We have interviewed our alumni to get insight into how they have applied the acquired skills and what type of work they do now. Pietro Costantino Graziano Usai from the Kingdom of the Netherlands holds a master's degree in international business management from the Tallinn University of Technology´s School of Business and Governance.

What do you do today and what/which event attracted you to your current job?

I am the Director of Operations for Passware, which works in the forensic data market and is one of the most experienced globally working players in providing law enforcement and large companies access to password encrypted documents.

We carry it out through a combination of software and GPU acceleration. We work mainly with law enforcement agencies and large companies but we do have a range of B2C products as well.

The current job attracted me as I wanted to work in a company that is working mainly globally, and where the working language is English. I was not looking only in Estonia and was on the verge of accepting a position abroad when I saw the advert for Passware. It was a perfect fit, as the owner is a foreign national living in Estonia but with a global background. Additionally, the company had already experienced very strong growth within the 5 years before I joined, and is well on its way to increase its global expansion even further.

Most established Estonian companies have created a very closed cultural work environment where it is very hard to enter when you are a foreigner, even if you speak Estonian. They find it hard to trust the management of Estonian teams to a foreigner. In addition to the work culture, they often worked in a very limited geographical area. I looked also in the start-up scene but there were few companies that were starting an expansion phase.

Why did you decide in favour of studying in Estonia?

I was already in Estonia because of work and the level of TalTech was very good so there was no reason to do my MBA anywhere else.

Which study programme did you study, and why did you pick this one?

MBA International Business. I picked this one as I already had a bachelor's degree in this field and it had always been my intention to add an MBA to this.

What do you think is the strength of this field in today's labour market?

My MBA and work experience have given me the required basics for senior positions in international business. Especially a small country like Estonia should think globally as the local market is too small for a business focus. International trade, managing international staff and projects, and cultural awareness are all key basics that are covered in this MBA.

Could you recall any sweet memories or funny situations from your university time?

I very much liked the teamwork exercises such as the Hotel Management case we had to do. There was a very funny situation when the whole group of the Finance MBA class failed an exam given by an Italian lecturer, except for me who took this class as an extra credit just out of interest, I aced it. The Italian lecturer pointed out that the creme de la creme of the Estonian finance world failed and that somebody from International Business was the only one who had understood the material.

Looking back at your studies, what would you ask the university to do differently to become even better?

We only had a few team projects but there could have been more, in my opinion.