In this Sloanies Talking with Sloanies podcast, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, interviews Nelson Repenning, PhD ’96, (School of Management Distinguished Professor of System Dynamics and Organization Studies) about his 2025 book There's Got to Be a Better Way, co-authored with Donald Kieffer (Senior Lecturer, System Dynamics). A system dynamics expert who started at MIT as a PhD candidate at 23 and now directs the MIT Leadership Center, Repenning's research probes why organizations ignore proven tools, from lean methods to safety protocols in industries like oil and gas. The book's thesis: static plans (strategies, budgets) clash with rapid change, spawning "firefighting" via ad-hoc fixes that stifles long-term productivity.

Repenning tackles buy-in hurdles for invisible wins, like safety where "nobody gets credit for defects that never happened," especially in high-risk sectors with delayed feedback. For middle managers, he champions "dynamic work design"—tackling small, quick experiments on pain points to yield fast results and organic spread, as seen in Harley-Davidson's backlog fixes and the Broad Institute's 2020 COVID pivot, favoring iterative problem-solving over rigid control.

He stresses cultural tools like the "human chain" for face-to-face ambiguity resolution amid email overload, linking it to return-to-office trends for mentorship. Reflecting on his 1990s spark questioning tool adoption, Repenning notes system dynamics' mainstream rise at Sloan amid AI's black boxes. Advice for students: embrace MIT's low-structure entrepreneurialism and diverse programs expanded his mindset beyond technical expertise to create meaningful societal impact.

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In this episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, interviews Dr. Sreenivas Koka, EMBA ’13, about how his multicultural upbringing and MIT Sloan experience transformed his approach to dentistry and leadership, emphasizing empathy and value-based care.

Starting his academic journey at 19 at the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry, Koka earned multiple degrees, held roles like Chair of Dental Specialties at the Mayo Clinic and Dean at the University of Mississippi’s School of Dentistry, and founded the Koka Dental Clinic.

After being let go from his deanship, he co-founded Executive Leadership Enterprises to focus on developing first- and second-time supervisors, while continuing to serve underserved communities, such as providing dental care to Mississippi prison inmates.

Koka defines success as living a purpose-driven life, a perspective shaped by Sloan’s courses on strategy and innovation, which expanded his mindset beyond technical expertise to create meaningful societal impact.

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In this episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, interviews Yurui (Rui) Tong, MBAn ’21, a graduate of the MIT Sloan Master of Business Analytics program. Tong, reflects on her educational and professional journey through a personal lens of self-discovery and curiosity. Though passionate about logic and reasoning, she shares her early struggles with math, eventually realizing that her strengths lie in storytelling and narrative-based problem-solving. This realization shaped her approach to data science and analytics, emphasizing clarity and meaning in complex concepts. At MIT, a key lesson came from Professor Dimitris Bertsimas, SM ’87, PhD ’88, who advised her to confront difficult problems head-on—a mindset that continues to guide her career. Tong’s path includes diverse roles, from WHO to Deloitte to Remitly, where she now serves as a senior product manager working on fraud detection powered by AI.

Rui explains that while AI is not new to data science professionals, its current wave of popularity stems from its broadened interaction with the public. At Remitly, she sees AI as a layered system—data, models, and decision-making—where the quality of data is as crucial as the model itself. She highlights the challenge of aligning business goals with probabilistic AI outputs, particularly in fraud detection, where trade-offs between customer experience and risk management are constant. Her podcast, Floating Questions (Spotify and Apple), reflects her wide-ranging intellectual curiosity, covering topics from energy policy to personal identity. Rui’s time at Sloan fostered a deep appreciation for principled innovation and collaborative learning—values she continues to carry forward.

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In this episode, Snejina Zacharia, SF ’13, a 2013 MIT Sloan Fellow from Bulgaria, transformed a personal insurance frustration into a $500 million business by founding Insurify, the "Kayak of insurance." After a minor car accident during her time at MIT caused her premiums to spike, she discovered the absence of a comprehensive insurance comparison platform and spent over a year convincing risk-averse carriers to join her marketplace. Despite facing significant challenges as a first-time female immigrant founder in a highly regulated industry, Zacharia built Insurify from a three-person team to nearly 200 employees through relentless persistence, strategic fundraising, and operational focus. Her journey exemplifies the MIT entrepreneurial spirit, emphasizing the importance of building the right founding team, maintaining financial discipline, and never giving up despite countless rejections—ultimately creating the largest online insurance comparison platform in the United States.

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In this episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert sits down with Raafet Azzouz, a 2024 Sloan Fellow at MIT Sloan, to explore his remarkable journey from a small town in Tunisia to global finance and entrepreneurship. Raafet shares how his early love for mathematics and humanities shaped his academic path through France, ultimately leading to senior roles at major financial institutions like JP Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Despite his successful Wall Street career, he felt the need for a deeper sense of purpose, prompting his decision to step back, pursue impact-focused ventures, and enroll in the Sloan Fellows MBA program.

Raafet speaks candidly about the challenges and strengths of the immigrant experience—resilience, adaptation, and resourcefulness—which inspired his New Colossus Project. (YouTube) This initiative tells the stories of first-generation immigrant trailblazers in America, aiming to reframe the narrative around immigration and highlight its immense contributions to innovation and entrepreneurship. He also discusses how MIT Sloan became a space for personal transformation, where he stepped outside his comfort zone through courses in leadership, improvisation, and social media, all while reflecting on his identity and future direction.

Throughout the conversation, Raafet emphasizes the value of risk-taking, lifelong learning, and giving back to community. His evolving definition of success now centers on impact, connection, and legacy rather than titles or accolades. This episode is a powerful reflection on navigating change, finding one’s voice, and the importance of institutions like MIT Sloan in shaping not just careers, but lives.

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In this episode from 2019, Christopher Reichert, MOT ‘04, sat down with David Schmittlein, former Dean (2007–2024) and Professor of Marketing at the MIT Sloan School of Management, to discuss many topics, including where he found inspiration in his personal and professional life.

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In this episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, Christopher Reichert interviews Henna Karna, EMBA ’18, who reflects on her academic and professional journey. Karna discusses how Sloan’s blend of quantitative and qualitative learning has shaped her approach to innovation, emphasizing engineering new patterns over relying on existing use cases. With a PhD in applied mathematics and a career spanning roles at the NSA, Google, and AXA, she shares insights on cryptography, behavioral modeling, and risk management. Karna advocates for empowering others, aligning short-term actions with long-term goals, and fostering sustainable innovation. Currently a Harvard fellow, she focuses on AI’s societal role, aiming to ensure its responsible and human-centric adoption. Karna defines success as finding joy in daily life and encourages prospective MBAs to embrace the rigorous yet rewarding Sloan experience.

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In this special episode of Sloanies Talking with Sloanies, host Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, sits down with two distinguished guests: Admiral Thad Allen, SF ’89, former Commandant of the United States Coast Guard, and Frank Finelli, SM ’86, a senior advisor at The Carlyle Group and founder of the MIT Sloan Veterans Fund. Together, they discuss their experiences at MIT Sloan, the complexities of leadership in the military and private sector, and the challenges of technology adoption in government. The conversation explores the evolution of defense strategies, the importance of networks within the MIT and military communities, and the need for innovative approaches to address modern national security threats.

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Thanks for listening! Find more episodes on the Sloanies Talking with Sloanies website.

Learn more about MIT Sloan Alumni on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Threads.

To support this show, or if you have an idea for a topic or a guest you think we should feature, drop us a note at sloanalumni@mit.edu

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