The Rady School of Management’s Rady Action Project is moving MBA students from class-like problem sets to client-facing consulting engagements before internships. Program leaders said the structure is designed so students deliver work with expectations aligned to real business decision-making—building project charters, presenting plans, and filing weekly status reports directly to senior executives or founders. Organizers said the “discomfort is intentional” approach reflects typical consulting realities: no client hands students the answer, and teams must manage scope and execution. They also described a client-matching process that sources organizations across San Diego’s economy, with students ranking preferences and being placed onto teams in consultation with career advisors. In higher education terms, the model is an assessment-and-skill design choice—shifting evaluation from classroom outputs to continuous deliverables that must withstand scrutiny from external decision-makers. For business schools facing internship-market volatility, the development signals how experiential curriculum is being retooled to improve readiness for client interaction, not just simulation-based learning.