Henley Alumni Stories - stories from our community
Published on November 3, 2026
What Julian Samarjiev learnt whilst studying at Henley is still as important now as it was then, even in a world of AI. Here he shares his story, and how important skills are for opening doors.
I run Convertibles (convertibles.dev), a 10-person Shopify conversion rate optimization agency. We help 8- and 9-figure DTC brands like Jones Road Beauty and Performance Golf grow through A/B testing, landing page optimization, and paid media. We've run over 1,000 tests and driven $2.3M+ per month in measured revenue lift across our client portfolio.
The Business IT programme shaped how I think about every problem we solve. CRO is systems work - you're mapping inputs, processes, and outputs across an entire purchase funnel, then running controlled experiments to improve each one. That's exactly what the degree and it's various subjects taught me to do.
The data analysis and applied technology foundations were just as important. We build custom analytics pipelines and are now integrating AI tooling into our testing methodology, and I can trace both of those back to what I learned at Henley. Even though AI wasn't around back then, it was the game theory approach of quants and programming that laid those foundations.
What is one piece of advice you would share with a current student at Henley to inspire them in their career journey?
Get good at one thing that makes money for businesses (get maniacal about becoming the top 3% expertise-wise), then learn how to talk about it clearly. The combination of a real skill and the ability to explain its value is rarer than you'd think (the only thing you need in business), and it opens every door.
We would like to thank Julian for sharing his inspiring story and advice to current students. If you would like to share your Alumni Story please click here.