A team of four business analytics students at FIU Business earned third place in the PNC FinTech Challenge, one of several national competitions held during the 2025 AIS Student Leadership Conference at the University of Alabama in March 2025.
Hosted by the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Student Chapters, the annual conference brings together top students from across the country to compete in challenges spanning fintech, cybersecurity, sustainability and software development.
The FinTech competition tasked students with proposing an innovative solution to help measure the financial trustworthiness of consumers by leveraging technology and data to enhance services offered to customers. Judging criteria included impact, implementation, innovation, storytelling and overall appeal.
Competing against students from universities across the U.S, the FIU Business team presented PNC TrustTrack, an interactive financial app designed to measure a user’s financial trustworthiness as a supplement to a traditional credit score.
“Our app was aimed at helping people better understand and improve their financial creditability,” said Bradley Mitial, a senior studying information systems and business analytics. “We wanted to offer something more inclusive than traditional credit scores.”
The team also included Amaury Sainvil, president of the FIU AIS chapter, Denise Nguyen, and Katheryne Mena, all seniors studying information systems and business analytics.
Their third-place finish earned them a $500 prize. While none of the students had prior experience in app development, they leveraged generative artificial intelligence tools and support from faculty members Gladys Simpson, AIS faculty director, and Edward Duran, assistant teaching professor of information systems and business analytics, who advised the students on developing a working wireframe, or blueprint, of their concept.
“Creating the wireframe was a challenge,” said Nguyen. “But with the help of our professors and some persistence, we learned how to use new technologies to bring our vision to life.”
For many of the students, the experience was as transformative as it was technical. Sainvil, who helped organize the team, reflected on how the competition brought the students together to complement each of their skills.
“It was rewarding to see us all improve and grow in a way where we all supported each other,” said Nguyen. “It wasn’t just about the technology, it was about learning to collaborate, solve problems and step outside of our comfort zones.”
The team also had the chance to interact with the judges and learn about internship and job opportunities. Mitial said the experience improved his public speaking skills and gave him real-world exposure to presenting ideas to executives and business leaders.
“Being able to articulate and use critical thinking skills is something that's very important, especially in the business analytics major,” said Mitial. “You have to be a critical thinker and be able to solve problems well, so I think that was something that I really enjoyed throughout this entire experience.”
The PNC FinTech team was one of four from FIU Business that placed third in their respective competitions at the 2025 AIS Student Leadership Conference.
Team CGI Full Stack included recent graduate Taniel Gunter (MS ’25), as well as Alexander Chirinos, and Julian Arias, who tackled a full-stack development challenge.
The International Paper Challenge featured Yeimy Padilla Godoy and Anna Kozhan, who developed a solution addressing sustainability and logistics.
And finally, the Cybersecurity Challenge included Uday Chauhan, Daniel Diaz, and Salma Marra, all MSIS students, who presented an innovative cybersecurity case solution.