Mauricio Mathey Garcia-Rada

How would you describe your career journey and what inflection points or decisions most shaped where you are today?

There are three key moments that have defined where I am today. The first was choosing industrial engineering instead of business. The choice itself was pragmatic rather than visionary: my dad is an industrial engineer and when doing my research I had a great conversation with a professor from engineering. The second was one I didn’t control. An investment banking internship opportunity fell through, pushing me instead toward consulting. There, a customer segmentation project sparked my interest in analytics and quietly redirected my career. The third was coming to Darden. In my first week, I met a student who later connected me to an opportunity at ASARCO to help build the advanced analytics team. That experience played a critical role in shaping my professional path and eventually led me toward doctoral research, something I enjoyed at Darden but hadn’t initially planned to pursue.

What's brought me here, and what I believe will shape what comes next, isn't recognizing the right opportunity every time. It's staying in environments where you encounter good options and being prepared enough to act when one proves valuable.

Which Darden courses, professors, clubs, or experiences most influenced how you think, lead, or make decisions today?

I would point to three elements of my Darden experience were most influential. The first was my negotiations class with Melissa Thomas Hunt. That class taught me to always consider an argument from the other side: What might they know or have that I don’t? In my day-to-day work, especially when preparing or presenting a recommendation, this is the mindset I bring, actively looking for where I might be blindsided before others find it for me. The second was the set of courses I took in the Data Analytics and Decision Sciences department. Something Michael Albert said in one of his classes has stayed with me ever since: if a more precise model does not translate into a better decision, then it is useless. That way of thinking shapes how I approach my work today. Always leading with the “so what” and the business implications, and only then determining what is needed from an analytics perspective. It’s always about the decision, not the model. Finally, I was fortunate to complete independent studies with Anthony Palomba and Raj Venkatesan. Raj once told me that there are many smart people, but very few who are willing to do the hard things. Whenever I hit a wall, I take it as a signal that I’m likely on the right track. Anthony taught me intellectual humility; he once said that the books he owns don’t represent what he knows, but what he has yet to learn. That perspective continues to shape how I approach learning and leadership.

How have you applied what you learned at Darden in your career?

At my job at ASARCO the concepts from the operations classes prove fundamental. From core Operations Management, to Supply Chain, or Operations Strategy, I am constantly using frameworks to analyze optimal decisions regarding inventory, queuing, comparative cost analysis, and economies of scales.

What advice would you offer current Darden students?

First, remember that Darden is a safe space. I highly recommend that you look for the Darden book in Saunders Hall and read page 146, which states: "We recognize that with all of the things the program tries to do in two years—in its rigor, its fast pace, and the ambiguity implicit in the case method—we will induce anxieties and frustration among some of our students. We don't strive to create them, but we don't shy away from them, because we believe that the real world demands that they be faced and dealt with." This quote really helped me reframe the difficulty I was experiencing.

Second, regarding recruiting, it comes down to more than just preparation, there's an element of luck. You can prepare extensively for an interview, but getting the offer isn't entirely in your control. Now that I'm on the other side building my own teams, I've interviewed great people who simply missed out because someone else performed just a tiny bit better that day. The margins are often razor-thin. Understanding this has made me more resilient in my career.

What are you focused on right now in your career?

Right now, I'm focused on leadership and technical depth. On the leadership side, I've been building the advanced analytics team for the company from the ground up, and now I'm at an inflection point: how do I add the structure and process needed to scale across other countries while making myself redundant in day-to-day operations? My measure of success isn't how indispensable I am, it's whether this team can continue operating to the same standard I've set, but without me. On the technical side, my work with machine learning and optimization in mining has revealed significant gaps in the academic literature around mill optimization. This led me to pursue a doctorate at Purdue University, with a goal to develop a body of knowledge that improves how we optimize operations, bridging the gap between academic research and industrial application.

What emerging trend in business or technology are you paying close attention to, and why should MBAs care?

I'm paying close attention to GenAI and LLMs, but probably not for the reasons most people are. In my experience, LLMs are excellent at writing emails, code, and refining presentation language. I use them daily for that. But when you ask them to solve complex problems, that's where things break down. They're fine for simple tasks, but for the kind of technical, multifaceted problems I work on, they consistently fall short. There's a lot of hype around agents right now, and I find it hard to believe an agent could reliably solve the problems my team tackles.

MBAs should care because there's a broader lesson here about separating signal from noise. Companies are making bold claims about AI capabilities, and we need to ask: what's the incentive behind those statements? If a company admitted their models were plateauing, they'd struggle to raise capital.

LLMs are powerful tools, but stay grounded about what they can actually do. Use them strategically, supervise their output closely, and never outsource the thinking that's core to your competitive advantage.

What’s a leadership challenge you’re navigating right now that surprised you?

The challenge that's surprised me most is bringing a data-driven perspective to a company that's been operating successfully for 125 years. The challenge is two-fold: learn a highly technical industry fast enough to be credible, while building trust with operators that an outsider can add value.

What I've found is that two things are critical. First, you need a sponsor who has a voice and is respected in the organization. Second, is how you approach experienced operators. The framing I use is: you know your process and how to operate it better than anyone, and my team and I know math, statistics, and machine learning. Let's team up and build something together that's better than what either of us could do alone.

What’s one assumption you held at graduation that has since changed?

One assumption I held at graduation was that I knew what I had learned at Darden. I could point to the hard skills (analytics, finance, strategy) and the soft skills like communication and leadership frameworks. But what I've come to realize is that the real learning wasn't what I could list on a resume. It was the transformation I went through during the process itself.

Darden's real power, at least for me, wasn't what I learned in the moment. It was discovering, after graduation, that I had become capable of handling complexity and uncertainty in ways I couldn't have before. That transformation is something you can only see in the rearview mirror.