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A group of 18 MBA students from the Universidad Catolica de Uruguay (UCU) gathered at FIU Business in fall 2023 for a weeklong executive education certificate program in leadership, international business, innovation, technology and digital transformation.
"What I valued most was networking and how each individual's experience was unique," said Andres Diaz, one of the UCU students. The courses explored the latest trends on developing human capital, data analytics, the Internet of Things and the nuances of politics in international business.
"The objective of this course is to gain new knowledge," said Ignacio Bartesagni, director of the Instituto de Negocios Internacionales at UCU. "Of course, the experience is also about spending a week at a university of FIU's caliber, with this campus that is not common in our country."
Aside from learning and exploring FIU's campus, the students took tours of companies including Sony Music Latin's Miami headquarters, led by president Bruno Duarte (MIB '19); WTDC Worldwide Logistics, accompanied by its president, Sean Gazitua; and PortMiami.
"It was interesting, the parts on digital innovation, digital transformation, data analysis in international business," said UCU student Eugenia Grande.
"The great challenge is to see how they apply the technology available internationally to the specific cases of the companies in which they have some type of role."
– Ignacio Bartesagni
"We talked about the topic of data strategy, and I think the professor was very meticulous when it came to explaining the theory, how to put together a digital transformation strategy, what is coming and what is going to evolve."
The innovation and technology panel included two FIU Business alumnae - Maria Florencia Sciaroni (MBA '22), CEO of Sur Supply, which specializes in the import and distribution of animal protein in the U.S., and Maria Romano (MBA '22), vice president of health equity and medical informatics at Premise Health.
"The great challenge is to see how they apply the technology available internationally to the specific cases of the companies in which they have some type of role," said Bartesagni.
This was the second UCU student group to participate in the program and plans are in development to host a third group in 2024.
"I found the whole topic of the internationality of business very interesting and it kind of makes me want to get into that world a little," said Grande. "I work a lot in the local market and opening up to the world seems to me to be the biggest challenge, but the most important takeaway for me."
