Driven by curiosity: How Mehul Patel is redefining responsible innovation through Purdue University’s online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program 

Curiosity drives everything Mehul Patel does, even the way he starts his morning. Each day begins with a T-shirt printed with a different scientific equation, a small ritual that reflects how he approaches every challenge with curiosity, balance and purpose.  

“Some days it’s Euler’s identity, other days it might be the Einstein field equation,” Patel said. “They’re not just equations to me. They’re reminders that the universe is made of relationships — between space and matter, between challenge and growth. The real question is how aware we are of those relationships.” 

That mindset of connection and discovery ultimately guided him to pursue Purdue University’s online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (AI), majoring in AI Management and Policy. 

Born and raised in India, Patel immigrated to the United States with his family at 17, seeking a new beginning filled with opportunity. He earned his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from Florida International University and began a professional journey that blended technical depth with leadership from the outset. Over the past 25 years, Patel has held roles spanning engineering, operations and transformation across companies like Verizon, Amazon and now Zayo. Today, he leads a team dedicated to transforming business processes using Lean Six Sigma, Design Thinking and Agile. His approach is simple but rigorous: solve problems scientifically while keeping people at the center of every solution. 

“Process improvement should never be a centralized function,” Patel said. “It should be embedded into a company’s DNA — not just as a methodology, but as a strategic lever to drive cultural transformation and operational excellence.” 

Patel’s journey has always been guided by curiosity, but not curiosity for its own sake. For him, curiosity is a vehicle for value creation, a mindset that compels him to connect ideas, challenge assumptions and keep learning. That spirit has led him to pursue multiple graduate degrees — a Master of Science (MS) in industrial and systems engineering, an MS in mathematics and statistics, and a Master of Business Administration in business analytics — each one deepening his ability to drive transformation with both analytical rigor and real-world impact. 

“It’s not about piling up degrees for me,” he said. “It’s about recognizing when I need to add a new tool to my toolbox.”  

That same philosophy carried into his work at Zayo, a company at the heart of the digital infrastructure revolution — powering the networks behind cloud computing, streaming, global connectivity, and, increasingly, the data-intensive demands of artificial intelligence. With more than 50 acquisitions over the past two decades, Zayo isn’t just integrating systems. It’s executed on a massive transformative purpose: to elevate the experience for customers, employees and investors alike. 

Patel sees process transformation not as an operational task, but as a strategic lever for innovation. Patel and Zayo’s leadership team are championing a bold shift — one that reimagines how process, technology and culture converge to shape a future-ready enterprise. 

To bring that vision to life, Patel needed to deepen his understanding of data science and ethical AI integration. He had the statistical foundation, but he wanted a stronger grasp of the algorithms and coding behind it, along with the leadership framework to apply those tools responsibly. When he discovered Purdue’s online AI program, it was an immediate fit.  

“Purdue’s program stood out because of its balance between technical rigor, strategic thinking and ethics,” Patel said. “Other programs were either fully technical or purely managerial. Purdue gave me both.”  

The flexibility and in-depth nature of the degree allowed Patel to customize his learning experience, blending leadership and analytics to meet the complex demands of his work. Through his courses, Patel found lessons that reshaped how he thought about technology and leadership. In Lindsay Hamm’s Societal Impacts of AI course, he explored the ethical considerations of integrating artificial intelligence into organizational systems. These lessons helped reinforce his commitment to designing process excellence initiatives that prioritize not only innovation and automation, but also empathy, trust and long-term accountability.  

“That course changed the way I look at everything,” he said. “It reminded me that responsible innovation means keeping humans at the center of every system we design.” 

In Joshua Chan’s economics and statistical modeling course, Patel learned how to combine data science with business strategy, insights he now applies daily as he measures and optimizes operational performance. And in Kira Graves’ foresight leadership class, he discovered how to balance long-term strategy with the agility needed in fast-changing industries. 

What makes Patel’s journey unique is how seamlessly he applied classroom learning to real-world transformation. At Zayo, his team is leveraging process mining and data-driven automation to reduce friction, uncover inefficiencies and enable faster, smarter decision-making. Outside of his corporate role, Patel has also spent more than two decades as an adjunct instructor in Florida, teaching mathematics, statistics and business courses. His experience at Purdue has strengthened that connection between academia and industry.  

“Purdue has helped me become a better translator of value,” he said. “I can bring real-world problems into the classroom and classroom insights back to the workplace.” That balance, he said, keeps his curiosity alive. 

As he looks ahead, Patel continues to embody the same principle that started his journey — that curiosity, when grounded in purpose, can drive meaningful progress. His time at Purdue has only sharpened that belief. 

 “The energy of learning is what connects everything,” he said. “It’s how we move forward, both as professionals and as people.” 

To learn more about Purdue’s online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence, visit the program’s webpage.