Amin Sayedi teaches one of the most data-driven courses in Foster’s Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) program. But his students might be surprised to learn that he’s terrible at tracking his own screen time and fitness data.
“I guess I prefer my analytics in marketing rather than in my personal life,” he says.
But when it comes to the $300 billion digital advertising industry, Sayedi brings both rigor and real-world experience to help students understand how data drives business decisions in his Digital Marketing class.
Inside Amin Sayedi’s MSBA Classroom Where Business Meets Data Science
For Sayedi (whose full title is Professor of Marketing and Michael G. Foster Endowed Fellow at the Foster School of Business), digital marketing sits at a unique intersection: business relevance meets technical depth. It’s a topic he’s been passionate about since his PhD days, and one that continues to drive his research, his work with tech companies, and his teaching.
His MSBA classroom is a space where students dissect business questions and the analytical science needed to solve them.
“We explore how online advertising works behind the scenes, from how ads are bought and sold to how we can rigorously measure their impact,” he says.
Sayedi built the course around business cases that mirror real company challenges, such as determining how to attribute sales across different marketing channels. MSBA students don’t just study theory; they tackle authentic business problems using real data, expanding their analytical toolkit in ways that feel immediately applicable.
“We begin with a concrete business problem and use real data to develop analytical solutions,” Sayedi says. It’s an approach that draws heavily on his professional experience consulting on digital marketing analytics.
That application-first philosophy runs throughout Foster’s MSBA program.
“In many other business school programs, methods are often taught for their own sake or because they appear in standard textbooks,” Sayedi says. “At Foster, we start with the most important business questions related to analytics and then work together to identify the right analytical tools to address them.”
MSBA students don’t just learn how a method works; they understand why it matters in practice. And, because of the program’s location at the University of Washington in Seattle, students have unique opportunities to see those applications in action at some of the most data-driven organizations in the world, such as Expedia, Salesforce, Boeing, Costco, Providence Health & Services, Deloitte, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
Drawing on his research and industry work in digital advertising, Professor Amin Sayedi teaches MSBA students how to evaluate marketing performance, attribution models, and data-driven decision frameworks used across leading companies.
What Amin Sayedi Really Teaches: Critical Thinking in a Changing Data Landscape
In a field where tools constantly evolve, Sayedi emphasizes that critical thinking is what truly sets analysts apart.
“In a few years, there will likely be new machine learning methods that do not exist today,” he says. “What endures is the ability to think critically about how and when to apply these tools.”
Students learn the assumptions behind each model, recognizing their limitations, and interpreting results within the right context. Sayedi often reminds his students of statistician George Box’s famous quote: “All models are wrong, but some are useful.”
“Developing the judgment to know which ones are useful and when is what truly sets strong analysts apart,” Sayedi says.
A Growth Mindset for the AI Era: What MSBA Students Need Most
That kind of judgment doesn’t come from mastering a fixed set of skills. Instead, it requires the same adaptability Sayedi encourages in anyone considering the MSBA program.
“We’re living through a time of huge change, with AI and new technologies transforming how businesses operate,” Sayedi says. “That can feel uncertain, but it’s also where the biggest opportunities appear.”
It’s advice he offers to prospective students, but it’s also what he sees in the students already at Foster. Their willingness to embrace challenges while balancing full-time study with personal and professional responsibilities reflects exactly the kind of determination the field requires, he says. That commitment thrives within Foster’s collaborative culture, where faculty, students, alumni, and industry partners readily share ideas and work together on meaningful projects.
“The people who thrive in the Foster MSBA are the ones who stay curious, flexible, and open to learning new things even when they feel out of their depth,” Sayedi says. “The goal isn’t to have all the answers, but to keep learning, adapting, and growing as the field evolves.”
The MSBA program at the Foster School of Business combines technical training in data science and machine learning with strategic business thinking. Learn more here.