Artificial intelligence is reshaping every corner of business, rapidly changing how organizations operate and how leaders make decisions. To prepare students to lead in this ever-evolving ecosystem, integrating AI as a cornerstone of curricula isn’t just beneficial, it’s critical to student success.
Spanning AI-centered coursework to cross-campus and community partnerships, Marquette Business is at the forefront of AI integration. Here are 10 ways the college is preparing students to thrive in a business world dramatically changed by AI.
1. Artificial Intelligence in Business Major
Launching in fall 2026, the Applied Artificial Intelligence in Business major will prepare students to navigate an AI-driven global economy. Designed to complement existing business majors, it combines technical AI skills with a strong ethical framework, empowering students to align AI capabilities with their chosen business disciplines. Graduates will possess in-demand skills and experiences that employers are actively seeking.
2. AI Augmented MBA Program
The AI Augmented MBA offered through the Graduate School of Management builds on Marquette’s top 50-ranked MBA program by weaving AI application into core leadership training. The program emphasizes industry-ready skills and ethical technology use, helping professionals evaluate and deploy AI tools in complex business settings.
3. AI integration across programs
AI is embedded across Marquette Business programs so every graduate engages meaningfully with AI, regardless of major. Initiatives such as the Applied Supply Chain, Engineering and Technology (ASCEnT) concentration, the AI in Real Estate Lab and innovative Accounting curriculum highlight how AI is reshaping specific disciplines. Students engage with practical applications such as predictive analytics, AI-enabled real estate valuation, and automation in accounting, preparing them to excel in AI-enhanced roles from day one.
4. AI-fluent faculty
Faculty leadership is central to Marquette Business’s AI strategy. Dr. Mark Barratt, chair of the Department of Supply Chain and Systems Intelligence, and Dr. Terence Ow, WIPFLI Fellow in AI and professor of information systems and analytics, are key architects of AI initiatives in the college. Barratt authored the college’s ethical and responsible AI use policy, and he and Ow helped design the AIBU major. Their work ensures students learn to use AI in ways that benefit individuals, organizations and society.
Additionally, faculty and staff receive targeted AI training on best practices and responsible use. By building AI fluency at all levels, Marquette Business embeds innovation into everyday work, not just specialized courses.
5. Executive Education and Professional Development
Marquette Business Executive Education & Professional Development extends AI learning beyond degree programs. In partnership with Todd McLees, founder of HumanSkills.ai, the college offers two virtual, self-paced programs: the AI Agility 30 Day Challenge and the Applied AI certificate of completion.
Open to all professionals, participants gain practical skills to apply AI in their organizations, from workflow improvements to new value-creation opportunities. Marquette students, recent alumni, faculty and staff receive discounted access.
6. Investing in AI expertise
Marquette Business continues to strengthen its AI capabilities through strategic faculty growth. The appointments of over half a dozen new faculty, including assistant professors Dr. Yasamin Hadavi, Dr. Yuanyuan Song, Dr. Mengyun Zhang, Dr. Lanqing Du and Dr. Dongyeon Kim, whose research and teaching focus on artificial intelligence, expand the college’s expertise. Their work enhances both cutting-edge research and students’ classroom experience while supporting continued innovation across curriculum.
7. Teaching ethical AI use
Guided by Marquette’s Catholic, Jesuit values, AI learning is grounded in ethics, responsibility and care for the whole person. Students are taught to evaluate risks, consider human and community impact, and design AI solutions that serve the greater good. The Applied AI: From Business Case to Ethical Deployment course, which launched in spring 2026, exemplifies this commitment by pairing hands-on AI instruction with robust ethical frameworks. Further Building on Marquette’s values, Dr. Melissa Shew and Fathers Stephen Pitts and Michael McNulty host small group faculty sessions exploring the latest papal encyclical on the implications of AI for human society.
8. AI Forge
AI Forge is a cross-campus club where students from business, engineering and other disciplines learn to use, build and monetize AI. Through hands-on projects, hackathons and exposure to modern agentic coding tools, students gain experience working on real-world challenges. The club gives students a platform to turn ideas into deployable systems, from workflow design and model integration to machine learning solutions, while connecting with industry partners.
9. Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute partnership
As a founding partner of the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute, Marquette Business helps build a regional technology ecosystem and strengthen southeastern Wisconsin’s position as a research hub. Together with other institutions, NMDSI focuses on three areas: talent and workforce, research and innovation, and community and ventures.
Through this partnership, Marquette students and faculty tackle meaningful business and community challenges, applying AI and data science to issues that matter for the region and beyond.
10. AI Hub
Opening in fall 2026 in the Opus College of Engineering, Marquette’s AI Hub will be a campus-wide education and research space dedicated to AI. The hub will connect students across disciplines to collaborate on interdisciplinary, hands-on projects, providing opportunities for business students to deepen technical skills and explore new applications of AI in business, technology and society.
