Iris Guo, MMA’24

For Iris Guo, the demanding pace of the Smith Master of Management Analytics program was a feature, not a bug. “I think I thrive in intensity,” she explains.

A quick scan of her C.V. provides plenty of proof points. In less than a decade, she’s cut her teeth as an analyst in the pressurized fields of venture capital and private equity. She’s worked as a product manager for some of the most high-octane tech companies in the world, including Google, Microsoft, and ScaleAI. She’s founded a social impact startup that grew to 50 employees in a year, and—during the toughest moments of the pandemic—created a non-profit to fund the delivery of meals from struggling independent restaurants to food-insecure individuals.

So, when Iris started the MMA program at the start of 2024, not much about the endeavour fazed her. Not the need to balance work with school. Not the technical backbone of the curriculum. Not even the subjects with which she had no experience. “I am an insatiably curious person,” she explains. “It’s a mindset. Part of being a lifelong learner is being able to push yourself to learn when you have so many other things to do.”

To that end, Iris had enrolled in the program to gain a stronger foundational understanding of data and analytics, filtered through a business lens. Machine learning and AI were (and are) transforming her work as a product manager, and she wanted to acquire better tools to responsibly and effectively harness these cutting-edge technologies. “Because of the industry I am in, I see it as essential for me to understand data science,” she says. “It’s very crucial in improving our models.”

The MMA program delivered. “We went really deep into the fundamentals of statistics and data, and how to apply them into machine learning,” she recalls. “It was great.” The work was thrilling, but also, often, well outside of her comfort zone. For Iris, those moments were when the magic of the team-based learning format shone through. When a project centred on tricky number problems, a teammate with a background in data would steer the squad’s submission. Likewise, when assignments hinged on communication or business strategy, Iris would lean on her boardroom experience to lead the charge. This created a rising tide that lifted all boats. “We were each able to utilize our strengths and improve our weaknesses,” she says.

Iris also made a point to connect with classmates beyond the people on her team, sparking several relationships that endure to this day. “The program is full of people from different countries, different perspectives, and different circles,” she says. “I found it helpful to talk to everyone, to explore different perspectives. Everyone had something to bring to the table.”

A few months after completing the MMA program, Iris landed her current position as a product manager on the machine learning team at social gaming giant Zynga. Every day, her job involves diving deep into analytics and synthesizing data insights to predict everything from user behaviour to marketing strategies to revenue. When colleagues get into the weeds on advanced concepts or new tools, she’s well equipped with the technical understanding and analytical skills she gained from the program: “I have a solid understanding,” she reports. “There’s no need for me to catch up.”

Longer-term, Iris aims to lead a product team using machine learning and AI, specifically to leverage technology for good. She’s motivated by her dream of seeing scalable impact from a product she’s grown, and now—thanks in large part to the MMA program—she’s better equipped to make it a reality. “I’m on a path that really serves my passion,” she says. “Data is always telling you a story, and uncovering it is always going to be interesting to me.”