Students of the HSE Graduate School of Business won the case championship Cup IT 2024 from Changellenge

On 2 April, the final of the Changellenge Cup IT 2024 case championship took place. The team of the HSE Graduate School of Business, consisting of three members: Bulat Iskhakov, Masha Danilyuk and Katya Belosludtseva, won the competition. All team members are first year students of the Supply Chain Management and Business Analytics undergraduate programme at GSB.

The championship brought together thousands of talented students, specialists and professionals in the field of information technologies, who competed for the title of the best in their field. The competition was held in several stages. At the first stage the participants had to unite into teams of 3-5 people — you could come as a team or find like-minded people in the Changellenge chat room. The chat has more than 5 thousand participants and has been helping hundreds of people to find partners and like-minded people for many years.

Bulat Iskhakov

"At the championship we solved two cases. Each task required a deep dive into the topic, and we tried to work out each of our initiatives in detail. Our team consisted of three people: Masha Danilyuk was responsible for analytics, Katya Belosludtseva was the financier, and I structured the solution and made the presentation. Participating in the championship, I tried my hand at being a business analyst. I really sharpened my skills in data analysis, financial modelling, and creating presentations. Thanks to the championship, I realised that I would be interested in further development in digital product management. It's great that students have the opportunity to gain such experience. We plan to go on and work further!", - the winner Bulat Iskhakov shared his impressions.

Immediately after the registration, participants received their first case together with materials for preparation and tips on design. The teams were given 7 days to solve the case, after which they made presentations with the results of their work. After checking the results, the best teams received an invitation to the second final stage, as well as materials for a new case. 

The venue of the championship was traditionally an online platform. Participants from different regions of Russia were preparing to demonstrate their results and fight for the main prize — a cup with a name engraving, as well as an invitation to the closed chat of the winners.

During the day, the finalists were busy with various tasks, including analysing cases, solving practical problems, and presenting their projects to the jury. The judges consisted of IT industry experts, company representatives and technology professionals. The event included workshops and lectures from leading IT specialists, which allowed the participants to learn new technologies and methods.

At the end of the competition, an award ceremony was held to announce the winners and runners-up of the championship. The participants who showed the best results and ideas were recognised with valuable prizes and opportunities for further development of their careers in the IT sphere.