Photo: Courtesy of Uttam Kumaran ’18

Uttam Kumaran ’18 majored in computer engineering but took advantage of opportunities to learn about finance and entrepreneurship at Bucknell.

Retailers improving customer experiences, manufacturers streamlining supply chains and marketers crafting targeted campaigns all rely on advanced data and AI. Uttam Kumaran ’18 helps businesses maximize these technological advancements.

In 2023, he founded Brainforge, a company that helps organizations uncover insights, cut costs and grow revenue. For Kumaran, Brainforge represents the culmination of years spent solving complex problems and improving decision-making. As a leader, he prioritizes fostering a culture of continuous improvement and a fail-fast mentality. “Every day, we challenge ourselves to be better than we were yesterday,” he says.

Kumaran traces his entrepreneurial mindset to Bucknell, where mentors and resources from the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) helped shape his approach to problem-solving. “The collaborative environment at Bucknell gave me the tools to think critically and creatively about real-world problems,” he says.

The son of first-generation immigrants, Kumaran planned to attend college in his native California but followed his father’s vision for a liberal arts education on the East Coast. A chance meeting with a professor during an impromptu tour of the Dana Engineering building convinced him Bucknell was the right fit. “Getting a one-on-one tour was a game-changer,” Kumaran says. “It showed me that Bucknell was a community where people care.”

Kumaran majored in computer engineering but explored beyond his field. As a sophomore, he approached Professor Curtis Nicholls, the Kiken Family Chair in Management, about joining Bucknell’s Student Managed Investment Fund, which is typically reserved for senior management students. With the help of Nicholls, Kumaran took summer courses to acquire the prerequisites for the capstone course. He also got involved in the SBDC and co-launched Maker EDU, a venture that helped schools build makerspaces, which gave him his first taste of entrepreneurship.

After graduating, Kumaran worked in data roles at startups like WeWork and Flowcode, managing projects from sales analytics to scaling data teams. Seeking more independence, he launched Brainforge, leveraging his network — including Bucknell connections — to build the business. Today, Kumaran leads with a focus on empowering clients and exceeding their expectations. “Our goal is to be indispensable to them,” he says.