We spoke to AlixPartners consultants Business Analytics graduate (2018) Qiuyue Zhang, Vice President, and Oli Freestone, Director, about their experience and why they believe other businesses should get involved.

Working with Imperial has been a hugely rewarding experience for AlixPartners. The students supported our team in building and running the model, giving them the opportunity to apply their knowledge to a business problem taking place in real life, real-time. While we were able to give the students a look-in to the world of consulting, the experience equally helped our firm to connect with new talent and hear external perspectives on the project.

The team was impressed by the students’ ability to quickly understand the scope and deliver high-quality work. “If this was a live client situation, nailing down what the problem is and what you’ve been asked to do early on is key,” Oli explains. “Their technical capability was really impressive. What they managed to do with AI models, mock-ups, and bridging technical concepts with business-oriented explanations was outstanding.”

Qiuyue agrees,

The students were incredibly innovative. I work in the AI field myself, so understand firsthand how much time and effort it takes to upskill in those areas. They were able to do that very quickly while also having a genuine interest in solving the problem, as if it was a real-life challenge rather than just another graded part of their programme.

As an Imperial alumna, Qiuyue brought a unique perspective to the project.

I can definitely put myself in the students’ shoes, having been on that side before. I remember when I did my consulting projects, I wished I’d had more opportunities to speak to consultants at the business, so I used my own experience and learnings to tailor how I supported the students and the project. I made sure that we talked regularly so that they felt comfortable with what they were working on, and so that we could address any pain points.

Beyond technical skills, the project fostered growth and confidence. The first time we met, the group was relatively quiet, but then they became increasingly confident,” Qiuyue recalls. “You could see their development in real time. I’d be comfortable putting their final presentation in front of a client.

Both leaders strongly recommend the programme to other companies. Imperial offers the ability to address a real business problem with innovative solutions,” says Oli. Qiuyue added, “It’s good to present a variety of projects because students have different career aspirations some technical, others more business-focused.

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