Helping organizations adapt to change is central to Devin Johnson’s (’22 MBA) work. As senior manager of AI learning and workforce enablement at Nordstrom, he works across teams to help employees build confidence with emerging technologies while shaping long-term workforce strategy.
Johnson, who earned a Carson College Online MBA offered through WSU Global Campus while he worked full time at Amazon, says the program strengthened his understanding of business beyond his HR background. More importantly, it prepared him for leadership roles that require collaboration, agility, and strategic thinking.
Building a broader foundation
While he already held a master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Johnson saw an MBA as the next step in his professional development. Finding the right program meant balancing work, travel, and an already demanding career. He says Carson’s Online MBA program stood out for its reputation and offered the flexibility that would allow him to continue working full time.
“I wanted to go to business school, but I understood that real-world experience would help me appreciate the degree in its fullness,” he says. “The MBA solidified my expertise in business and gave me fluency across all facets of the business landscape.”
He says working through business challenges with classmates mirrored the workplace, where progress often depends on building relationships across disciplines and bringing together people with competing perspectives.
For Johnson, these experiences reflect a deeper purpose behind earning an MBA. He sees the degree as a powerful investment and says its greatest value lies in knowing how to apply it to broader career goals and to life. He says lessons extend well beyond the workplace, influencing everything from buying a home to making long-term investment decisions.
Confidence across disciplines
Before enrolling at WSU, Johnson had already built a successful career in HR. He says the Online MBA broadened his understanding of business by doubling down on his exposure to finance, marketing, accounting, and other fields that shape how he approaches leadership and decision-making.
At Amazon, Johnson led a $66 million philanthropic talent development initiative that helped prepare students from marginalized backgrounds and communities for careers in tech and other STEM fields. His roles often required coordination with colleagues across finance, legal, marketing, HR, and corporate social responsibility, enabling Johnson to apply classroom concepts in real time while leading global, complex, cross-functional work. He says the experience extended the MBA’s value well beyond human resources, providing a foundation he could apply across business functions.
“The MBA training made entering those conversations a lot less overwhelming. I felt like I had good building blocks to start with,” Johnson says.
Johnson says cross-functional philosophy continues to influence his work today. Whether working with partners from legal, communications, product, or HR teams, he says considering people and business challenges through multiple lenses leads to stronger decisions, mitigated risk, more thoughtful questions, and better business outcomes.
Helping others grow
Recently recruited to Nordstrom, Johnson helps guide learning strategies around artificial intelligence and the future of work. His responsibilities include preparing employees to use new technologies while helping the enterprise think strategically about how work itself will continue to evolve. Rather than focusing solely on the technology, he works to ensure employees understand how new tools fit into their day-to-day tasks and how organizations can successfully navigate change.
Outside the office, Johnson is equally focused on supporting others as they prepare for what’s next. He recently authored a career-focused curriculum for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as early-career professionals. He serves on nonprofit boards, and hopes to eventually return to the Carson College as an instructor. He also plans to pursue a doctorate or juris doctor degree, further building on a career that has remained closely tied to education.
For Johnson, these pursuits all stem from the same motivation that led him to business school in the first place: creating opportunities for others to grow.
“I help people see their value,” Johnson says. “When people realize their potential, it will change the arc of their lives.”