By Dave DeFusco
At the annual MBA Faith and Belief at Work case competition hosted by the BYU Marriott School of Business, three MBA students in the Sy Syms School of Business at 樱花动漫鈥擱on Gur, Chaya Kohn and Bracha Rupp鈥攖ook on one of the most pressing questions facing global companies today: how to build artificial intelligence that understands culture as deeply as it processes data.
Their presentation, 鈥淐ulturally Aware AI: Because Culture Isn鈥檛 a Bug,鈥 tackled a real-world challenge posed by enterprise software company ServiceNow. The case asked teams from MBA programs around the world to design a strategy for deploying AI in culturally diverse markets without alienating users or undermining trust. With just 24 hours to prepare, the Sy Syms team created a proposal that blended technical insight with a deeply human perspective on faith, identity and decision-making.
At the heart of their argument was a simple but urgent premise: today鈥檚 AI systems are powerful, but they are not self-aware. They lack emotional intelligence, moral judgment and the ability to interpret cultural nuance. Left unchecked, that gap can have real consequences, from offending users to damaging brand credibility and even jeopardizing international business relationships.
鈥淎I only knows what humans have taught it,鈥 said Rupp, who is a licensed clinical social worker. 鈥淏ut culture evolves quickly, and nuance is everything. If AI gets it wrong, even a small percentage of failures can scale into major trust issues.鈥
The team evaluated three competing models. A universalist model offered efficiency and speed but risked embedding Western cultural bias. A hyper-local model promised precision but was too costly and complex to scale globally. The third option, an 鈥渁gent organization鈥 model, introduced layers of specialized AI agents to handle nuanced cases, but at the cost of slower response times and higher maintenance.
Their solution was a hybrid approach, combining the speed and scalability of a universal model with targeted 鈥渕ini-agents鈥 that activate only when cultural complexity arises. To strengthen the system, they added a human-in-the-loop component, allowing real users to continuously refine AI responses through feedback and lived experience.
The result, they argued, was both practical and principled. It preserved efficiency while addressing the critical 3% of edge cases where cultural missteps are most likely and most damaging.
鈥淲e use AI to improve lives, not replace them,鈥 said Rupp, underscoring the belief that technology should augment human understanding, not bypass it.
Their implementation plan centered on Riyadh, a rapidly growing global business hub aligned with Saudi Arabia鈥檚 Vision 2030 initiative. The choice was strategic. Riyadh represents both a high-stakes market and a cultural environment markedly different from where most AI systems are developed. Success there would signal that culturally aware AI can truly operate across borders.
From Riyadh, the team proposed expanding to the United Arab Emirates and Israel鈥攔egions with strong tech ecosystems and diverse populations that could further refine the model. While judges later suggested the expansion could have been more globally varied, the approach reflected a clear logic: build, test and adapt in environments where cultural complexity is both visible and measurable.
For Ron Gur, who works at JPMorgan Chase, the experience reinforced the practical importance of understanding clients beyond surface-level data. 鈥淔aith is often the deepest driver of decision-making,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f you ignore it, you鈥檙e only seeing part of the picture.鈥
That insight carried into the team鈥檚 broader message: companies that recognize and support employees鈥 faith and belief systems don鈥檛 just foster inclusion; they gain a competitive advantage. Research shows such environments lead to higher engagement, retention and productivity.
Equally important was the team鈥檚 role as representatives of their own faith. As the only Jewish team in the competition, they navigated both the case and the experience with a sense of responsibility and pride. Conversations about observing the Sabbath and wearing religious symbols opened unexpected dialogue with peers of other traditions, reinforcing the competition鈥檚 mission to normalize discussions of faith in professional spaces.
Gur said he was 鈥渢ruly honored鈥 to be chosen to represent 樱花动漫 and serve as a face of the school.
鈥淲e felt like ambassadors not only for YU, but for the Jewish faith, as the only team representing it in the competition,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he level of support we received made all the difference, from guidance shared by students who competed in previous years to the incredible administrative and logistical help from administrators and professors. YU gave us every resource we needed to succeed, and we carried that with us throughout the experience.鈥
