Alumni Spotlight: Mariam Tahir (MOT '24)

Mariam Tahir (MOT ‘24) always knew she wanted to pursue a master’s degree. So, with a business degree (finance and analytics) and enough experience on her resume, she did what many would do and explored options for an MBA. While she found various programs to be interesting and professionally valuable, there was just one problem — it felt too similar to the skillset she had just spent three years acquiring.

After a bit of research, Tahir found the Technological Leadership Institute’s Management of Technology (MOT) program.

“MOT came up, and it seemed like the perfect mix of what I was looking for,” Tahir said. “To grow my career in the technology space while also carrying forward the business acumen … an MBA with a tech focus.”

The choice has paid off. Just months after graduating from the MOT program, Tahir was promoted to senior business analyst at the University of Minnesota.

“Immediately for me, the differences were paid,” Tahir said. “As soon as graduation happened, I was promoted to the next level internally within my organization because of MOT.”

We sat down with Tahir for a conversation on the impact of the MOT program on her career, how the cohort model built bonds and shed light on new ideas, how she adjusted to the juggling act of working full time while earning her master’s, and more.

TLI: What initially interested you about the MOT program?

Mariam Tahir: I first started working at the University of Minnesota in 2022. Part of the benefits of working at the U is the Regents Tuition Benefit Program, which is a huge incentive to pursue higher education or a grad program. I always knew I wanted to pursue a master's program, and initially I thought it would be an MBA of sorts. I graduated from the Carlson School of Management for my undergrad degree, so that seemed like a realistic next step.

I looked into the MBA program. It was very valuable, but I felt like it would be a repetition of what I had done in undergrad, and I wanted to expand my skill set, especially given how much technology is growing. I wanted to marry the business side as well as the technology side. MOT came up, and it seemed like the perfect mix of what I was looking for, especially where I'm at in my career now. I really felt like it was an MBA with a tech focus.

It happened in two weeks. I was like, OK, I'm going to go for this, and then applied, and then heard back. And then we were off to the races. I'm so glad that I pursued the opportunity, because it's definitely paid dividends for me.

TLI: What were those two weeks like? That's a whirlwind, I imagine.

Mariam Tahir: I truly didn't expect it to be that fast, but I knew when applying that I wanted it to be for the upcoming fall semester. I felt like I didn't want to waste any time. It was so quick, and I did not expect it, but I was so happy to have that out of the way. Then it was time to focus on the next thing and shift my mindset to preparing for what it's going to be like working full-time and doing the master's. Looking back on it now, it was perfect for me.

TLI: Figuring out your life patterns with your job, settling into that, and then getting a whole other angle thrown at you with academic workload again... what was the adjustment like?

Mariam Tahir: From a personal standpoint, it definitely took an adjustment because a program like MOT does take a lot of work. But the program itself was structured in a really great way. I think the first class we took was the leadership class, and that was the same semester we were figuring out how to work in groups. As the semesters continued, some of the content became more technical or required more group work. The natural progression of the program really helped me because it set the foundation.

TLI: In the cohort model, students have various levels of expertise and experience. Going into the program, were you aware that that kind of chemistry was going to be in the mix?

Mariam Tahir: I knew it was a cohort-based model, but I didn't know what that meant. I thought it's just a group of students, and we're going to go two years together. I undervalued how important that cohort model was. Going through something like that with a group of people really builds bonds, especially when we have so much group work that we're doing.

I was meeting with my cohort just to bounce ideas off each other and learn from each other every week, whether or not we had a group assignment. The discussions that we had as a class were so rich because of the different varying levels of experience everyone was bringing to the table.

It was my first experience working with people coming from a range of industry and experience and different job titles and all coming together trying to learn. That was really valuable. That made discussion so much richer. We were a smaller group, but that was the best part. So much fun.

TLI: Guest lectures are a popular element of the TLI programs. What were the highlights from the guest lecturers you had?

Mariam Tahir: Hearing a guest lecturer talk about things and being open to the questions we had that maybe would not be covered in a slide deck or the curriculum was really helpful. The one that always stands out to me was Teddy Bekele, CTO of Land O'Lakes. Seeing the curriculum in real time and how he was applying that in his organization as a leader was so valuable. That was really helpful for us to learn from a technology leader. It gives you an actual case study that you can interact and engage with and bring forward to your own organization.

TLI: What kinds of leadership skills or management skills, or that kind of piece of the pie. Did you learn during the program? Did you have previous experience?

Mariam Tahir: I would say I had a bit more experience with the management side, just the fact that I went to business school and have a major in finance and analytics, so I had seen that already. But I'm thinking about our finance and accounting class. Having that class was so helpful in learning that when you're in an organization making technology decisions, that has an impact on the whole organization and what that does to your balance sheet or your income statement. I think it was incredibly well-rounded because we were able to learn how to manage change and technology and what that does to an organization as a whole.

We also had our Communication for Tech Leaders class, which I would lump into the management side. I mentioned this before to the instructor how helpful that class was. I think everything that you do in work is about communication and how you're sharing ideas with other people to bring them on board. That class was instrumental in doing that. Various forms of communication, whether it's written or oral, and structuring decks to make them engaging. I took the most from that class, and that's stuff that I use still today and anticipate using for the rest of my career. The technology will change, and that's inevitable, but the things we learned will not change. Those tools will enable us to anticipate what's going to come in our careers in the future.

TLI: How has your vision for the path forward changed? Has your professional outlook evolved since you completed the program?

Mariam Tahir: I definitely see, over the course of the program itself and now after, my approach to projects has changed so that I'm thinking more strategically about where I want this project to go. That's leadership in and of itself. It brings you opportunities where you are successful, because you know what to look out for and what to anticipate.

Throughout the program, I was met with those opportunities at work, and I was able to apply what we learned to move those projects forward. I've seen how I've changed in my approach. I’m less of a passive member of the team and more of a strategic member trying to think things differently and move things along. As soon as graduation happened, I was promoted to the next level within my organization because of MOT.

TLI: If someone is considering TLI's programs, whether that's MOT or ST or MDI, what kind of advice would you give them?

Mariam Tahir: This is advice I needed to hear: just do it. Apply and see what happens. The further I got from undergrad, the less likely it was for me to pursue a master's program. Life gets busy, things happen, and that may fall low on the priority list.

MOT is probably the thing that I lean back on most in my career so far because I learned so much from it. It was such a great experience with my other 10 classmates and the instructors and the faculty.

If you're thinking about it, just try and do it, because you'll learn something no matter what, and it will carry you with you forever.