Co-founder, Air Force Gaming
Zach Baumann has been a gamer since he was a kid bouncing around the country with his four siblings during his father’s military career.
Baumann is now an Air Force captain—a personnel officer and expert in human resources and business administration—so it’s hard to get under his skin. But one way to do it is to suggest that gamers are a collection of introverts who shun the outside.
“I wouldn’t trade all the time I’ve spent gaming for anything,” Baumann said. “The friends I made, the things we did together, it’s all been so valuable to me.”
That value isn’t just unlocking achievements in Call of Duty—Baumann is a co-founder of Air Force Gaming, a digital platform that connects airmen with fellow players in the service.
“The Leeds MBA gave me the confidence and strategic mindset to push forward.”
Zach Baumann (MBA’21)
A lot of the insights he’s brought to the table come from the Leeds MBA he completed while on active duty. Many of his responsibilities focused on marketing strategy, “and the tools I was using were so fresh, they still had tags on them,” he said. “I was able to get insights on all the challenges we faced—from creating a social media presence, to building pitch decks, to refining our strategy—from my MBA classes.”
In fact, the platform has become so successful that last fall, the military effectively acquired it, bringing in a startup called Rally Cry to help take the program global.
“The Leeds MBA gave me the confidence and strategic mindset to push forward,” Baumann said.
In the short term, alongside running Air Force Gaming with co-founders Oliver Parsons and Mike Sullivan, Baumann is headed to the Air Force Personnel Center at Randolph Air Force Base, in Texas. He’ll be a talent management analyst, using analytics to assess the personnel programs the Air Force uses in the selection and development of all career fields. “I’m really excited to join the team, and I feel well equipped to do so thanks to my Leeds education,” he said.
Longer term, Baumann isn’t sure whether he’ll stay with the Air Force or transition to a civilian career. Either way, he expects the combination of military experience and his MBA to open new doors.
“It would be cool to hit one more rank, to major—the same as my dad when he retired,” Baumann said. “He also had an MBA. When I talked to him at graduation, I said, ‘Hey pops—I’m coming for you.’”