Chicago Booth Joins The Movement, Launches New MBA Concentration In Applied AI

As artificial intelligence continues to upend industries and redefine business strategy, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has become the latest top business school to launch an MBA concentration in Applied Artificial Intelligence — a move it says will equip students with the skills to lead in a rapidly evolving digital economy.

The concentration, announced July 1, brings Booth’s total MBA focus areas to 16.

“At Booth, our approach isn’t just technical — it’s transformational,” says Sanjog Misra, the Charles H. Kellstadt Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Applied AI. “Through the new concentration, we will challenge students to think differently, not just about algorithms, but about how AI reshapes human capital, decision-making, and society itself. It’s here that cutting-edge computation meets deeply human insight.”

A GROWING TREND IN MBA CURRICULA

Booth joins a growing list of top MBA programs that have formalized pathways for students to explore AI. A Poets&Quants analysis earlier this year highlighted peer offerings such as MIT Sloan’s Artificial Intelligence & Analytics track, Stanford GSB’s AI electives, Carnegie Mellon Tepper’s AI in Business concentration, and focused offerings at Cornell Johnson Graduation School of Management, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, and others.

At Booth, students pursuing the Applied AI concentration must complete three AI-related courses selected from an expanding list that includes AI Essentials, Machine Learning in Finance, Starting an AI Company, AI for Good, Applied Artificial Intelligence, AI and Financial Information, and Generative Thinking.

Each course is taught by Booth faculty with expertise in the intersection of technology and business. The school says in a new release that students will emerge not just with new technical fluency, but with insight into how AI shapes strategy, decision-making frameworks, and long-term value creation.

TAPPING INTO THE SCHOOL’S AI ECOSYSTEM

The new concentration will be closely supported by Booth’s Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, a hub for research, interdisciplinary dialogue, and collaboration between faculty, students, and alumni. The center recruits faculty working at the intersection of AI and business, supports research projects, and organizes events ranging from technical workshops to policy debates.

“The Center for Applied AI cultivates a vibrant ecosystem where faculty, students, and alumni come together to explore the frontiers of artificial intelligence,” says Misra, who also serves as the center’s faculty director. “Our talks, workshops, and conferences extend critical dialogues beyond the classroom, sparking the kinds of conversations that shape the future of AI in business and society.”

For students, the new concentration offers both structure and flexibility, the school says in a news release — a guided path through one of today’s most pressing and fast-moving areas of business innovation.

“Concentrations provide a clear throughline for students,” Misra says. “With the right balance of structure and flexibility, this new concentration empowers students to pursue their individual ambitions in AI while ensuring they gain the rigorous, strategic insight needed to lead in a constantly and rapidly evolving landscape.”

Learn more about Booth’s new AI concentration here.

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