“Being recognised by Queen’s as part of the 18–45 Leaders Group is a huge honour. It reminds me how much of my success comes from the foundation Queen’s gave me to learn, adapt and lead.” 

Michael Cunningham, known to most as Mick, is a Software Engineer based in New York. A Queen’s graduate with a BA in History and a Master’s in Software Development, he credits the conversion course for sparking his passion for technology and problem-solving. 

After graduating, Mick co-founded ZELTA AI with two Queen’s alumni, developing an innovative data analysis platform that was later acquired in 2024. He now works as a Senior Software Engineer at Pendo.io, helping integrate ZELTA’s technology into one of the world’s largest analytics systems. 

“It has been a major learning curve,” he says. “At ZELTA we focused on qualitative data, while Pendo operates at a massive quantitative scale. Combining those strengths has been exciting.” 

Mick looks back on his time at Queen’s with gratitude. “It taught me how to think critically and solve problems creatively. Those lessons continue to guide my career.”