Preparing MBAs to Navigate and Shape the Future of AI-Powered Business

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how businesses operate, and future leaders need more than awareness—they need hands-on experience applying it.

My newly developed course, one of several AI-integrated UC Davis MBA electives, immerses students in how AI is transforming industries and prepares them to engage critically and creatively with these technologies. 

The course, AI Transformation: Building AI-Powered Business, draws on frontier AI research spanning machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, robotics and generative AI, and explores how AI is fundamentally changing how organizations and societies function.

In each session, I focus on a critical domain—including the future of work, education, healthcare, media and governance—offering a deep dive into how AI is transforming these industries in real time.

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AI Transformation, Strategy and Adaptation 

My course is anchored around three core questions that guide every discussion:

1. The Power of Transformation: As AI adoption accelerates, what new opportunities emerge and how are entirely new business models and industries being created?
    
2. Strategy in the Age of AI: How can firms craft competitive strategies, grounded in economic principles, to thrive amid rapid and uncertain technological change?
    
3. Adapting to the AI Era: How should individuals, organizations and governments respond to the challenges of AI to unlock its full potential for innovation and societal impact?

Learning is highly applied and experiential. In each session, students engage with real-world case studies that bring industry challenges to life, equipping them to think critically about the decisions leaders face in practice. 

Capstone Projects Develop AI Solutions

Beyond the classroom, students work in teams on a capstone project to design, analyze and present an end-to-end AI-driven solution to a real business problem. The course ultimately aims to ready leaders who can integrate strategic insight with technical understanding and ethical judgment, preparing them to navigate—and shape—the future of AI in business and society.

I am excited to see a wide range of student projects that creatively leverage AI-powered tools—ranging from:

• Improving user retention on digital platforms 
• Storytelling apps for children 
• Generative AI platforms that summarize policy with high fidelity to original sources 
• AI-driven review sentiment analysis for business decision-making 
• Peer-to-peer electricity exchange among independently operated community solar farms
• AI-powered career networking platforms

I am deeply inspired by the enthusiasm and curiosity students bring to understanding and exploring the opportunities presented in the era of this newer technology!