By Noa Zubarev, M.S. in Technology Management (’26SPS)
Just a few months ago, I was living and working in New York, finishing my M.S. in Technology Management at Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS). I had spent more than a decade in tech, most recently leading the Strategic Intelligence team at LinkedIn, and I came to the program looking for inspiration: new areas worth exploring and new problems worth solving.
That’s where MIRAI, the AI beauty-tech project I am now building, was born.
In June, I joined Columbia University at VivaTech, Europe's largest tech event: four days, more than 200,000 attendees, and my first time representing myself as a founder at a booth. This post is about what that week taught me and what I wish someone had told me when I started at SPS.
VivaTech celebrated its 10th anniversary this year at Porte de Versailles. Columbia faculty invited select students to represent the alumni network, and I was thrilled to join. During the event, I heard potential partners and customers describe the problem I am solving back to me with surprising accuracy. Beauty has no shortage of data—the real opportunity lies in the insights you can draw from it. Drawing on years of experience in data and analytics in other industries, I am now creating new opportunities in the beauty industry through MIRAI.
Ahead of VivaTech, we visited Station F. I have seen my share of innovation hubs, but this one stood out: a bright, colorful space in the 13th arrondissement, full of people with the particular determination to solve big problems. It has become my reference point for how Paris does startups.
Here’s my advice for incoming SPS students based on my time at VivaTech:
- Sit next to people who do not think like you. My cohort was full of people from industries I knew nothing about, and MIRAI is better for it. The first people to poke holes in the idea were classmates, not investors. By the time beauty-tech experts at VivaTech asked hard questions, I had already prepared for tougher ones over coffee between classes.
- Learn to pitch before you think you need to. In the course where I first worked on this problem, I pitched MIRAI's value proposition over and over and kept failing to make it concise. It was never good enough, but each time, something else clicked. By the time I had to do it in real life, the pitch was no longer an abstract narrative but a coherent story. At VivaTech, I pitched countless times and was grateful for every single rep.
- A Columbia degree travels. I came to Paris to learn from the world capital of beauty, the industry's largest exporter and home to its biggest players. The Columbia network came with me: faculty and alumni, exhibiting together at the booth. We spent four days pitching side by side under the same Columbia banner, 5,800 kilometers from campus. The way SPS teaches you to think about technology and management works the same in any city.
If I could tell incoming students one thing, it is this: Do not wait until you feel ready. I did not feel ready to bet on myself. I did it anyway, and the training kicked in when I needed it. SPS gives you the tools; confidence comes from using them. Start before graduation: pitch your idea in class, test it on your cohort, ask the dumb questions, and never stop listening. The real-life stage is a lot less scary if you have already practiced in a classroom on campus.
About the Program
The Master of Science in Technology Management at Columbia University prepares graduates to lead digital transformation, and align technology and business strategy with an ethical lens. Through experiential learning, industry partnerships, and Columbia-supported research, students gain fluency in digital platforms and emerging technologies, and learn to design human-centered solutions that drive innovation and sustainable impact.
The program is available for part-time or full-time enrollment online or on campus in NYC. Learn more about the program here.
