Zach Harber is balancing a growing business with his MBA studies

A new year is a new beginning, and Australia welcomes each new year before almost anywhere on Earth. Zach Harber (MBA ’27) had long dreamed of taking in the spectacle in Sydney, where at the stroke of midnight an elaborate fireworks display lights up its iconic harbor. 

On the long, long flight back to the United States after experiencing New Year’s Eve 2024 down under, he started thinking about new beginnings of his own. 

“I knew I wanted to make a change; I just wasn't sure what I was going to do,” said Harber, who was working as a financial advisor at the time. “My professional growth wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I had always wanted to get into investment banking, but when you’re working and the years go by, you can’t really make that transition.” 

That flight ultimately proved to be a pivotal moment in his life. High above the Pacific Ocean, Harber started scrawling his plans for the future on a Qantas Airlines napkin. He planned to start his own business and to go back to school to pursue his MBA. 

Just one year later, he had already done both. 

Since February 2025, Harber has been running Quantis Investment Group, a small equities research company that provides analysis of the technology and industrials sectors. He seeks to identify undervalued growth opportunities and sells his research on a subscription-based model. With his business barely six months old, Harber enrolled in the Notre Dame MBA in fall 2025. 

“Growing up in a Catholic household, Notre Dame was always the school for me,” Harber said. “Instead of watching Christmas movies, I’d watch Rudy. It was a full-circle moment to come here. Outside of the dream of just being on campus, I knew Mendoza was a well-respected school with a strong alumni network. And that played into my decision. I went to a very small undergraduate school with no real alumni network. It is very apparent here that people can leverage Notre Dame’s network to open new doors and opportunities.”  

AI is changing the classroom and the world of business

Since arriving in South Bend, Harber has had his hands full running a growing business and keeping up with his MBA studies. 

“I am typically up around 6:30 in the morning, reading everything I need to to be prepared for class and for business purposes,” said Harber, who credits his parents with instilling a strong work ethic. “They both worked for the Department of Defense, and they have a type of mentality that’s very structured: You get up early and get stuff done.” 

The spark for Harber’s business came from his experience working in wealth management, where he observed financial advisors who mostly just sat on their clients’ assets and provided periodic updates of a portfolio’s performance. 

Harber decided to take a different approach. His Quantis Investment Group produces reports about when he is buying and selling equities, especially those related to the construction boom in AI data centers. Clients pay a flat monthly fee to access these reports on Discord, a social media platform. At the end of the day, his customers make their own decisions, but they aren’t tied to a fee structure of 1% of assets under management. 

“It started as a hobby project, but it took off a lot more than I thought it would,” said Harber, who credited Mendoza with being flexible in the program’s approach to his business venture and accommodating students who have commitments outside of their studies. “Now, my business is producing enough that I can actually have an income while I am still in school.” 

As Harber has been conducting research into AI stocks, he has also been learning about AI in the classroom. He said the AI and marketing course taught by Kevin Hartman showed him how technology can make an impact in the real world. 

“AI is the buzzword, right? Everybody talks about it,” said Harber. “But learning how to use it in a business setting has been really great. Figuring out how to prompt the tool and being more effective with AI has helped me in the class and also in my business life. Now, I'm able to use AI to filter out what I need to focus on. The AI and marketing course showed me how to use AI, from making a business profitable to using the technology in an ethical way. You really get a holistic view of what's happening with AI in Professor Hartman’s class. It was really eye-opening.”  

Career coaching helped Harber achieve his goals

Despite the success of his business, Harber remains focused on launching his career in investment banking. He successfully landed an internship with the corporate finance group at Deloitte in Charlotte, North Carolina. For Harber, whose family now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, that’s exactly the outcome he was hoping for when he came to Notre Dame. Coaching from William Shenher, associate director for Graduate Business Career Development was instrumental in putting him on the right path. 

“Bill has been extremely, extremely helpful,” Harber said. “Even before we stepped foot on campus, he helped us get in the right mindset of what you need to think about and how to position yourself. He helped us wordsmith our resumes, and we did mock interviews. I’ve relied on him throughout the year.” 

When Deloitte reached out with an opportunity, Harber jumped at the chance. 

“You want to be in a place where you feel respected and you get along with the people — especially when you know you’ll be putting in such long hours,” said Harber. “When Deloitte called, it was a no-brainer for me.”