Data Strategy: Leverage AI for Business

Today’s businesses don’t just collect data – they are data. By capturing every interaction, businesses know who they are and what they do. Yet despite this wealth of information, many businesses fail to use it to their advantage. Data points should be assets, not opportunities lost.

In this course at MIT SA+P, the leader in how technology impacts people and society, data-minded professionals hone the strategic thinking needed to leverage a valuable asset for business success. Whether operationalizing analytics initiatives or utilizing machine learning capabilities, the course provides the foundational tools for implementing  AI initiatives with impact.

“How do data and digital interact with real life? In the next couple decades we’re going to see virtually everything augmented and processes reinvented to take advantage of new capabilities.”

Prof. Alex Pentland, Faculty Director,
MIT Institute for Data,
Systems & Society

Is This Course Right For You?

You’ll benefit from the Data Strategy: Leverage AI for Business course if you are:

A senior leader who wants to make data-driven decisions to develop strategy and accelerate business performance in their company or product division.
A product manager, project manager or developer operationalizing new AI or platform business model projects.
A business technology professional in retail, media, finance, healthcare and FMCG working on data-driven and AI-based projects.
An entrepreneur interested in ventures that solve high-value problems in the AI and data spaces.
A professional services consultant interested in better understanding their AI clients and looking to future-fit their career.
A venture capitalist eyeing investments in a data-driven or AI-minded company.
A learner who has completed our MIT AI Leadership course and is interested in acquiring data strategy skills that provide the foundation for AI innovations.

Course Content

Module 0: Orientation Module arrow

Module 1: Data Ownership Module arrow

Module 2: AI Strategy Foundations Module arrow

Module 3: Data Strategy Module arrow

Module 4: Drawing Actionable Insights Module arrow

Module 5: Understanding the Risks Module arrow

Module 6: Data Privacy and Security Module arrow

What you will gain

Earn a certificate of completion issued by MIT School of Architecture + Planning demonstrating proof of knowledge.
Have access to a powerful professional network of proven global leaders, thinkers, strategists, and influencers, plus a community of driven program participants.
Possess dynamic new skills supported by an AI-driven learning platform, individual- and team-based programming, and individual success coaching.
Know coveted industry details from a market-driven curriculum designed and delivered to elite academic standards.
Have a road map for implementing an AI business initiative into your organization.

Your faculty directors

Prof. Alex "Sandy" Pentland

Faculty Director

Professor, