EMBA graduate named one of the Best and Brightest by Poets & Quants

Alistair Wye (EMBA 2022), who recently completed his Executive MBA degree at Cambridge Judge Business School), has been named one of the Best and Brightest Executive MBAs of 2024 by business school publication Poets & Quants.

Alistair was named to the list as one of 62 EMBAs from 54 highly rated EMBA programmes around the world. He began his EMBA studies at Cambridge Judge in 2022 and graduated in May 2024.

From law to innovation leadership and AI

Alistair, a former leveraged finance lawyer from London, transitioned into innovation leadership after learning to code and leading an AI startup’s presales team pre- and post-acquisition.

He now leads the global emerging technology and innovation team at Latham and Watkins LLP, collaborating with executives, senior lawyers, and clients to drive technology-led transformations across the firm’s global platform.

His team – former lawyers, technologists, and consultants – also leads R&D (research and development), particularly automation and AI applications for legal use cases, with a recent emphasis on large language models (LLMs), which they have been exploring for the past 2.5 years, in continuation of prior application of AI technologies.

Overall, the team’s focus is to identify and prioritise high return-on-investment opportunities to enhance client services through methodical use of case scoping, service design, process re-engineering, and where relevant, targeted application of built or bought technology solutions.

How Cambridge Judge Business School’s Executive MBA programme helped to analyse business opportunities for clients

“It has been a rewarding experience, especially as my EMBA has enabled me to analyse potential targets in much more commercial detail, helping me communicate value potential to savvy PE (private equity) and VC (venture capital) professionals,” Alistair, who holds a law degree from Nottingham University, says in a Poets & Quants article.

He also describes his EMBA programme individual project, which explores how AI is transforming the business model of Big Law to emphasise how law firms need to adapt to fully utilise the technology. He sends special thanks in the article to Stella Pachidi, Assistant Professor in Information Systems at Cambridge Judge, who was his EMBA individual project supervisor.

A transformational experience on the Cambridge Judge EMBA programme

“Studying at Cambridge wasn’t just about fulfilling a long-held ambition; it was an enriching journey of collaboration and community,” Alistair says. “It also forged incredible, likely lifelong friendships. Living my Cambridge dream has been nothing short of spectacular, enhancing my professional insights and personal growth in unforgettable ways.

“The EMBA programme was a game-changer for my cognitive approach, radically transforming how I navigate problem-solving and think strategically. It armed me with vital business skills and exposed me to revolutionary theoretical frameworks that reshaped how I view challenges, enabling me to address them with greater precision and strategy.”