My name is Emmet Crotty, and I graduated from the BSc in Business Information Systems (BIS) at Cork University Business School in UCC. Looking back, choosing BIS was one of the best decisions I’ve made—not just for my education, but for the foundation it gave me to build a business from the ground up.
Before college, I was already fascinated by the intersection of technology and business. The BIS degree really nurtured that interest by offering a unique mix of business strategy, system design, programming, and data analytics. I loved how practical the course was—everything we learned was connected to real-world applications. We weren’t just studying theory, we were solving problems.
But the biggest impact came from the way the programme taught me how to think: analytically, creatively, and critically. Those skills became essential when I went on to found Gigify, a tech startup aimed at transforming how live music is booked and managed in the hospitality industry.
As someone who worked full-time as a musician for over a decade, I’d seen all the inefficiencies in the industry first-hand. Venues were still using WhatsApp messages, spreadsheets, and guesswork to manage live music schedules. Gigify was born to fix that—to create a seamless platform where venues and artists could connect, book gigs, and manage schedules in a smarter, more automated way.
The skills I gained during my time in BIS—understanding user requirements, building scalable systems, and thinking about the business value of tech—played a massive role in bringing Gigify to life. Since launching, the platform has been adopted by several venue groups across Ireland, with early expansion plans underway.
We recently won an award at the IGNITE Awards & Showcase Night in UCC, and we’ve started attracting investor interest and industry partnerships.
For anyone thinking of studying at CUBS, I’d say: go for it, and make the most of every opportunity. The BIS programme doesn’t just prepare you for a job—it equips you to build, lead, and innovate.