Virginia business schools ramp up AI training

In today’s data-driven world, businesses need professionals who can work collectively to leverage artificial intelligenceso that of Virginie business schools are stepping up to give students the edge they need.

In several universities, teachers adopt an interdisciplinary approach, combining data science with traditional business training.

This is the case at University of Virginianotes Marc Ruggiano, who works in both the School of Data Science and the Darden School of Business.

“Alumni (and) business people who work with the university on research or recruit our students have all been very positive and very enthusiastic about our interdisciplinary approach” to AI, says Ruggiano, director of the Darden-SDS Collaboratory for Applied Data Science, or DCADS.

A 1996 Darden graduate, Ruggiano worked for health insurer Humana before joining the University of Virginia, where he served as executive director of Darden Executive Education and Lifelong Learning before joining the data science school. DCADS, alliance between the two schools, launched in 2022.

“Collaborations are an integral part of data science. Large research universities have the challenge of putting them together” into effective working relationships, says Ruggiano.

The Growth of Generative AI Platforms and How It Comes technology The changing world of work is a major topic at business schools, which are responding with new courses, concentrations and specializations.

The Graduate Management Admission Council found in a 2024 survey that 44% of business graduate programs worldwide offered courses on the role of AI in society and business ethics, and more than 40% offered courses on using AI in practical applications and business strategy.

Like U.Va., William & Mary is taking an interdisciplinary approach to new technology, offering a minor in AI in 2025 and planning to transition to a major in AI this fall. In Williamsburg, the School of Computing, Data Sciences and Physics, launching in July 2025, is collaborating with the Mason School of Business on a future master’s program in AI.

Douglas C. Schmidt, the dean of the school of computer science, sees this interdisciplinary approach as “a big differentiator” for students “who go into business: They will be able to do more in-depth work.”

Business students should be able to identify when and how analytical can help “just as they can lead with confidence and ethics,” says Monica Chiarini Tremblay, a W&M business professor specializing in operations and information systems management.

“Business students need to be savvy. They need to understand when to deploy AI and what the implications are when AI is bad,” she says. “There are many questions: Have you thought this through? What is the right application? Have you done a risk assessment in case something goes wrong? What happens if you lose a customer? Do you have a plan B?”

AI is not the answer to everything, says Tremblay. “Those of us who work in the field sneer when someone thinks it’s a new silver bullet. It doesn’t solve the problems yet. If there’s no human factor, it doesn’t work well.”

A lot of it depends on the user’s knowledge and experience, says Tremblay. Students who know what they are doing in their major fields of study can use AI to be more productive, but those
with less basic knowledge will not benefit, she adds. “The AI ​​doesn’t do anything for them. It’s trash in, trash out.”

Tremblay’s concern is “the middle student, someone who is an expert in a field but hasn’t learned to use or doesn’t want to use AI. They won’t be competitive.”

Increase performance

HAS Virginia Commonwealth UniversityAt the London Business School, a wide range of options allows students “to choose how technical or specialized they want to get,” says Paul Brooks, chair of the school’s information systems department.

Employers want “everything we used to teach,” he says, and they also want senior executives to know how to integrate AI into business processes. “We show students how to use AI to increase performance, not replace thinking, so they can develop AI products that work in healthy ways. We are developing new courses to connect AI tools to each other.”

VCU offers a master’s program in decision analysis and a minor in practical AI, to help students apply the tools in their chosen field.

Brooks notes that the business school is in the process of reviewing all of its courses and proposing ways to integrate AI into them, often due to feedback from employers.

“We listen to alumni and our advisory board. We hear about the needs of employers,” he says. “It’s been a great awareness raising exercise. We’ve come up with a number of strategies. We’re moving towards a more Socratic approach.”

George Mason University‘s Costello College of Business also offers a range of choices for undergraduate and graduate business students who want to expand their knowledge of AI, says Pallab Sanyal, professor of information systems and operations management.

GMU offers a Master of Science in Business Analytics that can be completed in one year, as well as a graduate certificate in Business Analytics that attracts “working professionals who want to retrain. It gives them flexibility,” Sanyal says. Certificate course credits can be applied toward an MBA or master’s degree, and undergraduates can earn a concentration in business analytics.

Sanyal says analytics programs are designed to help business students understand and properly use data when making decisions. “We want to prepare students to solve problems based on evidence. »
With the AI ​​landscape changing so quickly, professors are “trying to learn as fast as possible. We’re all trying to keep up,” he adds. “We are thinking about ways to create new courses to help students prepare for new types of jobs. »

Integrate AI into domains

Business students are adding AI courses to their portfolio to prepare for careers in many fields, including consulting, digital marketing, banking and finance, Sanyal says.

In banking, for example, business students learn forecasting, risk modeling and extracting data from databases. These AI skills “open the door” to commercial success, he says.

Given the disruptions caused by natural disasters, pandemics and cyberattacks, AI is also increasingly being used to improve supply chain management. VCU introduced an undergraduate program in supply chain management in 2024, the first such program at a Virginia public university, along with its master’s and graduate certificate programs in the discipline.

Using data science to solve supply chain problems isn’t new, says Brett Massimino, who leads VCU’s supply chain and analytics department within the business school. “We’ve been doing this stuff for decades. We taught predictive analytics and statistical models. We just renamed it AI.”

Areas of study include sourcing, logistics and distribution, sustainability, process management, quality management, forecasting and inventory management.

“AI allows us to take more factors into account and create more accurate predictive models. We use it for brainstorming. It gives us creative ideas. It opens people to more creative thinking,” says Massimino.

“We enable business students to perform some quantitative tasks traditionally reserved for mathematics and engineering professionals,” he adds. “We’re lowering the barriers so they can use AI as a complement.”

Healthcare analytics is one of Tremblay’s specialties at W&M, and ethics and privacy are major topics, she emphasizes.

“We have big ethical discussions,” says Tremblay. “We’ll say, ‘Guys, we can’t upload this data to the Internet. It’s sensitive.’ We’re having good conversations about how AI can be used. We will answer each other’s questions.

Despite privacy concerns, AI is useful in breaking down silos that often occur within healthcare, mental health, juvenile justice and foster care systems, Tremblay says. “We use machine learning and process mining to find insightful patterns” to improve the overall outcome for customers.

She also challenges her students to find ways to help nonprofits benefit from the use of AI. Nonprofits “don’t have the time to invest in tools,” Tremblay says. “They’re putting out fires. But they could really benefit from finding patterns.”

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