Cesar is a Marketing & Brand Management MBA candidate in the Class of 2027 and a Consortium Fellow at the Wisconsin School of Business. Throughout his MBA, he’s focused on marketing strategy, analytics, teaching, and leadership. Continue reading below to hear how his experiences came together during a rewarding summer with JPMorgan Chase!
Joining Chase’s Analytics Team
As part of the Business Banking Data & Analytics team through the Chase Associate Program, my summer project was developing a self-service Tableau dashboard. The goal was simple: give stakeholders direct access to key insights without relying on ad hoc data requests or waiting for someone else to pull the data. In other words, success meant creating something so useful that people wouldn’t need to ask for help.
When I started, I assumed the challenge would be learning the technical side of Tableau, Snowflake, or SQL. Instead, I quickly realized that the real challenge was focus.
Everyone has a metric or chart they care about and want included. But when everything is prioritized, nothing stands out. Instead of clarity, you create noise.
That led me to a question that became my guiding principle throughout the summer:
What decision is someone trying to make when they open this dashboard?
If a visualization didn’t help answer that question, it didn’t belong.
Along the way, I built an AI assistant to support my work. To teach it how to help me, I had to document my process and define what good analysis looked like. In doing so, I realized I had developed a problem-solving framework that I had never consciously put into words.
It also made me appreciate how much my previous experiences continue to shape the way I work today. Across industries and roles, the common thread has always been translating complexity into something useful, actionable, and easy to understand.
That’s what the best dashboards do. And honestly, it’s what the best products, brands, and customer experiences do as well.
Valuable Insights – Perfect Before Polished
One lesson I’ll take with me is to share rough drafts early. Some of the most valuable feedback I received came before anything was polished. It’s much easier to change direction when you’re working from a sketch than when you’ve already invested hours perfecting the wrong solution.
Beyond the project itself, one of the most valuable parts of the summer was the community surrounding the Chase Associate Program. During orientation week in New York, I had the opportunity to hear from leaders across the firm and connect with MBA interns from around the country, which immediately made the experience feel bigger than any individual project.
Throughout the summer, I was fortunate to learn from a mentor who had previously gone through the program and is now a full-time CAP. Having someone who had been in my shoes provided invaluable guidance and gave me a firsthand perspective on the growth opportunities available within the firm.
Through networking events, coffee chats, and conversations with leaders across different areas of the business, I gained a deeper understanding of what the Chase Associate Program is designed to do: develop well-rounded leaders by providing exposure to diverse perspectives, businesses, and career paths. Those experiences were just as impactful as the technical work itself and reinforced the importance of continuous learning, curiosity, and building meaningful relationships.
Looking Forward!
As I return to Madison for my second and final year at the Wisconsin School of Business and continue exploring a career in marketing and brand management, I’m reflecting on an unforgettable summer and the people who made it so meaningful. I’m incredibly grateful to my team, my mentor, the CAP community, and everyone who invested their time, guidance, and trust in me. The lessons, perspectives, and relationships I gained along the way will stay with me long after the internship ended.
On, Wisconsin!
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