The Tandem-Partner Concept: Mentoring that Guarantees Impact 

Each MBA participant is paired with a senior “tandem partner,” a high-ranking executive who makes sure classroom insights translate directly to day-to-day business. On May 23, 2025, these mentors travelled from across Europe to spend an intensive day at TU Wien, exchanging perspectives on the central theme “How We Make Decisions.” Their presence turned academic learning into an immediate leadership dialogue. 

Highlights from the Executive Day 

Setting the Stage 

The morning opened with a welcome from Petra Aigner, Head of Operations Management, Corporate Impact Solutions & Services, speaking on behalf of TU Wien Academy. Barbara Orazume, Head of Short Courses & Accelerated Learning, stepped in for Dean Wolfgang Güttel to guide the day’s conversation – framing every session around evidence-based decision-making. 

Keynote: Knowledge Management 4.0 

Fazel Ansari, Head of the Research Unit Production and Maintenance Management and University Professor for Data-Driven Maintenance Management at TU Wien, first sketched the “big picture” of what talents gain in the MBA. He then delivered his keynote, “Knowledge Management 4.0: How AI can enhance informed decision-making in industrial value-added chains?” Drawing on a fresh industrial survey, Ansari revealed how AI-supported knowledge flows are already reshaping maintenance, production, and supply-chain performance. 

Keynote: AI, Transparency and Trust 

Stephan Klinger of Porsche University of Applied Science, opens an external URL in a new window shifted the lens from operations to philosophy. He argued that transparent data practices are not mere compliance exercises but generators of genuine trust and unexpected opportunity, noting: „Only 5 % of digitally available data is used for AI training and testing today.“ The statistic sparked a lively debate with Ansari and Klinger: How can companies reconcile GDPR’s global influence with the need for data-hungry AI, and how do we teach teams to pick the right AI tool for each task?

Showcasing Student Work: “Exploiting Data” 

After lunch, the spotlight moved to the MBA cohort. Guided by Andreas Steiner and Theresa Madreiter from TU Wien’s Institute of Management Science, students unveiled projects conceived in their “Data Collection” module. Using Data Canvas and CRISP-DM, they traced every step from business-problem framing to data-quality assessment, proving how disciplined data capture turns into actionable insights. Tandem partners challenged assumptions, offered instant feedback, and identified quick-win applications for Porsche Holding’s subsidiaries. 

A Transatlantic Perspective: “The New AI Team” 

Live from Pasadena, Nicholas Beaudoin, Affiliate Director of AI Programs at Caltech’s Center for Technology and Management Education (CTME) gave a key note on The New AI Team. He talked about the changing nature of machine learning projects and team management in favor of AI (Gen AI) projects, what techniques are in play, what different levels of Gen AI engagements look like and how to staff them. 

Concrete Outcomes and Forward Momentum 

In closing roundtables moderated by Julia Kreinecker (People Development, Porsche Holding) and Barbara Orazume, executives distilled the day’s insights into action items for multiple ongoing projects. Simultaneously, MBA students gathered inspiration for their forthcoming master’s theses. Thus, the Tandem Program provided successful proof that the program’s learning loop runs continuously from research to practice and back again.