“The chance to build and deploy solutions that genuinely impact millions of lives and fundamentally change industries—that is a powerful motivator.”
For Professor Michael Colella, participating in meaningful projects and finding solutions to challenges that have the potential to help others has always been deeply motivating. In both his personal and professional life, Colella has dedicated his efforts to supporting others.
Colella is a faculty member for the Master of Science in Applied Analytics program at USC Bovard College. Before entering the applied analytics and AI industry, however, Colella began his career in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience research. “I conducted behavioral research under a grant from the Department of Defense and continued my research at Northwestern University, where I did genetics work with the Drosophila (fruit flies), looking at the expression of certain genes related to a cancer grant the PhD student I was supporting was working under. We presented our work at local and national conferences, requiring carefully crafted poster presentations and papers, which included statistical analyses,” he reflected. Colella’s research earned him third place at the Chicago Society for Neuroscience in the early 2000s. His initial career in neuroscience and genetics research formed the basis for Colella’s analytical approach to problem-solving.
In 2013, Colella moved to Brazil to volunteer for Instituição Nova Chance, a non-governmental organization (NGO) whose mission was to make education, physical therapy, and English-language programs more accessible to developing communities ahead of the 2016 Olympics. During his time in São Cristóvão, Colella helped upgrade the NGO’s infrastructure: “We not only upgraded the facilities of the NGO, but also raised funds for things like computer labs and internet connectivity.”
Volunteering in Brazil was one of his most meaningful and memorable experiences. “This project provided local community members with the opportunity to upskill and proved that technology can be a powerful force for social equity and global public good,” Colella shared.
After moving back to the United States from Brazil, Colella “fell in love with data science and never looked back.” After being exposed to big data and data science projects through consulting work at Health Care Service Corporation, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Wilton Brands, as well as through projects on Coursera, Colella was set on building a career in data science. “My career ambitions were to learn and do as much data science as possible, which led to a robust career path characterized by scoping and executing large enterprise AI projects to drive business value,” Colella noted.
Colella’s extensive background in research set a foundation for his interest in solving problems through analytics, while his unique experiences abroad gave him a wider perspective on how data-driven solutions can make a large impact. Over the last two decades, Colella has strategized and led impactful analytics initiatives across multiple industries, such as retail, e-commerce, healthcare, and marketing. More recently, Colella has worked in analytic innovation at Kraft Heinz, rolling out AI and data science projects across all areas of the business. He’s advised venture capital firms and private equity shops on helping their portcos (portfolio companies) become AI-native, and led global analytics and data science initiatives at companies like AXS (one of the world’s largest ticketing companies), Boston Consulting Group, and Upshop.
In this interview, Colella shares how he stays motivated in a constantly evolving field like applied analytics and what students can look forward to in his class.
Which courses will you be teaching, and what motivated you to teach them?
I will be teaching a wide variety of courses, starting with AAN 520: Applied Data Management and Database Systems. Databases are critical to all data operations globally, whether considering analytics or AI applications. Their importance cannot be overstated, and I am passionate about how they can be optimized to maximize value from data.
What do you hope students will take away from working with you?
I hope students will realize the value in systems thinking and better understand practical applications for what they’re learning. I aim to infuse lectures with real-world examples and use cases oriented towards driving business value.
What skills do you think are necessary for students aspiring to enter the fields of applied analytics and AI?
Listening, learning, and trying to connect the dots. Programming languages will change, but it is the approach to solving problems with technology that is the differentiator. In a world full of a variety of AI tools and technologies, it is the ability to effectively manage AI-native organizations that will be the differentiator — or to make them AI-native.
How has the field changed in recent years? Where do you see it heading?
AI is now everywhere, and companies have never had more pressure to innovate with AI with a focus on driving tangible business value. The future is surely agentic and will hinge on training AI systems on multimodal data for a more comprehensive understanding of the world. This will bode well for robotics and systems becoming increasingly intelligent and autonomous, meaning automation for more of the mundane, freeing up people to add value in the best ways possible.
What motivates you in your work, and how do you stay inspired in a fast-paced industry?
Simply put, the biggest motivator is the opportunity for constant learning. I try to view every interaction and industry shift as an opportunity to upskill. There is never a dearth of learning in analytics and AI. That keeps things interesting.
Can you share a piece of advice that has been particularly valuable to you throughout your career?
One of the single best pieces of advice is to keep a beginner’s mindset—that means not resting on your laurels but always being open to learning and receiving feedback, whether you agree with it or not. Some of the best learning comes from failures.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Outside of analytics and AI, one of my passions is studying foreign languages. I speak English, Italian, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. I also know some German and Gujarati. I have lived and/or worked in Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and many more countries. I am a passionate global professional and international traveler, believing diverse, worldly perspectives are critical to drive innovation. Every country I have visited or lived in has reshaped the way I view my role in the world and the role each country plays in the global economy.
Learn more about Professor Colella on his faculty page.
Learn more about the online MS in Applied Analytics program.