Program Benefits
- CASE STUDIES: Understand the real-world strategies of major tech companies, such as Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook, through current case studies.
- DATA SOFTWARE SKILLS: Develop practical data software skills in R/RStudio, SQL and Tableau through hands-on projects.
- GUEST SPEAKERS: Hear riveting stories from the front lines of tech, directly from company leaders who are influencing the space.
- 1:1 MENTORING: Learn under the guidance of your own mentor, a current UCLA Anderson MBA student specializing in technology management.
- GROUP MENTORING: Gain valuable career advice from industry professionals transforming the tech space.
All students will enroll in two required courses. This program carries 8 units of UC credit for a letter grade.
Technology Leadership: The Transformation of Consumers, Businesses and Society
Cornerstone Course
4 UNITS
Discover the impact of tech from the perspectives of consumers, businesses and society. Explore best practices at successful tech companies and learn how to apply this knowledge to launch your career in tech.
Technology has fundamentally changed the lives of consumers, enterprises, economies and societies. For consumers, it has enabled broader and more convenient access to information, commerce, and connectedness. For enterprises, it has lowered costs, facilitated entry to and competition in new markets, deepened customer engagement, blurred traditional product/service lines, and created new challenges and threats of disruption. For enterprises and entrepreneurs alike, technology has created new product/service opportunities, new waves of growth, and new markets.
This course will examine the dynamic nature of technology, the disruption and innovation taken to create new services with competitive advantages. We will explore a variety of industry-changing products and services, including connected devices (Internet of Things), cloud computing, artificial intelligence, over-the-top content and shared economy offerings. This course will also look at the concepts and models which have enabled these new services, threatened existing providers, changed competitive landscapes and blurred lines of service offerings. Such topics will include the role of standards, disruptive innovation, advertising-based business models, multi-sided platforms, cloud-based business models, and effects of competing convergence and unbundling. The class will also significantly focus on the increasing role and power of data as a predictive tool. While this course is focused on technology-based industries, the core learnings in strategy development, disruptive innovation and business models are relevant to numerous other industries.
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence
Concentration Course
4 UNITS
Gain a general understanding of data science and artificial intelligence, their business applications today and in the future, and their ethical and societal impacts. Build practical skills in analyzing and managing data via R/RStudio, SQL and Tableau.
The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data” was the headline in a recent article from The Economist. In fact, 5 out of the 6 largest companies in the world by market capitalization, are data technology businesses (Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Facebook). This course is designed to provide students (from both technical and non-technical backgrounds) with a practical foundation in data science to manage, analyze and synthesize data to derive actionable insights and help solve strategic business problems.
Students will receive an introduction to the statistical tool R, learn how to communicate with databases using SQL (Structured Query Language), and acquire the skills of data storytelling by utilizing Tableau - a powerful and fast growing data visualization tool in the Business Intelligence (BI) industry. Business leaders will also provide current examples of how Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are being applied to tackle their short-term and long-term business challenges.
Students will be learning from highly experienced instructors who have a passion for teaching and keep the learning experience interesting.
Tim Park
Applications and Business Models of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence - 4 units
Mr. Park is currently responsible for strengthening SPE’s consumer data position by enabling strategic analytics to drive targeted outreach for all the Home Entertainment lines of business. He also continues to lead a data management mandate to bridge the gap between business needs and data systems by spearheading cross-functional analytics initiatives.
Prior to joining Sony, Tim headed up the Analytics & Reporting department at DIRECTV/AT&T Entertainment Group where he built a data-driven culture. This increased accountability, improved efficiency and utilized predictive analytics to help deliver a premium viewing experience (for not only the traditional cable channels but also the streaming platform). He also worked as a consulting statistician at The Aerospace Corporation, a R&D center that provides technical guidance to the US Air Force, NRO (National Reconnaissance Office) and MDA (Missile Defense Agency) on all aspects of space missions.
Furthermore, Tim taught statistics and mathematics at UCLA, Loyola Marymount University and The Aerospace Institute. He has also spoken at numerous Big Data / Machine Learning / Artificial Intelligence conferences.
Mr. Park holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics & Physics from Occidental College and an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management
Robinne Burrell
Technology Leadership - 4 units
Over the past decade, Robinne Burrell has been at the forefront of technology and emerging media, having worked with brands spanning digital, interactive, mobile and social experiences. Robinne led product development and strategy at Amazon/IMDb, Match.com/Tinder and myspace at its peak. Through her company Redflight Innovation - an interactive development company located in Los Angeles and Johannesburg, she has built digital products for NBC’s The Voice, Comedy Central and Steven Spielberg’s The VR Company, to name a few.
In addition to her work as an innovator and leader, Robinne was named in the top spot as "5 People Pushing Technology You Want to Work With Now" in Forbes Magazine and "Code Breaker of the Year" by Google and the Digital Diversity Network for her groundbreaking work in tech and media. Standard and Poor’s identified her as part of the “Society of Industry Leaders” and Hollywood Reporter named her “The Next Generation of Industry Execs”. She has been featured on CNN and NBC and is on the board of the Interactive Peer Group for the Television Academy (The Emmys), the most influential board of influencers determining excellence in digital media.
