Strategic AI leadership and data-driven decision-making for professionals
This pathway is designed for managers and executives—as well as professionals who aspire to these roles—seeking AI fluency without programming. Students build capabilities aligned with leading AI transformation efforts, evaluating AI investments, managing risk and ethics considerations, and guiding data-informed decision-making at the organizational level.
Students will complete three 2.5-credit courses focused on AI in business.
| Fall B: October – December | Spring B: March – May | Fall A: August – October |
|---|---|---|
GBA 478: AI and Business | GBA 473: Data-Driven Decision Making | GBA 476: Organizational Impact Using Analytics* |
*Students can choose between these two courses
Core Curriculum
- GBA 478: AI and Business
GBA478 covers the application of generative AI technologies across diverse business contexts, helping you understand how to integrate these tools into modern workflows. The course provides frameworks for deciding when and how to use generative AI effectively, along with hands-on experience designing AI tools that create business value and programming basic LLM-driven applications in Python. It also explores the broader implications of generative AI, encouraging you to engage with the moral, philosophical, and ethical questions surrounding these technologies.
- GBA 473: Data-Driven Decision-Making
This course focuses on understanding the analytics environment, including organizational challenges, data, and the role of models, while applying frameworks for data-driven decision-making in business. It covers marketing, operational, and business analytics, with generative AI used throughout to enhance discovery and the articulation of ideas. Students also learn to apply analytics design concepts to decision-oriented projects and develop systematized dashboards to support organizational insights.
Elective Options:
- GBA 444: Ethics and Policy in Tech
This course explores the ethical and policy challenges facing tech firms, from start-ups navigating regulatory barriers to industry leaders addressing antitrust concerns. It examines the complex ethical questions surrounding AI and encourages students to think systematically about issues such as governance and the use of guardrails. Students develop skills to assess the policy and ethical environments of organizations and understand how these intersect with market dynamics, with tools applicable across industries.
- GBA 476: Organizational Impact Using Analytics
GBA 476 prepares students to understand and apply best practices in storytelling, using rhetoric, persuasion, influence strategy, analytics, data visualization, and generative AI. Students learn to convey business insights to diverse audiences through standard office tools, visualization platforms, and emerging AI technologies. The course emphasizes connecting data to meaningful insights, helping students communicate more clearly, persuasively, and effectively in a range of professional contexts.
Key Benefits
- Build AI strategy and lead transformation initiatives across your organization
- Evaluate AI investments to support informed decisions about where and how AI can deliver value
- Manage risk and ethical considerations as AI is integrated into business processes and decision-making
- Guide data-informed decision-making at the organizational level—no programming required