By Sean Beggs
If you’ve ever streamed a movie, paid a bill online or even used a smart refrigerator, you’ve interacted with an information system. These invisible systems run nearly every aspect of modern life. They help urban planners design cities, healthcare professionals track the spread of disease and organizations incorporate customer feedback, among many other uses.
At Heinz College, you can learn to design, manage and protect information systems.
I’m a Heinz College alumnus and the director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Master of Information Systems Management (MISM) program. For the last two decades, I’ve worked closely with students to help them meet their learning goals and career objectives while completing our MISM program. The question I get asked most often by people outside Heinz College is “What is MISM, anyway?” It’s a good question.
The MISM program prepares students to be innovative and ethical leaders who design technology with people in mind. Our faculty help students understand how technology works, how people use it and how businesses can harness it responsibly and effectively.
I like to think of the program as helping students “pivot or polish.” If you come from a computer science background, MISM will help you polish your skills, particularly in management and communication. If you don’t have a technical background, the program will allow you to pivot into a broader set of roles, even in your current industry.
It’s important to note: You don’t need to be a tech wizard to succeed in the program. No matter your skillset, this program will help you thrive in our digital world.
No matter your background, our curriculum will provide you the skills and experience necessary to shape your career.
Our program blends technical and leadership skills, equipping you with the ability to transform organizations through technology.
An information system isn’t just a laptop or a server but rather an ecosystem of data flowing between people and machines. When you log into your bank account, for example, you’re entering a massive information system that records who you are, tracks your transactions and communicates securely with other systems to make the process run smoothly.
Information systems are essential to a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, education, agriculture and government. Modern farming, for example, is surprisingly high-tech. A student with an agricultural background could bring their industry expertise to Heinz College and learn how to apply information systems to revolutionize food production.
Healthcare organizations rely on information systems to digitize patient care and securely manage sensitive data, and financial firms use these systems to analyze massive datasets and ward off cyber threats.
Managing these systems — ensuring they’re secure, efficient and user-friendly — requires people who understand both the technology itself and the people who rely on it. That’s where MISM graduates come in.
Some students enter the program thinking it’s all about learning to code or build apps. While those skills are part of the experience, our MISM faculty also help students develop leadership and problem-solving skills, as well as knowledge of data management, statistics, economics and finance.
Each semester, students in the program participate in a capstone project, which involves working in groups with a real-life client to solve an existing problem. Our faculty set guardrails to guide the teams' work, but they let the students manage the unpredictability they encounter.
The teams navigate the same challenges that professionals face, from incomplete data to evolving project scopes. Sometimes the client is more involved than expected; sometimes less. Sometimes a team nails its first deliverable; other times, they have to pivot mid-project.
In every case, students walk away with invaluable experience applying their classroom knowledge to real business problems. The program’s combination of rigorous academic training and messy, hands-on experience prepares MISM graduates to succeed in industries that are evolving faster than ever.
At Heinz College, students can pursue the traditional MISM degree or the MISM–Business Intelligence and Data Analytics (BIDA) track. Both options share a foundation in technical and managerial skills, but there are some differences.
The traditional MISM program focuses on integrating IT strategy with business management, preparing students for leadership roles in information systems design, consulting and enterprise management. The BIDA track adds a strong data analytics component, giving students hands-on experience turning complex data into insights for business decisions.
It’s impossible to talk about technology education in 2025 without mentioning artificial intelligence. Some people wonder if AI will eventually replace the need for people in certain technical roles.
I think of AI as today’s equivalent of the first cell phone — fascinating and evolving rapidly, but still dependent on people to use, manage and improve it. MISM graduates are well-positioned to succeed in our current moment and as the landscape continues to change. They can understand both the legacy systems that organizations are relying on and the emerging AI tools transforming the field.
As AI becomes more prevalent, new roles may emerge that require the interdisciplinary training MISM provides. Companies adopting AI will need professionals who understand technology deeply enough to question it, test it and ensure it aligns with organizational values and goals. These are distinctly human skills that will remain in high demand for years to come.
Information systems are everywhere, which means that people from a variety of backgrounds can benefit from the skillset the MISM program offers.
Whether you’re a political scientist, business major, engineer, manager or someone from a completely different field ready to pivot, the MISM program will give you the tools, confidence and perspective to advance your career.