Jenny Glenski's leadership in AI innovation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here in a big way, and MSUM alumna Jennifer Glenski ‘13 says she’s excited about its future.
Glenski is a rising leader in AI and technology, with experience leading impactful technology projects across industry, healthcare, and government. With a background in machine learning, she now leads data and AI product management in BMC Software’s Innovation Lab, helping the companies that the world runs on do business more effectively.
She says, “The tools that we’re building today help make things work on a large scale.”
While it may be best known for chat bots and Chat GPT, technologists like Glenski are exploring opportunities to use AI to improve lives in increasingly meaningful ways.
“AI is not inherently good or bad. My perspective on new technologies is that they are tools. Like anything else, the outcome of these tools depends on the human intention behind their use,” says Glenski.
One of her favorite career opportunities so far arose while she was working for IntelliDyne, LLC., a company that provides technology services to the federal government. Glenski managed a development project to build natural language processing (NLP) tools to analyze millions of medical research studies on suicide prevention, oncology, mental health, traumatic brain injury and more. Her team’s results uncovered cutting-edge trends, surprising networks, and critical gaps in medical research, which will be used to advance the fields of research with targeted funding.
“This work in particular feels really meaningful,” Glenski says. “I hope I have been a part of saving lives in some way.”
On top of her work at BMC, Glenski also enjoys preparing future leaders in technology as a part-time faculty member at Georgia Tech (where she earned her Master of Science in analytics). In 2023, she was even honored by the American Business Awards with a Gold Stevie for Product Developer of the Year for driving tech innovation through new data and AI products.
In her free time, Glenski is a dedicated volunteer at the Humane Rescue Alliance, an animal welfare organization in the mid-Atlantic region. She manages a team of volunteer case managers, coaching them on how to remove barriers to adoption for animals and to best support foster families.
“Pets bring people joy! I enjoy working with animals, and it brings me a sense of accomplishment seeing the animals and people happy,” she says. “Giving back brings you outside of your day to day routines and opens up your world view.”
Glenski adds that in our increasingly interconnected world, understanding diverse viewpoints is a key function in her current role at BMC.
“Seeking diverse perspectives is the foundation of my job. It’s not just about the loudest voice, but understanding the different needs of the people that we serve.”
While Glenski has become a leader in cutting edge technology, she wants students to know that it’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out immediately. She suggests picking something to anchor you in a direction (a subject you’re interested in, a location, people you want to be around, etc.) and see what opportunities arise from there.
Glenski wasn’t sure what to study when she came to MSUM. She grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and decided to look at colleges in Minnesota to be closer to family in the area. She liked the variety of programs, the “goldilocks” size and sense of community of MSUM and chose to begin as an international relations major. It wasn’t long, though, before Glenski’s advisor recognized her aptitude and spark for math, and encouraged her to become a mathematics major.
Glenski says that kind of support and encouragement she got from faculty and staff made a huge impact on her future. Due in part to that nudging into mathematics, she was hired for her first data analytics role right out of graduation. And in 2014, Glenski was awarded an Education Pioneers Analyst Fellowship, where she used data science to improve instruction and student education outcomes at a bilingual school in Washington, D.C.
Following one open door to another and continuing to learn all that she can, Glenski is excited to be a part of the evolution of technology and leads with grit, heart and humility every step of the way.
If you'd like to become a leader in an emerging industry like Glenski, the first step is to apply.
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