Prior to her leadership positions at top tech and media companies, Robinne also held management positions at Universal Music Group, Sony Electronics, and was an early member of Jimmy Iovine’s start-up Inside Sessions, a digital curriculum designed to introduce young musicians on how to break into the business of music. Robinne would later go on to be an Ambassador of Goodwill and Peace in Mexico, where she launched a non-profit program for kids to learn arts and humanities. In 2016, Robinne authored the virtual reality user experience for "Take Back the Mic: The World Cup of Hip Hop" for Oculus, which would lead her to become the first African-American woman to be up for an Emmy in VR.
Robinne is also the creator of Access to Innovation workshops, part of Redflight's social enterprise efforts around the world to bring emerging technology to underrepresented communities through an immersive curricula in coding, robotics, virtual reality, augmented reality and entrepreneurship. She recently partnered with the Mandela Family and Africa Rising to implement the program in Nelson Mandela's hometown of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Robinne holds a B.A in Cinema/Television from USC and completed the Leadership Strategy Program at MITs Sloan School of Business.
She is the co-creator of "In Your Shoes" a broadcast and virtual reality series that allows historically untold stories to be brought to life by 360-degree video. In 2016 she was awarded First Place in the National Association of Broadcasters Innovation Pilot for her "outstanding commitment to furthering the future of broadcasting" for her work on the project. She is currently working closely with the Mandela Family and Africa Rising, A Kweku and Ndaba Mandela organization - the most prolific of the heirs to the Nelson Mandela legacy, as Founder of the Mandela Cultural Fellowship and in 2019 was awarded the honor of being a patent owner of Match.com/Tinder for authoring a location-based dating algorithm and specifications.
The program fee includes the course unit fees and supplemental curricular activity fees. This program carries 8 quarter units of UC credit. Most courses that constitute Summer Business Institutes curricula charge an Instructional Enhancement Initiative (IEI) fee.
All fees are non-refundable and subject to change without notice. Visit the Summer Program's website for additional information.
Student Experience
"I gained so much knowledge about the tech world and got to meet so many like-minded people."
— Krystal Xu, Data Science Intern, Instagram (Facebook)
I attended the UCLA Technology Leadership Summer Institute offered by the Easton Technology Management Center during the summer after my freshman year. I'm really grateful to have had this opportunity because I gained so much knowledge about the tech world and got to meet so many like-minded people from different countries, such as Australia, France, China, Italy and the Netherlands. One of my favorite memories was working with my team to develop a minimum viable product and comprehensive market research for a student loan app. I also enjoyed touring tech companies such as Google and Headspace, which inspired me to pursue data science in tech. I highly recommend this program to all entrepreneurship-minded students.
— Krystal Xu, Data Science Intern, Instagram (Facebook)
"The TLSI was an amazing opportunity to dive into the tech and entrepreneurship scene in L.A. and the U.S."
— Michael Liang, Co-Founder, Culturestride (formerly Product Management Intern, Atlassian)
The TLSI was an amazing opportunity to dive into the tech and entrepreneurship scene in L.A. and the U.S. The professors were excellent, and I had the opportunity to make friends from everywhere who have become some of my closest today. A particular highlight was meeting the actual people running businesses during our company tours, which helped connect what we were learning to the real world. The TLSI was a vital experience on my journey to becoming more independent. It sparked a global itch that has led me to live in Singapore and Shanghai and start two companies, including Culturestride.
— Michael Liang, Co-Founder, Culturestride (formerly Product Management Intern, Atlassian)
"I do think that all of the insights from class were directly transported into my interviews."
— Juli Coelho, Associate Account Strategist, Google
I was actually interviewing with Google, Facebook and Amazon during the program and I do think that all of the insights from class were directly transported into my interviews. So it was definitely very helpful and it led me to my full-time job at Google.
— Juli Coelho, Associate Account Strategist, Google
"TLSI was instrumental in helping me land my marketing internship."
— Flora Chang, Communications Student, UC Santa Barbara
Attending TLSI is one of the best choices I've made during my college years. Its remote nature made attending the program a lot more flexible and helped save a lot of money because I was able to stay at home. TLSI was instrumental in helping me land my marketing internship. After networking with a tech professional who spoke at TLSI, I interned for a quarter at his startup. I was able to add my data science and TLSI projects to my resume, which helped give me an edge in my applications. TLSI helped me gain experience in the data analytics aspect of digital marketing, and I was able to land a market research internship at Hubspot. Without TLSI, I don't think I would have experienced the same level of success applying for internships.
- Flora Chang, Communications Student, UC Santa Barbara
"The remote learning was incredible, and it made participating in class discussions so easy."
— Andrew Bennecke (B.S. ’22), Computational and Systems Biology Student, UCLA
The most valuable thing I got out of the program was probably hearing the stories of real people in the industry and also making those connections with like- minded individuals along the way. It's very timely that UCLA has given people the opportunity to further their careers without leaving their homes. The remote learning was incredible, and it made participating in class discussions so easy.
- Andrew Bennecke (B.S. ’22), Computational and Systems Biology Student, UCLA
Major Tech Company Access
The UCLA Technology Leadership Summer Institute will not only prepare you through classroom curriculum, you'll learn immeasurably from special guest speakers and mentors who will show you what it's like inside some of the most legendary high-tech companies.
