21/06/2024
At IE University, our programs are designed to keep participants at the cutting edge of learning. Our Master in Digital Business and Innovation enhances students’ abilities in digital business, digital transformation, business analytics and keeping up to date with digital trends. On top of their newly acquired skill set, students will also gain an entrepreneurial mindset, preparing them to step confidently into the world of work.
The Master in Digital Business and Innovation is a transformational program designed to teach students to adapt and thrive in today’s fast-paced, tech-driven world. Looking to change her mindset, enhance her skill set and find a way to make a greater impact, Pia Maria Abdallah took a leap from her studies in pharmacy to the business world. “I always knew my calling in life was in the business world. I want to make a greater impact.”
Pia Maria grew up in Beirut, Lebanon. Ever since she was very young, she was incredibly focused on her studies and extracurriculars like tennis, horseback riding and dance classes. She started her professional trajectory by spending five years in pharmacy school and then went on to practice in a clinical hospital. But she began to have doubts about what she wanted, “I honestly felt that it was very robotic—I didn’t feel connected or that I was having a personal impact and I wanted something different, something bigger.” This led Pia Maria to IE University.
Drawn in by IE University’s reputation, Pia Maria considered the Master in Digital Business and Innovation to be the perfect stepping stone for her as an individual. After her background in chemistry and biology, she felt like something was missing from her skill set and began to seek out knowledge that she thought she was lacking.
IE University stood out immediately as the place to help her look at the world of work through a digital business mindset.
Enhancing her personal and professional value
Pia Maria sensed that her value proposition would eventually wear out because she lacked the tech skills needed for our fast-paced, digital world. “I wanted to match the technology wave that we are living in today. And I found that if I don’t do so now, I will be left behind,” she explains. Her main goal is therefore to keep herself updated as a person.
Currently working as a healthcare innovation consultant, Pia Maria advises health technology startups in the European Union. Her day-to-day consists of working on new health innovations, drafting business models and doing market research, which are skills she learned in her program. Without the Master in Digital Business and Innovation, Pia Maria wouldn’t be able to work in this role. “I would be limited to pharmacy with a limited scope. The program allowed me to widen my opportunities and changed my mindset.”
Although she didn’t come into the program with a background in business technology, Pia Maria feels that IE University really teaches you everything.
“The program teaches you from A to Z. It doesn’t follow the traditional way of learning in a typical master’s program—it’s adaptable to the real world.”
The biggest takeaway for Pia Maria is the entrepreneurship mindset that she’s been able to adopt. “My dream before the program was to work for a large pharma company. But since I’ve graduated, I want to have my own healthtech startup. I want to create something meaningful.”
This new mindset taught Pia Maria to romanticize the idea of failure. She believes that when you’re giving your all to something and you get rejected, it is a sign that something better is to come—that life is leading you in a different direction. If it wasn’t for all her past rejections, she quite possibly wouldn’t have found her way to IE University. She lives by the philosophy that everything happens the way it should.
Diving into digital business
The Master in Digital Business and Innovation helped Pia Maria dive into the emerging technologies that are transforming the business landscape today, like AI, blockchain and the IoT. But more than just the tangible benefits, Pia Maria learned to change. “The program tapped into my ability to think strategically about digital transformation, business analytics, digital transformation trends, digital business and innovation. I now know how important it is to implement these in every aspect of my work life.”
The diversity in the program gave Pia Maria new insights into working with people from different cultures and backgrounds.
She learned the value of collaboration and utilizing diverse perspectives as a way to add value proposition to a team. The program taught her to use these new collaboration skills to help her stand out.
Pia Maria would encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zone and study the Master in Digital Business and Innovation. “I encourage it for your academics, of course, but even more so for your personal growth. The diversity, the entrepreneurship, the knowledge—it’s more than a degree, it’s an experience that serves as a stepping stone into the real world.”
