The term “artificial intelligence (AI)” first appeared in 1955. Since then, AI has developed from a futuristic fantasy to a ubiquitous presence. From the voice assistants we use in our homes to apps that help to improve healthcare, AI is constantly evolving. 77% of businesses are using or exploring AI, and 96% feel an urgency to incorporate AI into business operations. It is clear that AI is industry-agnostic, and leaders and managers at all levels will need to understand AI to succeed.
The Case for AI Skills for MBA Graduates
The rise of AI in businesses has created a high demand for workers with AI skills, a trend expected to continue in the coming years. The increasing demand for these skills is informing what talent gets hired. According to the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Report, 66% of leaders said they would not hire someone who lacked AI skills, and 71% preferred to hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills over a more experienced candidate without them.
Workers with AI skills have a competitive advantage; they may also get promoted faster. Noticing these job market trends, professionals say that AI skills are a requirement to remain competitive (76%), can help them get promoted more quickly (69%) and expand their job opportunities (79%).
The need for AI skills is also relevant to MBA students. According to the 2023 GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey, 74% of employers believe business school graduates must have AI and machine learning skills. At a minimum, MBA students need a conceptual understanding of AI to remain competitive in the workforce. Business schools are incorporating AI into their curricula to adapt to market demands and prepare graduates for the workforce. MBA students should gain some or all of the following AI-specific skills from their programs:
- AI ethics: Privacy and bias issues surround AI; an understanding of their implications is vital to implementing AI successfully and responsibly
- Big data: Big data—large, complex datasets from various sources—can provide new insights to help businesses make strategic decisions for long-term success
- Data analysis: Data analysis involves gathering, cleaning, examining, interpreting and modeling data to find helpful information and inform decision-making.
- Data visualization: Data visualization uses charts, graphs, maps and other visual tools to understand patterns and trends in data
- Python: Programming languages like Python are used to develop AI models and algorithms
AI and Business Strategy: Use Cases and Scenarios
AI enables leaders to make smarter decisions, improve efficiency, manage risks, adapt to change and more. The examples below illustrate how AI helps streamline processes, improve performance and shape business strategy.
Increasing Productivity
Businesses can use AI to increase productivity by automating tasks like data entry, scheduling and invoicing. One of the most common examples of AI automation is the integration of chatbots into websites to improve response times, offer 24/7 customer support, reduce human error and increase customer satisfaction. AI can also identify trends in data to inform business strategies and predict future outcomes to make smarter decisions. Using AI in these functions allows workers to focus on being more present and productive in higher-level tasks.
Improving KPIs
AI improves key performance indicators by offering better descriptions of current and historical performance (descriptive KPIs), more accurately predicting future performance (predictive KPIs) and providing more helpful recommendations to improve outcomes (prescriptive KPIs). Integrating AI-enriched KPIs into a business strategy can help businesses achieve their goals more effectively and efficiently. For example, companies can use AI to look for patterns humans cannot see to minimize risks or capitalize on opportunities.
Analyzing Data, Quicker
AI tools help businesses make faster, more accurate and consistent decisions using large datasets. Employing machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning and computer vision, leaders can use AI to support three levels of decision-making:
- Support: AI provides data-driven insights that humans apply their expertise to when making decisions
- Augmentation: AI uses data to suggest multiple options to which humans apply their knowledge when making decisions
- Automation: AI uses data to make autonomous decisions
In a world of big data, using AI to help with decision-making enables stakeholders to save time and focus on other issues, saving money and expediting goal completion.
Avoiding Decision Bias
AI can help reduce or eliminate bias in many areas, including hiring, advertising, healthcare and college admissions. It improves decision-making by systematically and objectively examining data without the influence of personal beliefs, stereotypes or cognitive biases that might affect human decision-making. This is important to overall business strategy as it leads to more impartial and fair decisions, which improve outcomes, increase trust and promote diversity. However, AI relies on the data provided, so if that data is biased, incomplete or inaccurate, the information it produces will be as well.
Personalizing the Customer Experience
Businesses can use AI to create personalized experiences that enhance customer experience and increase brand loyalty. Analyzing data using AI provides valuable insights into customer behaviors that businesses can use to predict customer preferences, offer recommendations, customize journeys and deliver targeted messages.
Humans and AI: The Power of Emotional Intelligence and Other Soft Skills for MBA Students
Although professionals can use AI to help streamline processes, simplify tasks or improve decision-making, employers will continue to need professionals with critical thinking and problem-solving skills and institutional/industry knowledge.
The Stevens Institute of Technology Online MBA (OMBA) prepares graduates to succeed in an AI-driven world by fostering a blend of analytical and emotional intelligence while emphasizing the complex technologies that drive businesses. Students in the program develop skills that AI cannot replicate: creativity, innovation, and the ability to motivate others.
Earn Your Online MBA in a Program that Embraces AI
The Stevens Online MBA combines business knowledge with the technology and analytics necessary to excel in today’s data-centric world. Through technology-focused coursework, students learn about AI and other emerging technologies crucial for today’s leaders to leverage analytics and insights to improve decision-making.
Next Steps: Applying to the Stevens MBA
AI is shaping the future of business and creating demand for leaders who can navigate the evolving landscape. With an emphasis on applied learning and better decision-making through data and technology, the Stevens Online MBA prepares graduates to become leaders comfortable with emerging technologies and capable of making fast, data-supported decisions. Contact an enrollment advisor to learn more about the OMBA. If you’re ready to apply, you can start your application today.