UQ’s Bachelor of Commerce has been shaping leaders in finance, accounting and technology now for a century. As the program has evolved to meet the demands of a global, digital economy, the practical business skills it teaches remain as relevant today as they were 100 years ago.
We asked four graduates of this highly regarded program to share the skills they use in their careers today that were developed during their studies. Three alumni are well established in their careers, while one is a recent graduate. They also shared which skills they believe will remain important for future commerce graduates and their advice for a rewarding career in this field.
A solid understanding of how businesses operate is essential to my work. My Bachelor of Commerce provided that foundation and continues to shape how I think about regulatory impact and real-life outcomes.
The graduates
- Jake Sullivan – Senior Manager of Performance Audit, Queensland Audit Office
Bachelor of Economics (2015), Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) (2017) - Steven Sorbello – Managing Partner, BDO Brisbane
Bachelor of Commerce (1995), Bachelor of Laws (2000) - Jaanvi Singh – Associate, Grant Thornton Australia
Bachelor of Commerce (2025) - Dr Gayan Benedict – Technology Partner, PwC Australia
Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) (1995), Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (1996)
What skills developed while studying the Bachelor of Commerce do you use in your career today?
Jake: In my previous role at Commonwealth Treasury, I regularly considered how government and regulatory decisions affect businesses. A solid understanding of how businesses operate is essential to doing that well. My Bachelor of Commerce provided that foundation and continues to shape how I think about regulatory impact and real-life outcomes.
Steven: Understanding financial statements and financial literacy more broadly. A strong financial grounding is invaluable, even if you end up pursuing another profession or trade. I also heavily rely on the critical thinking skills I developed during my studies and the ability to ask the right questions.
Jaanvi: The skills I use most often are critical thinking and problem solving – approaching situations with clarity, breaking them down, and finding practical solutions. My degree also taught me how to balance competing priorities and stay calm when things get busy, which has been invaluable in my career.
My commerce degree gave me confidence and adaptability – the ability to step into new environments, back myself, and trust that I’ll learn and adapt as I go.
Gayan: I would say it was the critical thinking skills I learnt in my final honours year that developed in me the ability to digest and critically assess a lot of information. Those skills helped me when I was the CIO of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and sat on multiple committees. I’d often have 300–400 pages of reading before a committee meeting, or a massive amount of information to consume before a design review for something like the country’s New Payments Platform. So having the ability to very rapidly consume and understand massive amounts of information, extract insights, identify challenges and be accountable for decisions and outcomes was critical.
What skills do you believe will continue to be important for future commerce graduates?
Gayan: One of the key skills you’ll gain from studying a commerce degree is the ability to translate. In a business context, a commerce degree is not a pure accounting degree; it’s something that sits in the middle of a lot of different disciplines in a business context.
It's important to keep updating your skills because what's required of you as a commerce professional will evolve in the same way the commercial field, and society more broadly, is changing. The ability to unlearn and relearn is increasingly a modern-day business superpower.
Being able to translate and integrate strategy into product into distribution into finance, finance into technology and all of that into workforce outcomes are examples of how commerce professionals solidify their value as leaders in an evolving workplace.
Steven: Disruption will remain constant – the business world will look different in 10 years. The challenge and opportunity for leaders will be staying dynamic and adaptable while remaining calm and level-headed.
Key skills future commerce graduates will need include:
- business acumen
- sound judgement
- curiosity – the fundamental skill required for learning and adapting to change.
As AI and technology advance, communication skills will become even more important. I also see the ability to interpret complex information, simplify detail and identify what is most relevant becoming critical as the pace of information accelerates.
Future commerce graduates should remain curious, keep learning, and stay grounded. Strong technical skills will always help, but the ability to lead with clarity, integrity and empathy will make the biggest difference.
Jaanvi: People skills – always. The ability to communicate clearly, bring others along with you and genuinely understand different perspectives is what makes work meaningful and effective. Technical skills matter, but it’s the soft skills – how you connect, collaborate, and show up for people – that really set you apart.
As a recent graduate, my advice is to say yes more often than you feel ready to. Some of my most memorable experiences came from just putting myself in the room and figuring it out along the way.
Be curious, back yourself, and lean into experiences that stretch you – even slightly uncomfortably. That’s usually where the most growth happens – and where you start to discover what actually matters to you.
Jake: Over the next decade, businesses will need to operate in environments shaped by regulatory uncertainty. This means judgement and decision making are more important than ever.
Businesses will need to balance the benefits of adopting complex technologies with the need to preserve accountability in decision making. As systems become more sophisticated, it’s essential businesses ensure decisions are explainable, transparent and defensible, particularly in regulated environments and where outcomes materially affect customers, shareholders or the public.
The ability to form a clear point of view, grounded in a strong commercial understanding, will remain essential for future graduates.
Entrepreneurial skills will always be important. And I don’t just mean building startups; I mean doing so across the board in legacy businesses as well. As AI increasingly presents the ability to execute ideas and intent, the role of leaders will increasingly evolve to innovate, inspire and coalesce people and resources to create value and differentiate – and always remain accountable for the outcomes.
Learn more about the future-relevant skills you’ll develop during the UQ Bachelor of Commerce.
