MBAi Academic Experience
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Leaders in today's technology-driven organizations excel at engaging engineering teams as well as professionals in the C-suite. And for work that centers on AI-driven products and services, product managers are expected to have a deeper analytical orientation than that of their peers. These and related considerations informed the development of the MBAi program and its curriculum.
MBAi isn't simply an ad hoc collection of courses from Kellogg and Northwestern Engineering, but rather a collaboration between the two schools which resulted in a new, blended approach to business and technology leadership. Many of the courses are designed specifically for this program to focus on the deeper analytical orientation and the AI and software engineering foundations and experience needed by leaders. Graduates leave ready to lead teams inclusive of data scientists, machine learning engineers, and developers, and are empowered to make well-informed decisions with authority.
The MBAi curriculum falls into three broad categories: MBA Core, Technical Core, and Integrated Core. Students progress together as a cohort for the duration of their studies, learning and collaborating with peers who will become life-long friends and a lasting professional network.
Below is a simplified roadmap of what you can expect from the curriculum throughout our program.
QUARTER 1: Begin with a Computational Thinking course to anchor technical curriculum and core MBA courses. This framework will help to develop strategies for AI-driven technologies through a leadership lens.
QUARTERS 2 & 3: Continuation of Kellogg core curriculum. You will also enroll in technology-focused courses, which begin to put business strategies to work.
SUMMER: Complete a summer internship to apply what you’ve learned.
QUARTER 4: Prepare to take the next step toward your professional careers through a Capstone product lab experience that will allow you to work with a team of students from both MBAi and McCormick’s MS in Artificial Intelligence program to develop a solution for a real-world project in collaboration with a company sponsor. This experience will culminate in a Capstone showcase, where you will share your solution with students, staff and industry experts. You will also take additional coursework in core topics like data visualization and organizational design & ethics.
QUARTER 5: You’ll be in charge of designing your final quarter. Select electives from either Kellogg or McCormick that align with your future career goals and build on your MBAi coursework.
Curriculum
MBA core
The MBA Core of classes cover topics that have traditionally been part of Kellogg's MBA curriculum, plus a set of business classes which have been redesigned to prepare you for the quantitative understanding you will need by being part of the Artificial Intelligence space.
Classes taken alongside Kellogg Full-Time MBA students:
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- Business Strategy
- Microeconomic Analysis
- Leadership in Organizations
- Finance I/Accelerated Corporate Finance
Classes specifically designed for and exclusive to MBAi students:
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- MBAi Business Analytics
- MBAi Financial Accounting
- MBAi Marketing Management
- MBAi Operations Management
Technical core
The Technical Core of classes offered through the McCormick School of Engineering are designed to provide you with hands-on experience in practical areas that will prepare you to work with technical teams. The intent is not to turn you into machine learning engineers, but instead to develop the intuitions and knowledge necessary to make technically sound business decisions. The focus is less on mastering theory and more on understanding the practical implications of technical design choices.
Classes specifically designed for and exclusive to MBAi students:
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- Computational Thinking for Business Leaders
- Applied AI for Business
- Data Intensive Systems
- Tech Product Management
- Modern Software Architectures
- Industry Applications of AI
Integrated core
An integrated set of core classes brings the shared themes together. This includes both experiential learning components such as an internship and an industry Capstone, to classes that cover issues including AI ethics as well as industry applications of AI.
Specifically, the integrated core includes:
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- AI Leaders
- Organizational Design & Ethics
- MBAi Emerging Leaders in Technology Seminar Series – Weekly lectures by senior industry executives
- Industry applications of AI
- MBAi Capstone Project – Taken in conjunction with students from Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence program (MSAI)
More about the Capstone Project
Capstone projects are defined by leading companies across a range of industries and are set up for you to team with Master of Science in Artificial intelligence (MSAI) students to work directly with a company on a live problem they face. These projects give you an opportunity to apply the skills you’ve learned on a real-world challenge with the support of industry experts and Northwestern faculty.
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- The hybrid MBAi/MSAI teams reflect the nature of teams students will encounter in industry.
- Previous Capstone courses have involved projects for companies such as:
- Accenture, Adobe, CDW, Deere, Deloitte, Google, Vanguard, Walgreens and Wayfair, as well as various startups.
Summer Internship
To build experience and adaptability in a quickly changing industry, you’ll engage in a 10-week summer internship.
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- Ten-week summer internship
Cutting-edge research paired with modern-day practice
MBAi courses are taught by a dynamic blend of tenured faculty and seasoned professionals at the cutting edge of business practice.
- Eric T. Anderson
Polk Bros. Chair in Retailing; Professor of Marketing
Kellogg - Andrew Fano
Clinical Professor; McCormick Director, Kellogg-McCormick MBAi
McCormick - Sara Sood
Professor of Instruction; Chookaszian Family Teaching Professor; Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education
McCormick - Leslie DeChurch
Professor, Communication Studies
School of Communication - Jim Lecinski
Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing
Kellogg - Kevin McTigue
Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing
Kellogg - Hatim Rahman
Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations
Kellogg - Jorg Spenkuch
Associate Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences
Kellogg - Adam Waytz
Morris and Alice Kaplan Chair in Ethics and Decision Management; Professor of Management & Organizations
Kellogg - Andrew Leone
Keith I. DeLashmutt Professor of Accounting Information & Management Chair of Accounting Information & Management Department
Kellogg - Aneta Gola
Sr. Product Manager & Product Management Leader Kellogg MBA '18 - Becky Carlson
Adjunct Lecturer; Director, IDEO
McCormick - Birju Shah
Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing
Kellogg - Sebastien Martin
Assistant Professor of Operations
Kellogg - Steven Franconeri
Professor of Design; Director, Northwestern Cognitive Science Program
McCormick - Alex Castrounis
Adjunct Lecturer; Director, IDEO
McCormick - Jeff Eschbach
Adjunct Professor in Entrepreneurship; Associate Director of Venture Creation for the Kellogg Entrepreneurship Program
Kellogg - Brook Miller
Adjunct Lecturer; Co-Founder, CTO
Kellogg