Career Path Of A Head Of Academic Sales Strategies At BoodleBox.ai
Zach, Head of Academic Sales Strategies at BoodleBox.ai, started with an industrial and systems engineering degree and internships but realized they "didn't wanna be an engineer," pivoting to an MSBA and a stint as a machine learning engineer at a startup where they learned they liked "people, a lot more than...computers". Leveraging LinkedIn, Zach's passion for AI in education led to being "scooped up" by BoodleBox.ai, where they built the academic sales strategies from the ground up.
Sales Strategy, AI in Education, Career Change, Startup Environment, Industrial Engineering
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Zach Kinzler
Head of Academic Sales Strategies
BoodleBox.ai
University of San Diego
Master of Science in Business Analytics
Engineering - Industrial
Education, Technology
Sales and Client Management
Greek Life Member
Video Highlights
1. Multiple Internships: Zach had three different internships during college, including roles at a manufacturing place and as an industrial engineer intern, providing diverse experiences.
2. Pivot from Engineering: Despite studying industrial and systems engineering and initially pursuing roles in that field, Zach realized he preferred working with people over computers, leading to a career change.
3. Leveraging LinkedIn for Opportunities: Zach's active engagement on LinkedIn, sharing his work and interviewing students about AI, led to being recruited by his current company, BoodleBox.ai.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path? Please start with your experiences in college, any internships, or jobs you had before your current role.
I have a pretty unique background. I got a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of San Diego for my undergrad.
While I was there, I had three different internships. I worked at a small manufacturing place in Chicago as an industrial engineer intern and for a company in San Diego.
Then, I realized I didn't want to be an engineer. I went and got my MSBA at USD as well. When I was getting my MSBA, I worked at a small startup called U Flow dot io.
I worked as a machine learning engineer there for a few months. I totally hated that. I like people a lot more than I like computers; that's kind of my joke.
I then decided I was going to post on LinkedIn about a bunch of the stuff that I do. I was interviewing kids about AI, kind of just pushing the envelope that everyone should be using AI in school.
I left my job at that other startup and got scooped up by the company I work at now, Bootle Box. I am the head of academic sales strategies; we've scaled from zero to like a million annual recurring revenue now, since we launched in higher education in August. It's cool.