In fall 2025, the reimagined DePaul MBA debuted — and, with it, a new version of the MBA capstone class.
The MBA Summit capstone, as it’s now known, asks students to work in teams to identify an unmet need in the market — and develop a truly innovative solution that could either work alongside an existing company’s offerings or become an entrepreneurial venture in its own right.
Over the course of 11 weeks, student teams do deep dives into market research and financial projections. They hone teamwork skills as they bring each student’s specialization to bear. They hone their presentation skills, too, as they prepare for the capstone’s culminating event: a presentation to a panel of industry judges, with scholarship money at stake.
A product developed from firsthand experience
In fall 2025, the first group of MBA students completed their MBA Summit presentations.
The winning team’s pitch began with their firsthand experiences as consumers.
“We had tons of ideas – but we ultimately landed on something that we could all relate to,” said Elizabeth Chenier-Balitaan (MBA ’26), chief marketing officer for Feldco. “All of us spend a lot of time going back and forth — dealing with our kids and jobs and school. It’s hard to find time to shop for groceries.”
Everyone on the team routinely used grocery delivery apps. It was there that they found a problem to solve: shoppers did not always pick produce that met their needs.
From there, the team’s idea was born. They decided to develop an AI-powered app that would allow grocery shoppers to quickly scan produce and optimize their choices for a given customer’s needs.
The process required the team to consider a wide range of stakeholders.
“A lot of the time was spent on iteration. What does good look like — and how do we get it to great?” said Chenier-Balitaan. “How do we focus on things that would actually be problems for consumers — and for the shoppers themselves? The shoppers have a job to do, and time is of the essence. Whereas for a consumer, it needs to be user-friendly.”
The team ended up conducting research into both segments — including interviewing former shoppers.
Team member Scott Breitenbach (MBA ’25), a program manager for ICF International, spearheaded the development of the app itself. Drawing on his tech background, he gradually built — and deployed — a working version of their app.
“We worked with AI a lot,” said team member Ally Bentel (MBA ’25), a senior consultant at Proxima. It was almost real-time implementation of the thing we were thinking about. From there, we really focused on looking for ways to streamline current processes and simplify the solution.”
The team went through extensive user testing with classmates, family, and friends. They also built in options for different use cases; Chenier-Balitaan cited the example of buying bananas for banana bread as a case where a user might prefer overripe fruit.
A presentation grounded in passion
In December, the team presented to a panel of judges, including DePaul faculty and two DePaul MBA alumni: Janaki Soni (MBA ’22), partner marketing analytics manager at CDW; and Marc Butiong (MBA ’20), senior strategy change management specialist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
For the team, honing their pitch was nearly as impactful as developing the app itself.
Storytelling, grounded in stakeholder research, was critical to their success.
“The presentation was really aimed at putting the audience into the perspective of a shopper dealing with a time crunch and needing to have quality produce the first time around,” said Bentel. “And I think the biggest thing that made our presentation strong was that we’ve all had this struggle before when using this app.”
The team also spent considerable time pressure-testing their product and pitch alike. That helped them anticipate judges’ questions.
“I think that’s one thing the team did really well: We pressure tested a lot,” said Chenier-Balitaan. “And we researched a lot. We were very passionate about it.”
Leadership development honed by real-world experience
The team’s passion extends beyond graduation; they’re currently working to see if they can pitch their app to real-world clients.
Meanwhile, all three MBA students, now graduated, have found success in their careers.
For Breitenbach, the project was directly applicable to his work at leading global solutions and technology provider ICF International, where he now leads product and program management for a $27M federal open data platform, data.cms.gov..
For Bentel, the MBA as a whole was an exercise in developing her leadership skills as she pivoted from industry into consulting. In the past year alone, she’s secured two promotions — one of them based, in part, on the strength of her work in the DePaul MBA.
“I’ve had lots of conversations with colleagues about what I’ve taken away from the MBA program,” she said. “And this project made it really clear to me. There are a lot of soft skills that come with the MBA program: working with a team, being vulnerable. Standing your ground and figuring out what type of team player you are. I’ve built those skills over the last couple years. And I feel like this project was the high point of that.”
Chenier-Balitaan, for her part, got her role as Feldco’s chief marketing officer shortly after beginning her DePaul MBA. It’s the kind of role she’d hoped she might secure after graduation. Instead, she and her team have been able to leverage the skills she’s gained from DePaul’s MBA in real time.
For Chenier-Balitaan, the MBA Summit likewise derives its value from its direct connections to the real world.
“You’re not going through a simulation. You can actually have an output that extends outside of this course,” she said. “You end up with something that you can actually use and leverage outside of this course. And that’s super important.”