Meet Jakov Kukić, MTM Class of 2024

Jakov completed his undergraduate degree in Sociology and the undergraduate certificate in Technology Management at UCSB before joining the MTM graduate program.

Q: Why did you want to join the MTM graduate program?

A: I did the Technology Management undergraduate certificate at UCSB and I met all of the professors, and they seemed really amazing. I was intrigued to be taught by people who had industry experience and then came to teach; that side of the education was incredibly appealing. Additionally, I wanted to deepen my understanding of business operations and management, and I believed that the MTM program would provide the comprehensive education and practical skills necessary to achieve that goal.

Q: What was your favorite moment of the year?

A: Giving our final field project capstone presentations on the last day. It was really fun and meaningful to see it all come together and all the hard work everyone had done, and have the opportunity to present what we had achieved. 

Q: What was something you learned that you look forward to using in your next job?

A: As a manager, you are supposed to make a workplace somewhere people want to come to. This correlates with the fact that when people come in happy to work, this usually leads to good outcomes in achieving goals. 

Q: What was your favorite MTM course?

A: Each class had something beneficial for me to learn about. I have never had actual working experience, so it was all a learning curve for me. It was great seeing how what we learned is implemented in the real-world companies that we worked with on our field projects. These companies are billion-dollar companies, and they implement these techniques that we learned about. 

Q: What was your field project and what skills did you use to solve this business challenge?

A: The company I did my field project with was Deckers, specifically for their Ugg brand. Our project scope was working on their Go-to-Market strategy, which is the timeline from product idea to shelves. We were tasked with reducing their time by up to 50%. We used data analytics, product management, and communication skills, because we were dealing with executives and figuring out what data we needed and how we could connect the dots on where we could get that data from. Data transformation was also a big part of the project. 

Q: What was one of the things you liked the most about the MTM program?

A: Spending time with people I was in classes with, and learning about how everyone works individually and in team settings was super interesting. The cohort was basically one huge team, and we were all really happy to see the people we were with in class. Working together with people who had career experience was really beneficial, because it gave me a glimpse of what working in a company feels like. 

Q: What is your favorite new technology?

A: Virtual reality! I saw a video of construction workers using VR to plan out where everything would be positioned, and it was amazing to see.  

Connect with Jakov on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakovkukic/

Learn more about the Master of Technology Management graduate program: tmp.ucsb.edu/mtm