Imperial Launches UK’s First Master’s On AI’s Economic & Policy Fallout

Imperial Business School Dean Peter Todd: “AI is reshaping industries and outpacing the frameworks designed to govern them.” Courtesy photo

Imperial Business School is rolling out a new master’s degree built around a question few programs have tackled head-on: how artificial intelligence is remaking markets, competition, and the rules meant to govern them.

The MSc in AI, Economics and Policy – billed as the UK’s first program of its kind – pairs technical AI training with economics, law, and governance in a single curriculum. Imperial says the degree responds to rising employer demand for graduates who can speak both languages: the mechanics of AI systems and the policy frameworks struggling to keep pace with them.

Tommaso Valletti, the program’s academic director, says the degree is built on the premise that AI’s effects can’t be studied in a silo.

“AI does not operate in isolation; it shapes markets, challenges existing regulation, and raises fundamental policy questions,” Valletti says. “By bringing together Imperial’s strengths in computing, economics and public policy, we are equipping students with the tools to understand how AI systems function in practice and how they should be governed in the real world.”

A JOINT EFFORT ACROSS 2 SCHOOLS

Imperial Business School and the university’s Department of Computing will co-deliver the program, with students studying alongside peers from computing, engineering, and business tracks. Applications are open now, and the first class begins in September 2027.

Rob Craven, director of postgraduate studies in Imperial’s Department of Computing, says the joint structure is central to what the degree offers.

“Students will benefit from the expertise of world-leading academics across both Imperial’s Department of Computing and Imperial Business School,” Craven says. “This cross-disciplinary approach will equip students with a unique combination of skills and perspectives, enabling them to help shape the responsible development and governance of AI across industry, government and society.”

The curriculum targets recent graduates and early-career professionals aiming for roles in AI governance, tech policy, digital regulation, legal tech, competition economics, and risk consulting – plus positions inside government agencies and regulators. Imperial points to job titles like AI Governance Analyst and Responsible AI Specialist as likely landing spots, and the degree also feeds into PhD pathways in AI governance and digital markets research.

WHY THE TIMING MATTERS

Course design draws on Imperial’s existing ties to regulators and oversight bodies, including the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, Competition and Markets Authority, Financial Conduct Authority, and Ofcom, along with the European Commission and other international organizations. Students build technical grounding in AI and data systems alongside coursework on digital-market economics and AI regulation, with the option to complete a research project or internship.

Peter Todd, dean of Imperial Business School, ties the launch to the school’s broader mission and its position within one of Europe’s top STEM universities.

“This program is a direct expression of Imperial’s Science for Humanity mission: as Europe’s only leading business school embedded in a world-class STEM university, we can bring together computing, economics, law and governance in a single curriculum in a way few institutions can,” he says. “At a moment when AI is reshaping industries and outpacing the frameworks designed to govern them, that breadth is not a luxury; it is exactly what the next generation of leaders will need.”

More information is available on Imperial Business School’s website.

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