Never underestimate the power of continuous learning and its potential to transform a career.
Consider the experience of Jithu Ramesh and where UVA McIntire’s M.S. in the Management of Information Technology (M.S. in MIT) Program has taken her.
Having grown up in Northern Virginia, Ramesh completed her undergraduate studies at James Madison University, where she majored in Health Studies and minored in Biology. Despite her academic background, her early career experiences hinted at a burgeoning interest in technology. Roles as an intern at a small tech firm, a marketing technical writer, and later as a proposal writer creating government contracts each involved capturing technical documentation and helping organizations communicate their strategic solutions. Yet as her responsibilities grew, so did her desire for deeper insights into how technology and business strategies align.
Her thirst for knowledge and a more nuanced understanding of business strategy led Ramesh to the M.S. in MIT Program, where she found the right blend of flexibility, rigor, and real-world applicability.
“I sought a program that would help me gain insights into delivering business value and understanding the alignment between technology and business strategy,” Ramesh says. “After speaking with an M.S. in MIT alum, I was particularly drawn to the program’s collaborative learning format. The inclusion of group projects and the opportunity to learn from classmates with diverse educational and professional backgrounds were especially appealing to me.”
Expanding Skill Sets and Global Perspectives
Ramesh credits several key modules in the M.S. in MIT Program for significantly altering how she views both technology and business strategy. Courses on enterprise architecture, digital transformation, and IT strategy were particularly impactful. These modules, she explains, gave her the tools to better understand the intersection between business objectives and technological solutions. They helped her grasp how to capture and articulate customer challenges, and most importantly, how to translate those challenges into technological solutions that deliver real value.
This newfound perspective directly influenced her career trajectory. As a Senior Customer Success Account Manager at Microsoft, Ramesh now plays a pivotal role in helping customers achieve their business goals by aligning Microsoft’s solutions with their strategic priorities. “My primary responsibility is to clearly understand customer priorities and goals, and to align solution planning, delivery execution, and governance of Microsoft solutions accordingly,” Ramesh notes. The skills and knowledge she gained in the Commerce School program have proven invaluable in her current role, where understanding the business-technology alignment is critical for success.
Of all the experiences that shaped Ramesh’s time at McIntire, one of the most memorable was the IT Project & Product Management module, led by Professor Stefano Grazioli. The on-location course included a global component that saw Ramesh and her cohort travel to Mendoza, Argentina, where they worked with a local winery on a strategic project. “This experience expanded my understanding of working with international businesses and provided insights into collaboration and solution delivery from a global perspective,” she says.
Working on the project—one with concrete, real-world implications—allowed Ramesh to gain a deeper understanding of how businesses operate on a global scale and how technology can drive innovation and efficiency in diverse settings.
A Supportive Faculty, A Lifelong Network
One of the standout features of the M.S. in MIT is the quality of its renowned and caring faculty, a sentiment Ramesh enthusiastically shares. “The faculty were amazing and incredibly supportive,” she says. With their deep industry experience and engaging teaching styles, the professors created a dynamic learning setting that was both academically rigorous and practically oriented. “They fostered a multifaceted learning environment through an engaging curriculum, corporate speakers, projects that led to C-Suite interactions, and opportunities to learn from other students. This made the program much less theoretical and far more applicable to the real world.”
Outside the classroom, Ramesh found that the M.S. in MIT Program also fostered a supportive and collaborative network among its students. “A few of my classmates were very generous with their time during and after the program. Whenever I wanted to discuss an article or had a question, I could reach out to them, and they were always willing to engage in a discussion. The networking opportunities and the frequent interactions with a professional group of peers were invaluable,” she says. “It allowed us to learn from each other and exchange ideas effectively.”
This network extended beyond the program’s duration. In fact, when Ramesh was considering a career change in 2021, one of her classmates helped by reviewing her resume, conducting mock interviews, and offering feedback on case study presentations. This type of support, she says, is emblematic of the close-knit, professional relationships that develop in the program.
Balancing Work, Life, and Learning
Of note, one of the key attractions of McIntire’s M.S. in MIT Program for Ramesh was its format, which caters to professionals seeking to expand their expertise without interrupting their careers. For Ramesh, who was working as a proposal writer at the time, balancing coursework with her job was manageable, thanks to the weekend schedule. “The format of the program was flexible, and I enjoyed that it was on the weekends,” she recalls, noting that the extended time between sessions allowed her to cover reading material and complete group projects without feeling overwhelmed.
This flexibility was crucial for Ramesh, who was intent on gaining actionable insights from the program to apply directly to her professional life. The weekend structure, combined with the opportunity to work alongside a cohort of peers with similar professional goals, created an environment where learning could be immediately contextualized within her work.
Reflecting on her time pursuing her McIntire master’s degree, Ramesh is clear about its value as offering a transformative experience with tangible results. The program’s practical relevance went much further than expanding her understanding of business and technology: It provided her with the tools to quickly advance her career. “I saw immediate results after graduating from M.S. in MIT,” she says. The program gave her a new perspective and the tools with which to bridge the gap between successful business outcomes and technology, a skill set that has been instrumental in her role at Microsoft.
For anyone considering the program, Ramesh offers this advice: “The modules in the program are designed to increase your current understanding and expand your perspective of corporate solutions. Combined with the projects, case studies, speakers, professors, and other classmates, this program can make an impact on your career.”