Singapore consumes around 15,000 metric tonnes of coffee a year ¹. Divided by its population of 5.7 million, this works out at around 2.6kg per capita – now, that is a lot of data to crunch.
Step inside the warm and inviting counters of the world’s largest coffee chain as the subtle scent of coffee beans fill the air and into the science of business intelligence that goes behind your next cup of venti Java Chip Frappucino, Hojicha Tea Latte or Iced Shaken Hibiscus Tea. Regardless of which drink you fancy, there is a data practitioner who helps to initiate, plan and execute an advanced data analytics roadmap for Starbucks, Singapore to provide seamless customer journeys and delightful business experiences.
Having graduated from the NUS-ISS Master of Technology in Enterprise Business Analytics (MTech EBAC) in 2021, Angela Wong and her team worked with the coffee conglomerate for her final year project, where they were assigned to forecast demand.
Said Angela, “most of our works and collaboration had to be done virtually as we were hit by Covid-19 during the project inception phase, however the strong collaborative nature of the sponsor company helped to ease the transition process. Eventually, we managed to score very well for this project,” she enthused.
Coffee & Tech – a Perfect Brew
Today, Angela is the Assistant Manager for Business Intelligence in Starbucks Singapore, where her responsibilities includes providing end to end support from data engineering to developing machine learning models and deploying them into production, so as to solve a broad range of problems across different business function and contribute to the development of more effective business strategies.
Angela at Starbucks, The Metropolis
“The knowledge and skill gained from the MTECH EBAC programme has bridged my gap between the technology, data and business world,” shares Angela. Juggling a part-time Master programme with full time work was no easy feat yet the course had both the variety and depth to equip her with the skills and knowledge to apply the right solution for the right problem on a daily basis.
She attributes this to the strong emphasis that NUS-ISS places on being relevant to industry needs and how the curriculum is designed to end with a workshop that would drive students to solve real world business problems.
Collaborative and practice-oriented learning for an exciting career
“In this ever-changing business and technological landscape, I am certain my postgraduate study has added more opportunities to my career path. It ensures that my knowledge and skillsets stay up to date and relevant,” she adds.
For potential students looking to pave their way into the future digital economy, sip on a cuppa as you take in this advice from Angela’s perspective:
"The key takeaway from all the learning is on the ability to apply and influence with what you have learnt. Besides learning the hard technical knowledge from the lectures, it is also important to be able to collaborate well with people. The soft skills learned during project works with group mates would be useful in the future when you interact with business users and stakeholders, as you drive positive impact through great teamwork."
For more information on NUS-ISS Master of Technology in Enterprise Business Analytics, visit here.
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¹ "Understanding the Singaporean Coffee Market.", The Daily Grind. Web. 4 August 2021.