If Kiel Harkness’s career were plotted on a line, a curve of acceleration clearly occurred around 2008, when he graduated from Georgia State’s Robinson College of Business with an MBA. He was walking a fairly narrow career path at UPS, where he’d already put in 10 years. But after the MBA, his trajectory broadened. Now he’s vice president of strategy for UPS Europe and the Americas.
Harkness started at UPS in sales and segued into marketing. He progressed in the field but realized an MBA was the key to moving up faster and opening up more rewarding options.
“I was learning as I went along,” he said. “I saw my peer group separating in terms of those who had an MBA and those who didn’t. Those who had an MBA seemed to be ‘winning’ in their careers.”
Harkness wanted to “win” too, so he pursued an MBA. Robinson was the best choice because of convenience and flexibility. He could take public transportation from his office at UPS to Georgia State’s downtown campus and Buckhead Center. Plus, the evening and weekend course schedule allowed him to keep working full-time while going to school.
Harkness felt a little uneasy about balancing his personal life, career, and studies—but the program worked out well.
“The faculty were mostly active businesspeople who were also teaching based on real-life experience,” he said. “It was perfect for someone like me who had been in marketing for six years and wanted to go deeper into the field.”
The fundamentals Harkness developed have stayed with him to this day. In corporate finance courses, he learned everything from bond issuance and corporate debt, to how to interpret a profit and loss sheet.
“I use what I learned all the time,” he said. “Those two or three classes will stick with me forever.”
Harkness experienced a major turning point in classes focusing on international business and marketing.
“Those courses set me on a path that’s taken me to where I am today,” he said.
Harkness (far right) speaks at a trade conference in Atlanta.
Harkness’s professional arc at UPS has included a four-year stint in Singapore, where he worked across Asian markets, modernized pricing systems, and shifted business partners away from Excel spreadsheets and toward cloud-based systems. He also helped lead growth and business continuity in the U.K. during Brexit. After overseeing marketing efforts in Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, he returned to the U.S. in summer 2020 to assume the role of head of global marketing and business intelligence for a UPS subsidiary. In January 2025, he became the vice president of strategy for UPS Europe and the Americas. In that position, he tackles numerous global issues, such as tariffs, partnerships, and emerging growth initiatives.
Because of the practical education he received at Robinson, Harkness started looking at his trade through a new lens, ultimately embracing higher levels of responsibility and leveling up his contributions.
“I’ve had different careers while at UPS,” he said. “I’m proud of that.”