This course has three modules, arranged around three classes of complements to AI technology.
See for details on work for outside the lecture. The F5 - Final Project is to present a prototype of an AI application with an accompanying business case.
In addition to blogpost assignments, Modules 2 & 3 require case study preparation. You will need to read the case and prepare to discuss it in class.
While the planned cases are listed in the schedule, do not purchase cases yet! Details on how to purchase the course pack will be communicated by the instructor by February 3, 2026.
AI in Business (MGMT 4803 – Undergraduate / MGMT 8803 – Graduate), Spring 2026. Unless otherwise noted, this schedule applies to both sections.
| Week | Class | Date | Type (Lecture / Case) | Topic | *Assignment Due
See ** | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | 1 | January 13, 2026 | L1 | Course Introduction • Motivation – The Economics of AI • Course Structure • Course Assignments and Policies | *All assignments are due at the start of class on the assigned date. **For assignments, “start of class” means 9:30 AM ET for the undergraduate section and 12:30 PM ET for the graduate section; Canvas will enforce the appropriate deadline for your section. | | | 2 | January 15, 2026 | L2 | AI History & The Prediction Paradigm • Historical Perspectives on AI Technology • The Prediction Paradigm | Take the start of course survey (mandatory but ungraded)
Read Power and Prediction, Preface and Chapter 3 “AI is Prediction Technology (10 pages, free on Google Books)
Read The Bitter Lesson (2 pages) | | | | | | Module 1: Complementary Skills / Technical Foundations (3x weeks) | | | 2 | 3 | January 20, 2026 | L3 | Generative AI • Introduction to GenAI / LLMs • The GenAI “Paradigm” • Building LLM Apps | B1 - AI in Your World
*comments on blog posts due January 22, 2026 | | | 4 | January 22, 2026 | L4 | Large Language Models • Inside the LLM Blackbox • Choosing Between Models • Integrating LLMs into Daily Work | | | 3 | 5 | January 27, 2026 | L5 | Building LLM Applications • Lecture Code • Using LLM APIs • Building a Simple LLM App • The Model is Not the Product | B2 - Three Sleepless Nights
*comments on blog posts due January 29, 2026 |
| | 6 | January 29, 2026 | L6 | Evaluations • Lecture Code
• Evaluating LLM Applications
• Improving Your LLM Apps
• Complex Evaluations | |
| 4 | 7 | February 3, 2026 | L7 | Context Engineering and RAG • Lecture Code
• Complex Evaluations
• Dynamic Context and RAG
• Context Engineering | T1 - Working with LLMs
T1 Solution | | | 8 | February 5, 2026 | L8 | Agents • Lecture Code • LLMs, Control Flow, and Tools • LLM Agents • Autonomous Agents | | | | | | | Module 2A: Complementary Organizational Processes — Operations (3x weeks) | | | 5 | 9 | February 10, 2026 | C1 | IBM (Watson) | T2 - Building AI Systems T2 Solution | | | 10 | February 12, 2026 | L9 | User Interfaces for AI Applications • Lecture Code • Current GenAI Product Design • Building an Extendable Chatbot Interface • Emerging UI Patterns with LLMs | | | 6 | 11 | February 17, 2026 | C2 | Disney+ | F1 - Final Project Proposal
For class, also read ‣ which is a transcription of an interview with a data science VP at Disney | | | 12 | February 19, 2026 | L10 | Multimodality • Lecture Code • Introduction to Multimodal AI • X ←→ Text: The Translation Layer • Natively Multimodal Models | | | 7 | 13 | February 24, 2026 | C3 | Stagwell | T3 - Building AI Interfaces
*due to the late release of this assignment, this is due at midnight following February 25, 2026 | | | 14 | February 26, 2026 | [n/a] | [No Lecture]
Work on Final Project — Instructor available for office hours during normal class time in classroom | | | | | | | Module 2B: Complementary Organizational Processes — Products (3x weeks) | | | 8 | 15 | March 3, 2026 | C4 | VideaHealth | B3 - AI in Organizations
*comments on blog posts due March 5, 2026 | | | 16 | March 5, 2026 | L11 | Generative Media — Guest Lecture with Daniel Citron
| | | 9 | 17 | March 10, 2026 | C5 | Intenseye + AI Ethics Mini Lecture | For class, read Mollick’s Cointelligence Ch2 — “Aligning the Alien”
Work on final projects — no deliverable this week. | | | 18 | March 12, 2026 | L12 | AI Strategy • Positioning Under Technological Uncertainty • Value Creation and Value Capture • Exercise — AI Strategy for Home Depot | | | 10 | 19 | March 17, 2026 | C6 | Salesforce | F2 - Final Project Business Plan | | | 20 | March 19, 2026 | L13 | Coding Agents • Introduction to Coding Agents • Coding Agent Principles • Where This Is Going [the final report generated by claude code, in case you’re curious] | | | | | March 24, 2026 | | Spring Break | | | | | March 26, 2026 | | Spring Break | | | | | | | Module 3: Complementary Ecosystem (4x weeks) | | | 11 | 21 | March 31, 2026 | C7 | OpenAI | T4: Designing an Agent (with Evals) | | | 22 | April 2, 2026 | L14 | The AI Industry | | | 12 | 23 | April 7, 2026 | C8 | DeepSeek | F3 — Technical Requirements / Eval Plan for Project | | | 24 | April 9, 2026 | L15 | “Open” AI Models and Local LLMs | | | 13 | 25 | April 14, 2026 | C9 | NVIDIA | B4 – AI Ecosystem
*****comments on blog posts due April 16, 2026 | | | 26 | April 16, 2026 | L16 | AI Capex, Cloud, and GPUs | | | 14 | 27 | April 21, 2026 | [n/a] | [No Lecture]
Work on Final Project — Instructor available for office hours during normal class time in classroom | T5: Local LLMs and Using GPUs | | | 28 | April 23, 2026 | C10 | OpenAI and the Atlantic | F4 — Final Project Video Presentations Due | | | | | | Final Project | | | 15 | 29 | April 28, 2026 | [n/a] | Final Project Demos (Slides)
The instructor will notify ahead of time if you are presenting. | F5 — Final Project Submission |
Once you've streamlined it, please post it as a new page on the course website