Virginia business school ramps up AI education

In today's data-driven world, businesses need experts who can collaborate to leverage artificial intelligence, so Virginia's business schools are stepping up to give students the edge they need.

At some universities, educators are taking an interdisciplinary approach that combines data science with traditional business education.

That's the case at the University of Virginia, says Mark Rugiano, who works in both the data science department and the Darden School of Business.

“alumni [and] The business people who work with universities to conduct research and recruit students are all very positive and excited about our interdisciplinary approach to AI,” said Ruggiano, director of the Darden-SDS Applied Data Science Collaborative (DCADS).

A 1996 graduate of Darden University, Mr. Ruggiano worked at health insurance company Humana before coming to Virginia and served as executive director of Darden Executive Education and Continuing Learning before joining the data science school. DCADS, a partnership between the two schools, was launched in 2022.

“Collaboration is part of data science, and the challenge for large research universities is to connect them and create effective collaborations,” Ruggiano says.

The growth of generative AI platforms and how this technology will change the workplace is a major theme in business schools, and business schools are responding with new classes, concentrations, and majors.

The Grade Management Admission Council found in a 2024 study that 44% of graduate business programs worldwide offer courses on the role of AI in society and business ethics, and more than 40% offer courses on the use of AI in practical applications and business strategy.

Like the University of Virginia, William & Mary takes an interdisciplinary approach to new technologies, offering an AI minor in 2025 and plans to expand to an AI major this fall. In Williamsburg, the Department of Computing, Data Science, and Physics, established in July 2025, is collaborating with Mason School of Business on a future AI master's degree program.

Douglas C. Schmidt, dean of the School of Computing, sees this interdisciplinary approach as “a big differentiator for students looking to get into business,” allowing them to do more in-depth work.

Business students need to be able to identify “when and how analytics can help them lead confidently and ethically,” explains Monica Chiarini Tremblay, a W&M business professor who specializes in operations and information systems management.

“Business students need to be knowledgeable. They need to understand when to introduce AI and what the consequences are if the AI ​​is wrong,” she says. “There are a lot of questions. Have you thought about it? What is the right application? Have you done a risk assessment in case something goes wrong? What if you lose a customer? Do you have a plan B?”

AI isn't the answer to everything, Tremblay says. “We in the field laugh when people think this is the new silver bullet. It still doesn't solve the problem. Without the human factor, it doesn't work.”

Tremblay said a lot of that depends on the user's knowledge and experience. Students who know what they are doing in their core areas of study can use AI to be more productive;
She adds that there is no benefit if you lack basic knowledge. “AI doesn't do anything for them. Garbage in, garbage out.”

Tremblay's concern is with “the students in the middle, the people who are experts in their field but haven't learned how to use AI or don't want to use it. They're not competitive.”

Improved performance

At Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Business, students “can choose how technical or specialized they want to study,” said Paul Brooks, dean of the school's information systems department.

Employers want “everything we used to teach,” he explains, and they also want executives to know how to integrate AI into their business processes. “We're showing students how to use AI to improve performance, rather than replacing thinking, so they can develop AI products that work in healthy ways. We're developing new courses to connect AI tools to each other.”

VCU offers a master's program in Decision Analytics and a minor in Practical AI to help students apply the tools to their chosen field.

Brooks points out that business schools are currently reviewing all of their courses and suggesting ways to incorporate AI into their courses, often driven by feedback from employers.

“We listen to our alumni, we listen to our advisory board, and we listen to the needs of our employers,” he says. “It's been a great exercise in raising awareness. We've come up with a lot of strategies. We're changing to a more Socratic approach.”

George Mason University's Costello College of Business also offers a wide range of options for business undergraduates and graduate students who want to delve deeper into AI, said Pallab Sanyal, professor of information systems and operations management.

GMU offers a Master of Science in Business Analytics that can be completed in one year and a Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics that attracts working professionals looking to reskill. This gives you flexibility, says Sanyal. Certification course credits can be applied toward an MBA or MS degree, and undergraduates can focus on business analytics.

Sanyal said the analytics program is designed to help business students understand and properly use data when making decisions. “We want to develop our students to be evidence-based problem solvers.”
Because the AI ​​landscape is rapidly changing, faculty are “trying to learn as quickly as possible. We're all trying to catch up,” he added. “We are thinking about ways to create new courses to prepare students for new kinds of jobs.”

Incorporate AI into the field

Business students are adding AI courses to their portfolios in preparation for careers in a variety of fields, including consulting, digital marketing, banking and finance, Sanyal said.

For example, in the banking industry, business students are learning about forecasting, risk modeling, and how to extract data from databases. These AI skill sets “open the door” to business success, he says.

The use of AI is also increasing to improve supply chain management in light of disruptions caused by natural disasters, pandemics, and cyber-attacks. VCU will become the first Virginia public university to introduce an undergraduate program in supply chain management in 2024, as well as master's and graduate certificate programs in the field.

Using data science to solve supply chain problems is nothing new, said Brett Massimino, director of supply chain and analytics at VCU's School of Business. “We've been doing this work for decades. We've been teaching predictive analytics and statistical models. We just rebranded it as AI.”

Research areas include procurement, logistics and distribution, sustainability, process management, quality management, forecasting, and inventory management.

“With AI, we can take more factors into account and create more accurate predictive models. We use it for brainstorming. AI gives us creative ideas. It allows people to think more creatively,” says Massimino.

“We are enabling business majors to do some of the quantitative work that was traditionally reserved for math and engineering experts,” he added. “We are lowering the barriers and allowing AI to be used as an adjunct.”

Healthcare analytics is one of Tremblay's areas of expertise at W&M, and she notes that ethics and privacy are key themes.

“We're having a huge conversation about ethics,” Tremblay said. “We say, 'Guys, you can't upload that data to the internet. It's confidential.' We're having good conversations about how we can leverage AI. We're bombarding each other with questions.”

Despite privacy concerns, Tremblay says AI can help break down the silos that often occur in healthcare, mental health, juvenile justice, and foster care. “We use machine learning and process mining to find insightful patterns” that improve overall outcomes for our clients.

She also challenges her students to find ways to help nonprofits benefit from the use of AI. Nonprofits “don't have the time to invest in tools,” Tremblay said. “They're putting out fires. But finding patterns could pay off big.”

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