Biography
Earlier in his career, Nick Harris and some college buddies had started an investment group. They experienced mild success, but were eager to explore their options. This led him on a search for an MBA program.
Harris chose the Evening MBA program because it allowed him to keep his job and use what he learned at work. "At Goizueta, I learned something in class one day and found out how I can actually apply it in a real-world, real-life setting the next day,” says Harris. “Also, this structure helped accelerate and really ingrain the learning process."
Relationships with faculty changed the trajectory of Harris's career. He was advised to consider the airline industry based on his interest in optimization. Harris landed a job with Continental Airlines after graduation, then continued with United after the companies merged. He continues moving up the ranks, assuming his latest role in early 2017.
Today, Harris studies the patterns of users on United.com and wages a battle for your eyeballs and dollars. The challenge is not only interpreting consumer patterns, but keeping up with the competition.
For Harris, finding synergies within the data, devising a strategy, and meeting an untapped market need gives him an entrepreneurial feeling even though he is at a company with 85,000 employees.