Graduate Case
Competition World Cup
The Graduate Case Competition World Cup gives graduate students a real business problem and a short window to prove what they can do with it. Your team runs its analysis inside a provisioned Adobe analytics environment, which means you finish the competition with something most candidates never get: hands-on time in the enterprise tooling companies actually run on.
Adobe's Digital Experience certification pathway is built into the competition, not bolted on. Every team that applies receives Adobe DX Certification resources and an invitation to Adobe's live enablement session, whether or not your team is selected to compete. Selected teams are then provisioned an Adobe analytics environment of their own.
The competition is hosted by Management Consulted and co-hosted by Case Questions, founded by Marc Cosentino, author of Case in Point.
Questions? Email [email protected].
Who you'll present to
Every first-round submission is scored by this panel. The five finalist teams present live and take questions afterward. These are senior people at Adobe and at consulting firms who do this kind of analysis for a living.
More judges to be announced
What you'll need to apply
Only one member from your team – designated as your team leader – needs to fill out the form. Applications take about 15 minutes. Have these ready so you can finish in one sitting.
A team of 4–5
All members enrolled in a graduate program at the same college or university. Cross-department teams are welcome.
A resume for everyone
One PDF resume per team member, uploaded with your application.
Adobe opt-in
Agreement to share your team's info with Adobe. Required to apply.
Two short answers
A paragraph on why your team should compete, and one on a business you admire.
Key dates
All graduate students are welcome to apply.
Application & selection
Competition
The Adobe DX pathway
Applying gets you Adobe's certification materials and a seat at the enablement session. Getting selected gets you an Adobe analytics environment to work in. Making the finals gets you time with the Adobe team.
- All applicants
- Selected teams
- Finalists
Adobe, end to end
Adobe analytics tooling. Each selected team works in its own provisioned environment.
Live enablement session. September 24, deep dive plus demo, open to every applicant team.
Three Adobe judges. Scoring both the first round and the finals.
Adobe Office Hours. Finalist teams only, October 30.
What you walk away with
Teams get the case on October 9 and submit by October 16. In that week you work through a real data set, decide what it supports, and cut your answer down to five minutes you have to defend. Most of what you keep comes out of that week rather than out of the standings.
A week on an actual problem
The case is built on a real business situation and comes with data to work through, not a prompt to speculate about. You decide what the numbers support, then commit to a recommendation and live with it.
Experience for your resume
Employers want to see applied experience on your resume. This gives you exactly that.
Something specific to say in interviews
Interviewers ask what you have done. You leave with a problem you analyzed, a recommendation you defended, and a judging panel's response to it.
Practice defending a recommendation
Five minutes to make your case, then questions you cannot prepare for. Learning to hold up under that is the part of consulting work you cannot rehearse in a classroom.
If your team makes the top five
The five finalist teams present live on October 30 to the full judging panel, including the Adobe judges. Presentations are followed by a networking session with the judging team. Your team name and school are highlighted on this page – the bragging rights are unbelievable.
Competition rules & info
Meet the sponsor: Adobe
Adobe builds the software behind a large share of the world's digital customer experiences. Its Experience Cloud products, including Adobe Analytics and Customer Journey Analytics, are what enterprise teams use to measure how customers behave and decide what to do about it.
Adobe's Digital Experience (DX) certification program credentials practitioners in those tools, and that pathway is why Adobe is presenting the Graduate Track. Demand for people who can actually operate this tooling is running ahead of the supply of people trained to do it, and Adobe is building that pipeline directly with graduate students rather than waiting for it to appear.
Competing puts you inside the tooling and inside the certification pathway at the same time.
2027 timeline
Certification & enablement – what you get
The certification pathway opens up in stages:
Every applicant receives Adobe DX Certification resources throughout the competition and an invitation to the Adobe enablement session on September 24, a deeper dive into Digital Experience and Adobe's analytics tooling with a live demo.
Selected teams are provisioned an Adobe analytics environment to work the case in.
Finalist teams present live to Adobe judges and guest judges, then join Adobe Office Hours.
Team size & eligibility
Teams have a minimum of four and a maximum of five members. Every member must be currently enrolled at the same college or university (cross-department teams welcome).
This track is open to students in an MBA, professional master's, or doctoral program, including:
MBAMS MiMMPPMPAMPHLLMJDMDPhDand other doctoral programs
Note: team composition must not change after the case prompt is released.
International teams
Teams from across the globe are invited to apply. All team members must attend the same college or university, but cross-department applications are welcomed and encouraged.
The case
This year's challenge is a growth strategy case built on customer and channel data, with the analysis carried out inside a provisioned Adobe analytics environment. It mirrors the work analytics and strategy teams do every day: turn behavioral data into a decision, then defend it.
Your team receives the case alongside an accompanying data set to work from.
The full prompt, including the company and sector, is revealed when the case is released on October 9, 2026.
Presentation guidelines
Each presentation must strictly adhere to a 5-minute time limit, and every team member must present.
For the first round, your team leader uploads your 5-minute recorded presentation to a Google Drive folder. If your team is selected as a finalist, you'll present live on Zoom to a panel of judges – the same 5-minute limit applies, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A.
Your submission must include an appendix screenshot of your analysis inside the Adobe environment. Teams that omit it cannot receive full marks.
Presentations must not mention the name of your team's university – every team competes on an even playing field.
What is a case competition?
A case competition is an event where teams of students tackle a real-world business challenge within a set timeframe. Participants analyze a specific problem or opportunity and develop strategic recommendations, then present their findings to a panel of judges made up of industry professionals and executives.
Judges evaluate teams on the quality of their analysis, the creativity of their solution, and the effectiveness of their presentation. Along the way, participants build analytical, collaboration, and communication skills – and it looks great on a resume, especially if you win.
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The complete guide to building and delivering winning strategy presentations, from the team behind the World Cup.
