MEF ambassadors: Tiep Luu
Tiep Luu (Danh Tiep Luu), born in the Czech city of Most, is currently a Chief Product Officer (CPO) at the Czech e-commerce company Vilgain, which specializes in health products and dietary supplements and is the parent company of the Aktin brand. He graduated from IES in 2022; subsequently he gained experience at PwC, Rockaway and e-commerce companies in the data teams of Footshop and Rohlík. He is also involved in public service – he is a representative of the city of Most. In 2025, he also took on the role of ambassador of the Master in Economics and Finance program.
Tiep, how do you reflect on your studies at IES? What did you enjoy the most?
If I had to sum it up, Mathematics made the biggest impression on me among all the courses, while the CFA Research Challenge was the most memorable extracurricular activity. Math was truly challenging for four semesters, and that experience created friendships that have lasted to this day — we worked hard together on definitions and proofs and supported one another throughout.
The CFA Challenge was an amazing experience too, not only because we built a winning team but also because we managed to succeed despite all the Covid-related complications. We’re still in touch today. Overall, I made many close friends at IES — I look back on that time with a smile… and with a lot of respect.
Your journey started in finance, but you ended up in data. How did that happen?
On my very first day at IES, I met Ondřej Dočkal, who really inspired me to pursue consulting at BCG — the travel, the exciting projects, the fast pace. I was all in. The turning point came during my bachelor’s studies when I had to build a model in R. That first moment of writing code and watching it do the work for me was magical — and strangely satisfying. It helped that right after finishing my bachelor’s thesis, I joined Footshop, where I worked with data simply because I didn’t want to manually copy numbers into Google Sheets. That’s when I realized I enjoyed data work more than anything I’d done before — and I stuck with it, moving on to SQL, Python, and more.
What exactly do you do as Chief Product Officer (CPO)? Did your studies help you in this role?
My work today is mainly about leadership — collaborating with the team, mentoring, and making sure our outputs are both technically sound and genuinely useful for the business. I also focus on researching and integrating new tools, ensuring they truly fit into our processes and aren’t just hype. What I’ve taken from my studies is the ability to break down large problems into smaller steps and deliver results without getting stuck halfway. That’s a skill I use all the time.
You’re also a city councilor in Most. What motivated you to do that, and what does the role involve?
I’ve always enjoyed thinking about how to improve things — and then actually making those improvements happen. When the opportunity to run for the city council came, I decided to go for it. My focus is on helping to revitalize the region, especially from a technological and knowledge-based perspective, and on connecting the Vietnamese community so that it becomes more active and feels at home here.
For me, it’s also a way to step outside the tech bubble — the challenges in the region are often not technically complex, but they are demanding from a project management point of view. And there’s a lot that can be achieved.
Why did you decide to become an ambassador for IES?
I chose to become an IES ambassador because I’m fully aware of how lucky I’ve been — to grow up in the Czech Republic, to study at IES, and to get a strong start in my career. I want to give something back, especially to the Vietnamese community. I believe that many talented people from Vietnam can build a great life here and contribute to a strong community of knowledge professionals. I also see IES as a special place: most courses are taught in English, and international and Czech students sit in the same classrooms and share the same seminars — there are no separate “bubbles.”
That’s why I feel strongly about being an ambassador, and I’m happy to connect talented applicants with IES and its community. I hope that thanks to my efforts, we’ll see more Vietnamese faces at IES in the future.
With all these responsibilities, do you still find time for yourself? What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
It can be challenging, especially when everything happens at once. But I learned to manage that pressure during my student years — it’s all about planning and pacing your work. I make time for sports and strategy games, but in recent years I’ve been prioritizing my family — going for walks, traveling, and simply spending quality time with my wife and child.
