Skip to main content
Rady School of Management Rady School of Management
  1. HOME
  2. Programs
  3. Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA)
  4. Academics
  5. MSBA Capstone Project
Professor Nijs

Capstone Project

Real consulting. Real data. Real impact.

The Rady MSBA Capstone is the signature applied-learning experience of the Rady Master of Science in Business Analytics. Over a focused 10-week engagement, student teams take on real business problems for industry sponsors, build production-ready analytics and AI solutions, and deliver an executive-ready business case. This is not a class project. It is a career-defining consulting experience that bridges classroom learning with industry practice.

Last year the full-time Master of Science in Business Analytics program at Rady received 56 capstone project proposals from four continents – North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The students accepted 35 proposals from 28 companies and successfully executed them over a 3-month period. Faculty Advisors with decades of consulting experience coach each team during project delivery.

The Net Promoter Score (NPS), a measure of our client’s satisfaction, stood at 70. This is in line with the NPS of a good consulting firm, and in touching distance of top consulting firms.

Our Industry Sponsors

  • Amazon Amazon
  • Mazda Mazda
  • Experian Experian
  • HP HP
  • Qualcomm Qualcomm
  • Illumina Illumina
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Petco Petco

What makes Rady MSBA Capstone Projects stand out?

  • Industry breadth and marquee partners. Capstone partners include Amazon, Mazda, Experian, HP, Qualcomm, Illumina, Thermo Fisher and Petco, covering sectors across tech, pharma, biotech, finance, media and consulting. These partnerships give you exposure to different domains and employer pipelines.
  • Consulting-quality outcomes. Rady capstone clients rated student teams with a Net Promoter Score of 70 in 2025, a score comparable to strong consulting firms and an indicator that client partners view Rady capstone teams as reliable, professional, and impactful.
  • Deep technical and AI-first work. Projects routinely combine advanced machine learning, NLP and generative AI, MLOps, and production-ready analytics so students graduate with experience building real solutions used by real teams. Rady integrates AI and modern data engineering across capstone deliverables.
  • High student and client satisfaction. In 2025, students reported strong learning and professional growth and very high satisfaction with client support. The program recognizes outstanding capstone outcomes through the TRACE Capstone Excellence awards to recognize top teams, elevating student visibility with partners.
  • Structured, mentor-led delivery. Each project is supported by a Rady faculty advisor, and communication coaches, so teams deliver polished technical outputs and persuasive executive presentations. Rady Faculty Advisors for capstone projects often come from industry, thereby bringing a unique practical touch to their guidance.

Capstone Mechanics: How it works

Duration

Typical capstone quarter is 10 weeks, with the main execution window in spring. Projects are designed so sponsors receive usable artifacts and a clear path to implement recommended solutions.

Team composition and roles

  • The typical team size is 3–5 students
  • Faculty advisor: assigned to each team for conceptual guidance and accountability
  • Communication coaches: mid-term and final delivery coaching to polish stakeholder-facing presentations and materials

Sponsor-friendly facts

  • No fees charged to sponsors; projects are educational partnerships
  • All intellectual property and legal arrangements are clarified up front
  • The capstone process is set up so organizations can assess talent, test new ideas, and take advantage of modern analytics

Partner Testimonials

Mazda

"Your work on this project was phenomenal, laying a strong foundation for Mazda to build upon. Beyond the results, collaborating with you was an absolute joy. Your passion and energy made this experience unforgettable, and I learned so much from each of you."

Vertex Pharma

"The team worked through the compliance and technical challenges with a high degree of professionalism; it was noted by my leadership as well. We have two of the students scheduled for an interview for a co-op role in our team and will most likely hire one of them as a potential full-time employee."

Experian

"The students were collectively and individually excellent to work with, and significantly contributed to the project, especially given the short timeframe for the program. In addition to professionalism — e.g., precise and well-articulated updates, frequently and clearly set expectations for deliverables, thorough documentation for their research — they brought a thoughtfulness that resulted in:"
  • A willingness to engage with an overwhelming amount of new information (including industry-standard NLP techniques, Experian's business and product structure, and the new black-box of GenAI)point one
  • The curiosity and humility required to solicit advice and abandon ideas that aren't working, either from their own conclusions or ours, andpoint two
  • The insights to provide novel, interesting, and ultimately very useful recommendations to our project and problem.point three