Truist’s enduring partnership with Georgia State is older than many of the university’s current students. Since 1987, the bank and foundation—including its predecessors SunTrust Banks and SunTrust Foundations—have donated more than $6 million to its downtown Atlanta neighbor for initiatives including building renovations, scholarships, and experiential learning programs.
Truist and Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business share similar missions: to make a positive impact on their communities and society at large. As one of the nation’s most forward-thinking business schools, Robinson champions students of all backgrounds on their college-to-career journey with significant immersive learning opportunities and hands-on experiences to solve real business problems. Truist demonstrates its commitment to “inspiring and building better lives and communities” by providing financial support and innovative engagement activities, allowing Robinson students to apply their knowledge and address real-world challenges.
By 2016, this relationship strengthened into a symbiotic partnership when Robinson launched the Institute for Insight and a new master’s program in big data analytics—the first of its kind in the Southeast. Through the M.S. in Analytics (MSA) program, students learn about data science, predictive analytics, machine learning, and cloud computing to be able to process large data sets, build models to detect patterns, and develop prototype solutions. But to put all that knowledge into practice, students needed real data to manipulate and actual business challenges requiring big data insights.
Like most companies, Truist had tons of data and many business questions, and readily agreed to engage with Robinson on a semester-long project that would analyze detailed notes from sales managers and underwriters with the goal of understanding and mitigating client attrition.
Students in the inaugural MSA cohort spent a semester tearing apart the raw text, predicting customer behavior, and ultimately offering recommendations on preventing clients from severing ties. These semester-long projects, called Insight Sprints, are the cornerstone of the MSA student experience. For the past 8 years, Robinson students have collaborated with major Atlanta companies on more than 50 Insight Sprints, with Truist participating in at least one each year.
At the conclusion of each Insight Sprint with Truist, students present their findings to company executives.
“Our collaboration with Robinson’s Institute for Insight highlights the impact and potential of combining our efforts to advance data, AI, and analytics," said Tom Mazzaferro, Truist's EVP, chief data, AI, and analytics officer. "We are committed to developing talent at Truist through partnerships with universities to engage with students, while investing in future leaders."
The affiliation between Truist and Robinson is deeper and more active than ever, with fall 2024 the busiest semester between the two entities yet. The partners kicked off the semester with two Insight Sprints, one that leveraged AI for fraud detection and the other that resulted in a risk mitigation dashboard.
“Working through our AI use case to improve fraud detection with students was very rewarding for me as a data science manager,” said Ken Cluff, Truist’s head of AI/ML use cases and development. “The students dedicated more than 500 hours to this project, resulting in innovative solutions that leverage best-in-class AI and data science techniques—from machine learning to generative AI.”
“The students developed a dashboard that will enhance decision-making and improve risk management practices, giving Truist a better understanding of dependencies, upcoming workload expectations, and emerging risk types across the organization,” said Holly Sowinski, Truist’s enterprise data senior manager, SVP.
In addition to the Insight Sprints, Truist sponsored the Panthers in Charlotte program in October, enabling a cohort of select undergraduate and graduate students studying finance and tech fields to travel to the banking capital of the South. Over the course of three days, the group visited Truist’s Charlotte headquarters and multiple other fintech companies, networked with industry professionals, and ultimately positioned themselves to compete for fintech and finance jobs.
Panthers in Charlotte participants visited Truist's Charlotte headquarters.
“I truly appreciated the effort the students put into their presentations,” said Kerel Fryar, Truist’s SVP, enterprise technology talent pipeline leader. “They have great potential to grow their careers within the financial services industry.”
“For me, the highlight of the Panthers in Charlotte trip was working on business case challenges with Truist and presenting solutions at its headquarters,” said Izuhunwa Amadasun, an MBA student who graduated in December. “The entire experience, including training with Truist employees and Robinson coaches, brainstorming with my teammates, and delivering our presentation sharpened my critical thinking skills and boosted my confidence to engage with potential employers.”
In November, Truist sponsored the GSU Technology Immersion Challenge, a hack-a-thon that attracted more than 90 undergraduate and graduate students studying computer information systems, computer science, and data science and analytics. The “capture the flag” competition comprised 10 cybersecurity challenges that tested students’ aptitude in encryption, web exploitation, and reverse engineering. The winning teams received cash prizes; first place team members received an invitation to interview for internship positions.
A team of students collaborates during the Technology Immersion Challenge, which Truist sponsored.
“The GSU Technology Immersion Challenge was an incredible opportunity to engage in hands-on problem-solving and collaborative innovation,” said Caleb-Wesley Nana, a junior computer science major. “This experience has not only enhanced my technical expertise but also reinforced the importance of teamwork and creative thinking in tackling complex challenges.”
Also in November, Truist engaged Robinson faculty through a re-skilling effort for more than 100 Truist employees. Robinson faculty led two boot camps on generative AI and data management and governance.
The partnership between Truist and Robinson bridges the gap between business education and the business world, combining the talents, perspectives, and experiences of students, faculty, and professionals to drive innovation, equitable opportunity, upward social mobility, and a better world.
“Robinson has engaged with Truist on more partnership activities within one than with any other partner,” said Jason Aldrich, associate dean for strategic partnerships and early career talent. “We value our relationship and look forward to expanding our partnership in the future.”