From Classroom to Cloud: Launching My Strategy and Operations Career in Tech

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When I applied to business school, I was in the middle of a career pivot—curious about strategy, unsure of my direction and full of questions. I knew I wanted to solve big business problems and get closer to decision-making, but I wasn’t sure how to get there.

Today, I lead geographic expansion and enterprise strategic planning at Salesforce, helping to build and execute our growth strategies. This year, I was honored to be selected for Salesforce’s Global COO Excellence Academy, a year-long program designed to recognize and develop top-performing leaders across the organization.

If you’re not familiar with Salesforce, it’s a global cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco. It’s recognized as the world’s leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform and has been a Fortune 500 company for over a decade. Salesforce is also a pioneer in applying artificial intelligence to CRM through its AI platform. As I reflect on my career trajectory at Salesforce, I see a clear through-line back to my time at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management.

Stepping into Salesforce’s COO Excellence Academy

The Global COO Excellence Academy recognizes the top 5% of talent across Salesforce’s COO Community. Each participant is nominated by leadership, which made the opportunity feel especially meaningful.

Over the next 12 months, I’ll participate in career-accelerating leadership sessions and hands-on workshops. I’ll collaborate with colleagues globally, contribute to strategic initiatives, and learn from some of the brightest minds in the company. The program also emphasizes giving back—mentoring peers, championing community success and supporting our broader Agentic transformation.

This opportunity is designed to stretch us as leaders—and I wouldn’t have been ready for it without my time at UC Davis.

UC Davis: Laying the Foundation

Before joining Salesforce, I didn’t have a traditional background in tech or strategy. I entered the Full-Time MBA program as a career switcher, unsure of where I wanted to land. The GSM gave me the tools—and the space—to explore.

One of the most formative experiences was a year-long internship at CalPERS, where I got hands-on with investment analysis and corporate governance. It was there I learned to think deeply about how businesses function, how they grow and what makes them sustainable. That kind of structured, analytical thinking became the foundation for how I now approach operations strategy.

In the classroom, I was drawn to courses in organizational strategy, corporate finance, new business ventures and venture capital. These weren’t just academic exercises—they taught me how to think like an operator and strategist. I learned how to scale ideas, how to pressure-test assumptions and how to make decisions even when the data’s imperfect—which, let’s be honest, is most of the time.

What set UC Davis apart, though, wasn’t just the curriculum—it was the culture. The spirit of collaboration, curiosity and humility still influences how I lead today.

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From Group Projects to Global Strategy

People often ask what it’s like to work at a company as large and complex as Salesforce. Honestly, it feels a lot like business school—especially the group projects.

Every initiative I lead now requires bringing together stakeholders from across departments, time zones and priorities. Just like in the MBA program, it’s all about communication, alignment and helping the team move forward together. It’s less about being the smartest person in the room and more about helping everyone do their best work.

Outside the classroom at the Graduate School of Management, I took advantage of many opportunities and experiences to apply what I was leading and build leadership muscle. I led the Community Consulting Group, worked on the Census of Women Executives and Board Leadership as a research assistant, and was active in the Finance Association. 

One standout moment was competing in the CFA Institute Research Challenge. Our team created a full sell-side equity report and made it to the Western Conference semifinals. It was a crash course in analysis, storytelling and collaboration—all skills I rely on today.

The Corporate Communications course also proved invaluable. It taught me how to tailor messaging for different audiences—something I now do daily as I bridge technical and business teams.

Leadership Lessons That Led to My Promotion

Strategy and operations work often feels like spinning multiple plates—deadlines, metrics and many moving parts. UC Davis taught me not to lose sight of the bigger picture. How do decisions impact people across the organization? How do we make systems that are better and faster for everyone?

I’d like to share my best leadership advice:

• Be curious. Ask why—and then ask again. The more you understand, the better your decisions will be.
• Know your numbers. Understand how success is measured and where the real opportunities lie.
• Work is a team sport. You can’t drive impact in a silo. Learn how the entire business runs. Learn the language of different teams. And become someone who can connect the dots.

My UC Davis classmates, professors and mentors challenged and supported me in equal measure. That environment helped me grow into the leader I am today—and led to my recent promotion to senior director at Salesforce.

The MBA didn’t just give me business knowledge—it taught me how to lead. And now, through programs like the COO Excellence Academy, I get to keep growing, keeping giving back and helping others do the same.

If you’re thinking about getting your MBA at UC Davis, know this: it’s more than a degree. It’s a launchpad—for your career, your leadership journey and the impact you want to make.

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