Spotlight on Northwestern’s MBAi Program

Today Admitify is spotlighting Kellogg’s MBAi degree.

Launched in 2020, Northwestern’s MBAi program is a joint degree between the Kellogg School of Management and the McCormick School of Engineering.  MBAi stands for “MBA, Artificial Intelligence” and features a new curriculum designed for those operating at the cutting edge of business and AI-driven technology. Typical MBAi students have academic or professional backgrounds in STEM, such as product management, data science, or software engineering.  The accelerated program spans five quarters, and faculty from both schools guide students through traditional core business courses in addition to specific courses such as Applied AI and Machine Learning and Technical Product Management.

Nancy Qian, Professor of Managerial Economics & Decision Sciences at Kellogg, says “for today’s business, technology means data, and for business leaders in both traditional and new industries, it means knowing how to interpret and use data.”  The applicability for the workplace is substantial, whether for leaders of a large technology company business unit such as Google or for a small startup.

Placement outcomes for MBAi students, however, are not only limited to technical roles, but include leadership positions in consulting, operations and strategy.  Qian notes that although the MBAi program has a focus on data and analytics in the high-tech economy, Kellogg still infuses the traditional management curriculum and a focus on creating social value for the organizations students are placed in.

Technology and analytics are in fact ubiquitous themes across Kellogg’s traditional MBA curriculum.  For example, Kellogg’s marketing department features several analytics-focused courses, including Customer Analytics and AI, where students gain proficiency using databases, analytics, and machine learning to collect and act on customer information, and Marketing Research and Analytics, where students work in teams to use quantitative and qualitative research techniques to solve business problems.

Similarly, the Analytical Consulting Lab (ACL) is an experiential Kellogg offering.  The analytics lab enables students to practice the diagnostic skill set and learn how analytics can capture economic opportunity within a business.  For example, the upcoming fall course will have a project for a local business offering a wellness app.  The students will focus on how users make their way through the app and how to make the app better to improve customers’ outcomes and experience.

Finally, Kellogg is a key partner in Northwestern’s new technology accelerator, which will be located in downtown Evanston and will include labs and collaborative workspace for startups, staff, and advisors from across Northwestern and the broader community.

For the full read of the Kellogg article, click here.  If you’re looking for help preparing your Kellogg applications for Round 1 or Round 2, contact Admitify today!