Four undergraduate business information systems (BIS) students outperformed acclaimed business schools at a business analytics case competition on April 3 at Travelers in Hartford. The team earned first place, facing fierce competition from five teams from four other institutions: UConn, Quinnipiac University, the University of Hartford, and Central Connecticut State University.

The competition is a part of Travelers’ Business Intelligence & Analytics Leadership Development Program, titled the “2026 Travelers BI&A LDP Case Competition.” The competition tasked teams with providing in-depth, data-driven, proactive business solutions using real-life, anonymized datasets from Travelers.

Eastern’s delegation consisted of senior Edon Selimaj, juniors Allison Kazmier and Jacob Morales, and sophomore Emily Meagher. The four students were underdogs in the competition, being the only team without any graduate students and hailing from the least populated university among the five competing institutions.

Teamwork, planning, and strategy

According to the students, teams were given three hours to discover problems using the provided datasets and provide actionable insights and business solutions in an easily understandable, visual format. A critical component of the competition was discovering a problem to solve, rather than being given one.

“We ended up landing on risk analysis and how Travelers is able to flag potential high or medium risk policies based on different factors,” explained Selimaj. He noted that their team can further isolate flagging algorithms to certain states or regions, or even as specific as business use or vehicle.

According to Eastern’s participants, the three biggest contributors to their success were a close-knit team dynamic, practicing with similar datasets prior to the competition, and quality instruction from Eastern BIS faculty.

“That preparation allowed us to spend less time figuring out the data structure and more time generating meaningful insights,” said Kazmier. “Working collaboratively in groups early on within the major ... prepared us not just to compete, but to perform at a high level.”

Kazmier also touched on the importance of knowing your teammates’ strengths and delegating work properly:

“Some team members focused on deeper analysis while others prioritized visualization and storytelling. That allowed us to work efficiently without sacrificing quality. The biggest challenge was not just analyzing the data, but ensuring our final presentation clearly communicated a story and offered realistic, proactive solutions.”

The four students have a history of competing alongside each other in similar competitions. The team earned major accolades at the ITSA Midwest Collegiate Computing Conference (MWC3) in Grand Rapids, MI, this March.

The win

The team’s initial reaction to the win? Pure surprise: “When they announced the winner, we all just looked at each other in shock,” said Morales. “We honestly didn’t expect it.”

He explained that as the only team with no graduate students, the Eastern team didn’t expect to outperform their more experienced peers.

“I’m really grateful for the BIS-ITSA Club,” Morales added, referencing the student-run BIS-Information Technology Students of America (BIS-ITSA) Club. “Without them, I wouldn’t have had opportunities like this.”

Not only does the win provide prize money and look good on students’ résumés; it may help winners find full-time employment post-graduation.

“This competition is part of [Travelers’] flagship talent recruitment strategy,” said accounting and BIS Professor Alex Citurs, who serves as advisor for the club. “Simply being selected to compete places students at the front of the pipeline for highly competitive internships and future career opportunities with Travelers.”

The team of Eastern students also demonstrated the value of a liberal arts education in a highly competitive field. “Even in a technical domain, the strengths of a liberal arts education resonate deeply,” Citurs said. “It reflects not only the talent and commitment of these students, but also the kind of educational processes that lead to outstanding outcomes.”

Selimaj added that “winning the competition despite being the only team of undergrads goes to show how impressive and valuable the BIS program here at Eastern is.”

He also explained that the competition allowed students to network with industry professionals and get a taste of their everyday operations. “Being able to meet with the team over at Travelers and learn about their day-to-day was an amazing learning experience as someone looking for a full-time role.”