Alumni Spotlight: Anna Shen MSBA 18

As the lead for the Measurement Analytics team at Square, alumna Anna Shen MSBA 18 oversees a team that leverages business intelligence, data engineering, data analytics, and data science to understand marketing attribution and grow marketing efforts.

The experience she gained from the MSBA program provided her exposure to different facets of business analytics and data science, helping her recognize her strengths and define her career direction. She enjoyed the opportunity to apply what she learned from the curriculum at work along the way, as it enabled her to approach problems through a different lens and develop more impactful solutions. 

What does being a collaborative leader mean to you?

Being a collaborative leader means to me, being inclusive, seeking diverse points of view, making sure that everyone has a voice and a seat at the table.

How do you collaborate at work to make an impact?

I think over-communicating is definitely better than under-communicating or communicating with the wrong set of people to potentially build an inappropriate solution.

What are the highlights of your career the last few years?

I'd say the highlight of my career is definitely the people I've met and have had the honor of working alongside.

It's truly a humbling experience to see the result of many people with so many talents and experiences come together to build something greater.

What are your biggest challenges in your industry?

I think access is a very big challenge. A lot of people would love to enter Data Science as a field or industry, the AI, machine learning space, but a lot of people, I think are just very overwhelmed. They have trouble just getting started.

Which professors had the biggest impact on you?

I really enjoyed professor Gina Dokko's class on Organizational Change.

As a front-line manager, I'm usually responsible for turning business ideas into actual reality. I've noticed that often where strategy fails and efforts fall short, the cause is commonly non-technical.

What are you seeing that future business graduates should be aware of as they start their careers?

Often in the tech industry, there's a very heavy emphasis on skills but in reality, skills are just tools and 
not an end but rather a means to an end. It's up to you to really figure out how to apply those skills for greater impact.