Data & AI Strategy
MekeliHiller
Master’s Student @ Carnegie Mellon (MISM-BIDA) · Data & AI Strategy
Who I am
Technical depth + business judgment
The technical decisions made behind the scenes are what make or break the business outcomes up front. That conviction is what brought me to Heinz.
I studied Information Systems at BYU and am now a Master's student at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College in the MISM–Business Intelligence & Data Analytics program with a concentration in AI Management . This past summer I interned as a Data Solutions & AI Intern at Bell Textron, where I built a Databricks-based data platform and AI-powered analytics solutions.
Before Bell, I helped Dr. Mark Keith conduct research on Data Privacy in EdTech. I've done consultant work for a local startups, lived abroad, learned 3+ languages, and love leveraging AI to help me in everything.
Skills & technologies
Skills I've gained over the years
03 / DELIVERYBuild & Ship
ReactNext.jsTypeScriptJavaScriptNode.jsTailwindASP.NETGit / GitHubDatabricks Apps
02 / ANALYSISAI & Analytics
PythonMachine LearningPandasStatistical AnalysisAzure AI / MLLLM IntegrationGenie SpacesDashboards
01 / PLATFORMData Platform
Azure DatabricksSQLDatabricksETL PipelinesPostgreSQL / LakebaseAzureAWSData Modeling
Experience
Where I've worked
- Led a major AssetDB migration into Azure Databricks, ingesting data from nine mixed-format sources and building a scalable medallion-style architecture.
- Developed Raw, Enriched, and Curated pipelines with validation logic to support monthly financial reporting for 8,600+ employees and $650K+ in tracked assets, alongside orchestrated workflows for automated end-to-end ETL.
- Architected the backend for a lightweight, company-wide Master Data Management platform, including a Databricks App syncing Lakebase Postgres to the Lakehouse.
- Expanded Databricks skills through hands-on projects with dashboards, Genie Spaces, and AI Agent exploration.
- EdTech Privacy & Student Data Protection | BYU × Utah State Board of Education.
- Built automated Python data pipelines to scrape, clean, and standardize 3,000+ privacy enforcement records across GDPR, COPPA, and CCPA jurisdictions.
- Assisted in analyzing EdTech vendor privacy policies for compliance with FERPA, COPPA, and state-level student data protection laws in partnership with the Utah State Board of Education.
- Co-authored a paper for AMCIS 2026 — "Symbolic, Selective, or Substantive? Compliance Patterns in EdTech Privacy Policies" — on privacy policy compliance with FERPA and state-level student data protection laws.
- Primarily responsible for teaching official representatives of the organization how to adapt to foreign field assignments, becoming proficient in the French and Tahitian Languages.
- Helped design and implement two new curriculums for two different languages, teaching 200+ representatives from 8+ countries of origin. Increased language proficiency through working with teams of 3-4 over periods of 6-9 weeks.
- Created and leveraged a video-based language tutoring system and artificial intelligence (AI) enhancing learning retention and field readiness.
- Personally trained senior leadership over the course of six months for their three-year assignment, implementing custom tools and workflows for their responsibilities.
- Conduct language evaluations in French and Tahitian based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency guidelines.
- Schedule meetings with prospective students and individuals interested in working for our organization. Prepare detailed reports on their current language proficiency levels and collaborate with upper management to assess potential hires or adapt class requirements.
- Evaluating and improving the effectiveness of our language training model.
- Spearhead digital marketing initiatives that generate 80K–100K+ interactions per campaign and drive a 26% increase in sales, aligning strategy with business objectives by leveraging data.
- Provide hands-on support for cloud-based business tools (account access management, collaboration platforms, and storage services) to ensure seamless multi-location operations.
- Diagnose and resolve IT infrastructure issues (TCP/IP, DNS, firewall settings), improving system reliability and reducing downtime. Saved the company $2,000+ in hardware costs by troubleshooting and optimizing devices.
- Train employees on system usage, cloud tools, and IT best practices, ensuring efficient adoption and minimizing recurring issues.
Projects