair Employment Agency successfully combined technology with a strong commitment to transparency and ethical principles to create a commercially viable business model. By placing foreign domestic workers with employers in Hong Kong without debt bondage or exploitation, the organization demonstrated how innovation can serve as a powerful force for social good.

The key lesson I took from this case was that when business is designed with ethics at its core, it has the power to drive meaningful and lasting positive change.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? What I love most about Hong Kong is its unique combination of a bustling, busy city and beautiful natural surroundings. I have never lived in a city that felt as dense and fast-paced as Hong Kong, yet still offered easy access to wild nature. Several times a week, I would go for a run or hike in one of Hong Kong’s many mountains, which helped me clear my mind between classes and networking events.

What business leader do you admire most? I admire Yvon Chouinard because he proves that ethical principles can be a source of strategic clarity rather than a limitation. Patagonia’s success shows that values-driven decision-making can strengthen, not weaken, competitive advantage.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? The HKU MBA offered an excellent Analytics for Managers course, which taught us how to use LLMs to code in RStudio. With the help of LLMs, I was able to conduct much more advanced data analysis and data visualization than would otherwise have been possible for me to learn in such a short period of time.

Because the technical aspects became significantly easier with the use of LLMs, we were able to focus more on the most important managerial part of data analysis: identifying the right questions to ask and interpreting the results.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I truly admire my classmate, Aditi Jain. At a relatively young age, Aditi already demonstrates strong leadership and a highly positive attitude toward learning. She was always eager to engage in thoughtful academic discussions and willing to go the extra mile to take our group work to the next level. I have no doubt that Aditi will become an outstanding leader in the future.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? One item on my professional bucket list is to build my own company. Taking full ownership of a company’s purpose and the strategy to achieve it, while also creating jobs for others, is something I would find deeply rewarding.

My second goal is to serve on the board of a social impact startup. I believe that every company, regardless of industry, should consider the contribution it makes to the world, and supporting a startup with positive impact at its core would be especially meaningful to me.

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

“Among the many exceptional members of the class, Julia stands out as a true ambassador of academic excellence, cultural intelligence, and leadership with purpose. With experience spanning Copenhagen’s creative industries and Hong Kong’s innovation hub, she bridges cultures and disciplines seamlessly. Julia has also demonstrated a strong sense of ethical commitment through her community services. She is admired for her professionalism, warmth, and quiet confidence.”

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