From Second Chances to Systems with Tech Leadership: AJ Ansari ’07’s Ever-Upward Knight Story
On fall Saturdays, AJ Ansari ’07 knows better than to make plans that do not revolve around the University of Central Florida. A football loss can sour an entire weekend in his Houston home. A win becomes family lore, retold and replayed with his 12-year-old daughter long after the final whistle.
This is not casual fandom. It is identity.
More than two decades after enrolling at UCF, Ansari, the COO of DSWi and Editor-in-Chief for OnlyCopilotFans.com, remains a fiercely proud Knight, one whose loyalty was forged during a period when the university itself was still defining who it would become. He arrived in December 2001, when UCF was often labeled a commuter school and still working to establish its national reputation. What he found instead was a campus that challenged him, supported him and ultimately helped him discover his voice.
“I felt like I really belonged at UCF,” Ansari says. “Somewhere along that journey, it helped me figure out who I was.”
That sense of belonging did not come instantly. Ansari began his college career overseas, studying engineering in Turkey, but struggled to find direction. When he transferred to UCF and was admitted to the College of Business, he faced academic setbacks that could have easily derailed his plans. Instead, he encountered faculty members, advisors and administrators who chose to invest in him.
Ansari got things quickly back on track and finished his time at UCF strong, making the Dean’s list in four of his final five semesters.
Academic probation became not an ending, but a reckoning.
“Second chances can take you one way or another,” he says. “I was given the opportunity to try again, and that changed everything.”
Ansari seized it. He recalibrated, refocused and finished his time at UCF on a high note, earning Dean’s List honors in four of his final five semesters.
Those second chances reflected a broader philosophy at UCF, one rooted in access, persistence and experiential learning. Even in the early 2000s, the university emphasized learning by doing, encouraging students to apply classroom knowledge through leadership roles, service and professional experience.
Ansari found his voice beyond the classroom as he became involved as he became involved in Student Government, serving in the Student Government Senate during a time of growth and change on campus. He had challenged the original voting results, which were rife with votes for fictional characters such as Gilligan and Wonder Woman.
“When somebody is voting for a person who doesn’t exist, that vote shouldn’t be counted,” said Ansari in a 2003 article for Central Florida Future, the newspaper of the day. After the votes for fictional candidates in his contest were discounted, Ansari was named the victor.
The experience introduced him to leadership, collaboration and the reality that decisions carried real consequences. “It wasn’t a rubber-stamp senate,” Ansari says. “You realized pretty quickly that decisions mattered.”
Those lessons extended into his involvement with Greek life. Ansari joined Beta Theta Pi, a fraternity centered on its Men of Principle initiative, which emphasized accountability, leadership and service. The experience reinforced expectations around responsibility and ethical decision-making that mirrored UCF’s broader mission of preparing students for life beyond graduation.
Experiential learning also shaped Ansari’s professional trajectory. As an international student, he relied on advisors, career services and the International Student Center to navigate internships and employment opportunities within complex regulations.
“They knew the rules inside and out,” he says. “They helped us maximize our experience while staying within the parameters.”
Through that support, Ansari secured an internship with a local technology firm specializing in enterprise resource planning systems. The experience connected his interests in engineering, technology and business in ways no single course could have accomplished. The internship became a job, and the job became a career that has now spanned nearly two decades.
Since graduating in 2007, Ansari has progressed from intern to consultant to executive, navigating mergers, acquisitions and leadership roles that ultimately led him to become chief operating officer and co-owner of his organization.
His work has earned industry recognition over the years, something he attributes less to personal ambition and more to preparation and persistence. The practical training he received at UCF helped him become both technically strong and adaptable — qualities that continue to shape his career.
Among those honors, the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award carries special weight. He has been selected as an MVP eight times in two technical categories — a distinction held by only a small percentage of technology professionals worldwide. The award recognizes not just expertise, but a willingness to share knowledge and elevate the broader community — a responsibility he takes seriously.
That identity born at UCF extends into his personal life. While he did not meet his wife, Elif, in a classroom, their paths crossed through UCF-related social circles. Today, they are raising two children, and UCF remains woven into their family traditions.
“A bad football game can ruin my weekend,” Ansari says. “And now it can ruin my daughter’s, too.”
For Ansari, UCF’s impact goes deeper than sports or nostalgia. He believes the university helped him become a more confident, engaged and expressive version of himself by placing him in environments where learning was active and expectations were real.
“I didn’t quite know where I fit before,” he says. “UCF helped me find that.”
That gratitude continues to shape how he engages as an alumnus. Ansari supports regional alumni efforts, maintains season tickets and seeks opportunities to give back through mentorship and advocacy. He often returns to a principle he learned at UCF: bridge building.
“You cross a river because someone else built a bridge,” he says. “At some point, it becomes your responsibility to build that bridge for others.”
As UCF continues its rise as a nationally recognized institution, Ansari sees his story as part of a larger narrative, one that reflects the university’s growth alongside the students it serves.
“This is a place that opens doors,” he says. “And it teaches you how to walk through them.”
