Reimagining The Graduate Business Curriculum In A World Where AI Is Ubiquitous

In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral tool across industries, transforming how businesses operate and make decisions.

“For business schools, equipping students with the skills to effectively and ethically harness AI is no longer optional but essential,” said Nikunj Kapadia, PhD, associate dean of graduate studies at Isenberg School of Management. “As AI reshapes the workplace, the Isenberg curriculum ensures that our graduates are prepared to navigate and lead in an evolving business landscape.”

Isenberg Launches New AI Certificate Programs For Undergraduates And Graduates

In spring 2025, Isenberg launched its first AI-dedicated programs: the Graduate Certificate in Artificial Intelligence in Business and the Undergraduate Artificial Intelligence in Business Certificate. Both certificates are designed to meet the growing demand for business leaders who are skilled in integrating AI strategies, tools, and technologies in business, said Kapadia.

Students who take the undergraduate certificate will advance their understanding of AI and the different forms of AI that are being used in the workplace. Students will learn about generative AI, machine learning, and strategies for integrating AI across business functions.

The graduate certificate goes deeper, preparing professionals to harness the power of machine learning and stay ahead of evolving trends in the business application of AI. The curriculum emphasizes not only technical and strategic integration of AI models into business decision-making, but also the critical ethical and legal considerations that come with adopting AI in the workplace.

Designing A Graduate Curriculum That Is Fluent In AI

This past fall, Isenberg overhauled its teaching by integrating AI resources across every core business area of its online and on-campus MBA curriculum, including accounting, economic and financial systems, integrated information systems and operations management, marketing, and statistics.

“We put our curriculum under the microscope and looked for every opportunity to expose students to AI tools and techniques, enhancing their learning and better preparing them for workplace demands,” said Kapadia. “This effort parallels the efforts in the wider business community across the world in re-imagining workplace processes.”

Monideepa Tarafdar, PhD, Charles J. Dockendorff Endowed Professor in Information Systems (IS), who teaches Information Systems and Digital Strategy in the Isenberg MBA, is a world authority on how artificial intelligence influences business operations, processes, and decision making. “We’re still at the beginning of real adoption of AI,” she said. “We need to use it repeatedly to gain confidence in the decisions AI is making. For our graduate students, this means teaching them the skills to identify the capabilities and key practices that are key for businesses to use AI to transform operations.”

Tarafdar gives her MBA students a particular assignment to encourage them to mindfully use generative AI tools. Students first allow AI to do at least 80 percent of the work in answering a question and then repeat the process allowing AI to contribute no more than 20 percent of the work. The real insight for students comes, Tarafdar said, when students compare their experience and the quality of the answers from each mode.

Graduate Faculty Director Albert Assaf, PhD, who teaches statistics and economics in Isenberg’s MBA, has begun incorporating AI tools in his class to generate real-world data scenarios, create practice problems at varying levels of difficulty, and learn how AI can assist with data interpretation, coding, and statistical reasoning.  “More broadly,” Assaf said, “I see Isenberg’s AI curriculum evolving in a very positive direction, with increasing integration of AI literacy, applied analytics, and ethical considerations across core and elective courses.”

Beyond technical proficiency, students must also be prepared to navigate the ethical challenges posed by AI, such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and the societal impact of automation. To enable students to address these complex issues, in spring 2025, Isenberg launched the new “AI and Ethics” course in the MBA and MS in Business Analytics programs.

“We need to prepare students for a work environment where the use of AI is widespread,” said Jennifer Merton, associate chair and senior lecturer in Isenberg’s Management Department, who leads business ethics initiatives at Isenberg and who co-developed the curriculum. The course provides an understanding of AI technologies, their potential benefits, and the ethical implications of their use. Students will identify and articulate key legal principles that apply to AI technologies, and critically assess the ethical challenges posed using AI in business. By embedding AI ethics into the curriculum, business schools can empower future leaders to responsibly leverage AI, ensuring innovation is aligned with ethical principles and equitable outcomes, said Merton. 

“At Isenberg, our students learn to harness the power of machine learning and stay ahead of evolving trends in the business application of AI,” said Kapadia. “Our AI curriculum emphasizes not only technical and strategic integration of AI models into business decision-making, but also the critical ethical and legal considerations that come with adopting AI in the workplace.”

The Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has one of New England’s top-ranked public business school graduate programs, according to U.S. News & World Report. Founded in 1947, Isenberg is AACSB-accredited and has more than 2,000 students enrolled in nationally and internationally recognized on-campus and online graduate programs. The school’s more than 50,000 alumni live and work in more than 80 countries, and many of them serve as mentors, guest lecturers, and network connectors for Isenberg. 

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