Owen Mahin never dreamed of becoming Purdue University’s first Master of Business and Technology (MBT) program graduate. Instead, as he neared graduation in 2024 with his bachelor's in industrial management from the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Mahin was trying to chart his next step. He still had three goals to achieve: finance his education, earn his master’s degree and continue working with the Purdue women’s volleyball team.
He just didn’t know how to accomplish all those goals.
At that critical moment, he shared his concerns with John Gibson, the school's senior managing director for residential master's programs, who told him about the MBT program.
For Mahin, who is interested in the future of artificial intelligence in manufacturing, the concept of the program was exciting. He describes the MBT as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with more emphasis on technical skills — just the thing for someone who had concentrations in supply chain operations and data analytics as an undergrad.
Mahin recalls Gibson saying, "'We have this program in the pipeline. It's not official yet. If this helps your decision, please consider it.’ Then two weeks later, it was announced that they were officially starting it. I submitted my application and got accepted.”
In addition to Gibson’s guidance, Mahin says Michelle Bosso, associate director of career services in the Daniels School, diligently provided a steady stream of career tips, encouragement and support.
“This program was a blessing,” he says. “The faculty, staff and overall support system are leaps and bounds beyond any other program within Purdue. They're all there, fighting for you.”
Since graduating in May 2025, Mahin has traveled the country as an associate in an operations management training initiative with Symbotic, a U.S. tech firm that specializes in optimizing global warehousing. Program participants get hands-on experience by visiting company sites to study their many functions. Once Mahin completes the training, he will be an assistant to a general manager.
“From a high level, we move packages from A to B,” he says. "If you dive more in-depth, we're a machine learning, artificial intelligence company that's really trying to push what's possible with automation.”
For someone who embraces innovation, appreciates AI and is fascinated by technology, Mahin considers working for Symbotic his dream job — made possible by someone at the Daniels School who told him about the company and provided the introduction.
“They just provided opportunities in terms of jobs, internships and a career,” Mahin says of the Daniels School team that provided constant support. “It's honestly such a blessing that I was able to find Symbotic at the time in which I did. I absolutely love the company.”
He applies what he learned every day. “I really value the experience I got in the MBA portion,” Mahin says. “The finance, the accounting, the marketing — that really helped me.
“Diving deeper into the technical aspect is really what the MBT program provided to me — the strategic thinking in a corporation. Rather than just linear thinking with an MBA, I benefited a lot from the strategic management class and the computational business intelligence class, learning how you drive strategic insights for the company.”
The learning that occurs in the MBT cohort is exponential because the professors are bought into the vision of the program. They're willing to teach all of their students everything they know.
Although the MBT program was new, Mahin says he was not concerned about it being untested because he trusted the college offering it.
“When you take a step back and you look at new programs at the start, the first year isn't always what year five looks like,” Mahin says. “But the feedback you get from year one is crucial to make it a successful program.”
His professors shared the same mentality. They tweaked the program design to make some of the technical aspects more challenging and were open to feedback from students — all with the goal of improving the program.
“With a new program, getting the opportunity to learn was huge,” Mahin says. “You don't get to start and be the first of anything very often. So, I think all of us in the MBT cohort understood that it was going to be a learning experience. And the feedback was a two-way street.”
Mahin’s work situation, for example, offered his professors and classmates an unexpected logistics challenge. After being accepted into the MBT program, Mahin was hired as the volleyball team’s graduate assistant. Unlike most residential graduate students, his new role meant days on the road, away from the classroom. After spending years as a member of the practice squad, he did not want to abandon his support role with the team.
"I was traveling with the team, doing practices, kind of helping scout, and was on the road with them,” he says. “I then stayed around in the spring, and that's kind of what helped provide financial assistance for me to be able to stay and get my master's.”
“Some days, I was taking classes remotely,” Mahin says. “Some professors at the start were hesitant to do that because it was a very collaborative learning environment.”
But he said he was open with his classmates and professors about his responsibilities.
“I found my group of other MBT students, and we all just worked together for multiple classes,” Mahin says. “I pulled my weight in other classes for the work that I may not have been able to do in one class because I was on the road. Being in person was certainly beneficial in terms of the collaborative experience, but we also discovered a different way to collaborate.”
Collaboration is one of the many lessons from the MBT program that Mahin has implemented since being at Symbotic. Now, he is comfortable navigating different time zones, having difficult conversations in person and virtually, managing expectations and searching for solutions that benefit everyone.
“It really taught me how to work with a team in a changing environment and flux,” Mahin says. “Life happens. You have stuff that you can't attend in person or online. Because of the hybrid fashion of my MBT experience, I was able to learn that. I think that was really crucial to my learning and success with the program.”
Mahin says the Daniels School team was always supportive but became even more so as he went through the MBT program.
"The learning that occurs in the MBT cohort is exponential because the professors are bought into the program,” Mahin says. “They're bought into the vision of it. They're willing to teach all of their students everything they know. Not just about their experiences in academia, but their experiences in industry. So, your learning is truly exponential. And that's what I love about the program.”
Now, with his early goals accomplished, Mahin is excited about his next step. Thanks to his MBT degree and the Daniels School team, he is enjoying his latest challenge: discovering more about his new employer.
“For me, it's about learning as much as I possibly can and seeing where the wind takes me.”
Interested in discovering the synergy of business and technology? The MBT program pairs proven business practices with cutting-edge skills and tools to equip you for tomorrow’s challenges, whether you are building a career or future-proofing your business. Learn more today.
