A decade ago, UCSB launched the innovative Master of Technology Management program, equipping future tech leaders with the skills and business acumen to lead the next generations of technological innovation. In Santa Barbara and beyond, 367 MTM alumni are shaping the ever-changing face of our global, tech-based economy. In celebration of MTM’s ten-year anniversary, three alumni from the inaugural cohort–Paul Malone, Matt Baum, and Michael Guerra–joined us for a conversation on the value of their MTM degree in their careers, advice for future students, and more.
Paul Malone (MTM ‘16) graduated from UCSB with a degree in Biology from the College of Creative Studies. Holding various positions in the dive industry, in small businesses, and as an infantryman in the U.S. Army, Paul now serves as Director of Business Development for EOTECH.
Reflecting on his first encounter with the MTM program at an info session, and what drew him to the program, Paul recounts that “it became pretty clear to me early that they were building something valuable and they utilized their own product market validation process that we learned about in terms of building the program. They were going out to technology companies and asking, what are you not getting from your managers and your leaders? And what do they need to learn? And that appealed to me. You shouldn't treat technology and businesses as separate disciplines–You need people that can stand astride them.”
Matt Baum (MTM ‘16), a current Principal Product Manager at Procore Technologies, earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCSB and found the MTM program as a way to strengthen his career after a former position limited his future growth opportunities.
“I had worked with product managers in my role, which always seemed like an interesting opportunity to make critical business decisions,” Matt says. “[MTM] seemed like a good fit–a good balance of the hard and soft skills that are required to be successful in management and working in tech.”
As a Senior Manager of Financial Management, also at Procore Technologies, with a degree in Biopsychology from UCSB, Michael Guerra (MTM ‘16), reflects on the real-world skills from the MTM program that were essential in transforming the business. “Two years ago, we had a big go-to-market transformation, which resulted in the combination of a team that I was managing, and then another team on the solutions engineering side. MTM was critical in the success of starting and forming a new team by leveraging some of the skills, case studies, and work that we did in the program.”
Guerra recounts his introduction to the program, and how insights into technology management by Department Chair Paul Leonardi mirrored his own career goals in tech.
“I remember him telling a story of Tesla and Edison,” Guerra states, “and how the ability to bring their innovation and technology to the masses or bring it to reality was not just based on being a better technology, but being able to communicate how it's going to be valuable. And my thing was always bringing technology to people and in a way that would have a positive impact.”
Among the three alumni, there was a common thread in their highlights from the program: the cohort community.
“When I reflect on my career and getting through that program, it's really the teammates that I had that add the most valuable things for me,” says Malone. “I tend to think and see things pretty clearly in terms of business problems, but I learned in MTM that people are wired a little bit differently. I'm around engineers and scientists and people with different skill sets that see the same problem set that I do and see different solutions that may exist.”
“I think the program is really good exposure to the real world of working in teams and being dependent on other people,” Baum notes. “People are motivated differently. They're incentivized differently. So just learning how to communicate, empathize, and really take that different perspective became a crucial takeaway.”
Unlike other traditional graduate programs, such as an MBA, the MTM program offers a more focused curriculum: in just nine months, the program gives graduates a practical foundation in business and tech through both academic and hands-on approaches.
“The curriculum is very well-rounded, relevant, and applicable,” states Guerra. “Sometimes you read something in a textbook and you ask, ‘how do I actually put that into action?’ From the faculty in academia to the guest speakers who came from the industry, the program was really powerful in translating what we were learning about into real-life scenarios and applications.”
“The exposure to finance and managerial economics was very helpful in navigating my career–I remember in my first month at Procore with a very demanding customer, I leveraged some of the direct framework we learned from our negotiation course. I had outlined with one of our executives our ‘zone of possible agreement’ with the customer. And I remember them responding in the Slack thread and saying, Who are you? Where did you learn this framework?”
For the alumni, their current roles offered a full-circle moment through MTM students’ involvement with field projects at both EOTECH and Procore. Though just graduate students, MTM students are able to make critical contributions and impact at real-world companies.
“I was impressed with their outside perspective and the ability to analyze things in a way that you wouldn't have thought on your own,” remarks Baum. “For me, it was rewarding to come full circle and get the opportunity to be on the other side of the table with the cohort.”
“I hope that the students took away that there aren't real clear business problems that present themselves all the time. You have to find ways to think about things creatively, and they did that,” adds Malone. “They asked good questions, they challenged some assumptions that they ought to, and brought perspectives from outside of our industry to problems that I was looking at. And the conclusions that they reached, some were what I expected, others were totally novel to me, and they uncovered things that weren't on my radar. They brought value to us for sure.”
Paul Malone and the MTM Class of 2026 EOTECH Field Project Group. From L to R: Kilee Knutson, Akase Enun, Jordan Rosenthal, Paul Malone, Ty Case, Zihao Luo, and Maximillian Lemos.
Michael Guerra (center) and Matt Baum (far right) with the Class of 2026 Procore field project group and additional Procore employees. MTM students (left side, L to r): Siding Chen, Ryan O'Meara, Penny Wei, Katie Nugent, Izzy Fabri, and Andy Quach.
Technology remains one of the fastest changing aspects of our global economy and society today. “We saw the rise of remote work due to COVID. We see AI changing things now. We see geopolitics playing a real big role in how business works domestically and politics in general will do that,” remarks Malone on the changes he has witnessed in the decade since completing the program. “But if I had to give you one word on what's changed, I think it's pace. Things are moving faster than ever. The expectation has been set, and companies that don't move fast, can't iterate quickly, will fall by the wayside.”
“On the selling side, too, buyers are way more informed,” adds Guerra. “Now they can go and look on Reddit and G2 and say “hey, Procore has this application, but we can use Claude. So really being able to make the value relevant for the customer has become more critical than ever.”
Regardless of the changing global landscape, the MTM program continues to prepare graduates for the ever-shifting technological innovations and how to successfully implement them into businesses.
On the advice for future cohorts of MTM students, Malone states: “I think you should leave being quietly confident. Not all the skills that you're going to pick up there are going to be evident immediately to your next employer or even to yourself, but they will come up. And I'd suggest that you volunteer for stuff outside of your comfort zone. Part of the value, as we talked about, all three of us talked about earlier, is that you become a little bit dangerous in all the disciplines and you ought to stay that way.”
In addition to his involvement with the recent field project participants, Baum has had another chance to speak to the most recent MTM graduates: in June, he served as the alumni speaker for the MTM Class of 2026 commencement. “I said this in my talk to the graduating class: the skills you learn in MTM might get you in the door, but the people and the network and the relationships you build are what's going to take you a lot farther once you're in there–The people they bring in to speak throughout the program and the companies that you go to visit and the companies you do field projects for. I just encourage folks to take advantage of that time, take advantage of the professors, because man, if I could go back, I'd do a lot more office hours and I'd spend a lot more time with those folks and use that to strengthen that network a bit.”
Matt Baum speaks at the MTM Class of 2026 Graduation on June 11th, 2026.
Guerra adds, “As you're getting toward the end of the program and thinking about diversifying your exposure and your experience, I'd say you want to have maybe three to five either roles or characteristics of a role that really align with you. I think when you can have a tighter narrative of what you're looking for, or maybe against, in the characteristics of the roles, it's going to help you get in the door. Then knowing what you want is going to help you get a seat at the table.”
Alumni of the MTM program are invited to join us for this year’s reunion as part of the All Gaucho Reunion Weekend. Enjoy a series of lectures, networking opportunities, and a town hall to connect with former students and current leadership. Learn more here.
Learn more about UCSB’s Master of Technology Management program here.