07-13-2026
Rama Deshpande doesn’t need a balance sheet to prove her Master of Business and Technology (MBT) degree was a good investment.
The facts speak for themselves. Days after graduating from the residential MBT program, she joined Amazon as a software development engineer. Thanks to numerous opportunities to test and prove herself during her master’s program, Deshpande started that new life fearlessly, secure in her purpose, voice and vision.
“At the end of my undergraduate, I had all the technical skills I needed to go to industry directly if I wanted to,” Deshpande says, “but I didn't have the confidence. I think MBT shaped that side.”
Deshpande credits the on-campus MBT program and Purdue’s Mitch Daniels School of Business team with helping her discover her potential to be a leader. They helped her strengthen her communication and collaboration skills. Most of all, she says the critical conversations she had in class refined her views about corporate and personal responsibility.
“We had ethics discussions surrounding everything,” she says. “There was a course about when and where technology should be employed, what gaps technology can fill and how to work alongside AI. Should AI even be used at all in some situations?
“It was like, ‘Oh great, you can write code. Do you know what you're writing code for? Do you know whether the code should even be written?’ Having a deeper understanding of the business impact makes me more tied to the code, if anything. I understand how it fits into the bigger puzzle. That's what MBT taught me.”
Initially, Deshpande, who graduated with her bachelor’s in computer science from Purdue, planned to get an MBA.
Her plans changed after walking past a booth in Purdue’s Material Science and Electrical Engineering Building where they were showcasing both the MBT and the MBA programs. While she didn’t have a business background, she knew her future included the corporate world. The MBT offered that path forward. Since she wanted to stay tech-focused and start a master’s program soon, Deshpande enrolled in the MBT program.
“I didn't think I had it in me to start working and come back,” she says. “It felt like too long term of a plan for me. So, MBT just worked out.”
When the MBT program launched in the fall of 2024, Deshpande was part of the first cohort. She describes the early days of the program as “exciting.”
“I think I wanted to take a chance on something new,” she says. “Purdue's name is enough for me to sign up for any program, really, but because I didn't have enough experience to go into an MBA, I wanted to have that business background one way or another.
“It's not an MBA; it is the MBA reimagined,” Deshpande says. “In a world where things are constantly changing, every company is becoming a technology company.”
Purdue’s MBT allowed her to explore tech topics like artificial intelligence while learning more about the business world, Deshpande says. With 50 percent of her courses in technology and 50 percent covering business principles, she says the program kept her engaged and challenged.
She says professors responded in real time to student feedback, and administrative team members, like Michelle Bosso, assistant director of career development for graduate programs at the Daniels School, met with students weekly to learn more about them.
“They were paying attention to every single student,” she says. “Michelle Bosso memorized our LinkedIn's. She would see us and say, ‘New profile photo on LinkedIn. Nice. I like it.’ That was so cool.”
Deshpande credits Bosso’s mentoring with helping her overcome her fear of contacting strangers. Now, Deshpande regularly reaches out to industry experts to learn more about their roles, challenges and approaches to the field.
“She told us about the importance of cold emailing and taking the first step,” she says. “That is a life skill that I carry with me. I used to be very scared to reach out. But I am more comfortable with reaching out to people outside of my comfort zone. It also made me think about my experiences in a way that's easy to digest and tell this story. That was all thanks to her.”
Deshpande graduated in June 2025. Since she is passionate about technology, Deshpande plans to be a product manager, guiding a product from concept to distribution. It’s a role she did not know existed before the MBT.
“I'd like to be in a position where I can see the entire product and know, ‘This person's working on this; this person's working on this; okay, we need somebody to fill this gap right here.’ I think MBT positions me to be in a place to understand that entire life cycle.”
Daniels School team members also recommended internships and opportunities that aligned with students’ interests and career goals, including the one that led to her current job, she says.
“Even now, they have a LinkedIn group that they post on constantly, and they tag students and say, ‘MBT, this is a good opportunity.’ The fact that they're doing that around the clock, I think deserves to be recognized.”
Since completing the program, Deshpande says she and many of her former classmates continued to recommend the MBT program and share their experiences with incoming students.
“We didn’t get the luxury of asking somebody that’s in the cohort currently, so I love that a lot of us picked up this role of being mentors to the incoming students,” she says. “I would definitely, definitely recommend this program. I think you can very easily tailor this program to your needs. They're very responsive to that. It is a unique experience.”
Since its launch in 2024, the program has expanded to include online and Indianapolis options.
If you would like to receive more information about pursuing a business master’s at the Mitch Daniels School of Business, please connect with us and a program specialist will be in touch!
