Designing Smarter Systems for Business Growth

Business process management graduate Brandon Caffey aligns skills with the digital evolution
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Business Process Management graduate Brandon Caffey

A healthy dose of curiosity is the cornerstone for any lifelong learner—Brandon Caffey(link is external) included. That, along with a healthy push from a recruiter promising education in radio frequency and tech training, led him to the U.S. Army, where he served as an RF technician.

“Working in high-pressure environments, creating protocols for over-the-air communication security issues in the field and aligning with strict protocols—let's just say the Army was my first crash course in real-time project management,” says Brandon. “That experience gave me the discipline and systems thinking that naturally carried into business process and project management later on.”

After serving in the U.S. Army, Brandon held positions working with customer relational management platforms—first at Waypoint Homes in 2009, and then later, at Comcast Business—experiences that would eventually influence his path in project management.

“At Waypoint Homes, I got my hands dirty with Salesforce, which at the time felt like flying a spaceship without a manual,” Brandon recalls. “It taught me the power of centralized data, data analysis of customer data and customer insights. At Comcast Business, I served as a business project coordinator in the company's fiber-optics division. I learned how to balance large-scale rollouts within the chaos of changing priorities. These experiences were all additional stepping stones as I headed toward project management; looking back, I was building the foundation for it every day.”

Ever the learner, Brandon’s educational and career goals kept growing. By 2020, he was balancing courses at the University of Arizona(link is external) (U of A) in cyber- and data-security technology while working full time, as well as completing various professional certifications.

“I wanted to future-proof my career and align it with the digital evolution of business,” he says. “I'd love to say it was all color-coded calendars and perfect balance—but there were definitely some midnight study sessions fueled by caffeine and willpower. I treated education like another project: scheduled, tracked and delivered. Having a supportive wife, Julia, who encouraged my efforts—and occasionally hid my phone so I'd focus—made all the difference.”

While studying, Brandon was also a lead project manager of product strategy with EOS IT Solutions(link is external). To complement his U of A learnings, Brandon completed various certificates and courses—including from our catalog of project management and Agile classes.

“After nearly two decades in the workforce, I wanted to formalize the skills I had learned on the job. The programs gave structure to my experience, and the timing felt right. I had just wrapped up a major product strategy role at Facebook(link is external), and knew that sharpening my tools would unlock even bigger opportunities.”
 

You became a Project Management Professional(link is external) (PMP)® and a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner(link is external) (PMI-ACP)® via the Project Management Institute while you were taking our project management courses. How did they help with earning your PMP® and Agile PMI-ACP® certifications?

The project and Agile management courses were a fantastic bridge between textbook knowledge and actual project environments. They reinforced core principles while also giving me hands-on frameworks. They filled the gaps between what I knew from experience and what I needed to know for the exam. It was like getting subtitles for a movie I'd seen 100 times—suddenly, everything clicked.
 

In 2021, you began your current role as a project manager at Autodesk, and then later that year you started courses in our Professional Program in Business Process Management (BPM).

At Autodesk, I quickly realized that optimizing processes was just as important as delivering projects. Registering for the BPM program gave me new perspectives and tools to identify inefficiencies and build scalable systems. I was fortunate to receive some employer support, which made continuing education a bit easier to budget—mentally and financially.
 


BPM Courses Brandon Completed

Business Process Modeling and Design
Agile Principles and Practices



How have the interactions with your instructors and fellow classmates impacted your career growth?

What I learned in the courses in process mapping and redesign and leading business process modeling has had a direct impact on how I approach my role. One instructor, in particular—whose dry humor masked decades of BPM wisdom—challenged us to look beyond the symptoms and fix root causes. That mindset helped me lead a major workflow overhaul.

Taking courses online, I was skeptical at first, but the virtual classrooms were lively and engaging. Instructors were accessible, and we had breakout sessions that felt surprisingly collaborative. I even stayed in touch with a few classmates, one of whom I've since partnered with on projects.
 

You also are now a Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) and Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®) Scrum Alliance. How are you applying this enhanced knowledge along with your BPM skills to your work?

I apply it daily—from automating redundant steps in workflows to aligning team KPIs with executive-level dashboards. It's not just about fixing what's broken—it's about designing smarter, faster systems that adapt as the business grows.

The CSPO® and CSM® certifications have been crucial in bridging Agile frameworks with process improvement. BPM gave me the "what" and "why," and Scrum gave me the "how" when it comes to delivery. Together, they've allowed me to lead sprints that actually solve long-standing process issues—not just deliver features.

Learning is my fuel—whether it's formal education or spontaneous rabbit holes on new tech trends. My continued learning has led to mentorship roles and cross-functional project invites that might not have come my way otherwise.
 

What advice would you give to someone considering the Professional Program in Business Process Management to grow their own career?

If you're wondering whether it'll help—ask yourself this: Do you want to stop putting out fires and start fireproofing your organization? If yes, then the BPM program is worth it. It gives you the structure, tools and confidence to lead change, not just manage tasks.
 

DEEPEN YOUR SKILLS

Professional Program in Business Process Management

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