Austin, Texas, USA: She was honoured for a capstone project that created product growth analytics for an AI-powered education startup.

Chinmayee Channuri, an Indian-origin senior at the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded the Fall 2025 Dean's Choice Award for her capstone project completed at the School of Information.

The award recognised her project titled Building Product Growth Metrics for Voila Voice, which was developed in partnership with Voila Voice, a young artificial intelligence-based education technology company.

Her work focused on examining user behaviour during the startup’s expansion phase and determining reliable measures of product-market fit. As part of the initiative, Channuri documented the complete user journey and designed analytical dashboards that corresponded with major phases such as discovery, engagement, and long-term retention.

Reflecting on her academic experience, Channuri said that her time at the School of Information helped her approach analytics as a user-focused design challenge rather than a purely technical task.

Instead of relying on basic performance numbers, she explained that she created growth dashboards that emphasised meaningful user actions and clear indicators of real product value.

The project represented a significant academic achievement and strengthened her interest in data-driven product leadership centred on user needs. Faculty evaluators noted the project’s real-world relevance and clarity as key reasons for its selection.

Channuri is currently employed at Microsoft’s Austin campus and is expected to complete her studies in 2026. She has also worked as the marketing director for the Texas Product Engineering Organisation, contributing to website creation and prototype design using Figma and Adobe tools.

She is pursuing a dual major in informatics at the UT Austin School of Information and Management Information Systems at the McCombs School of Business.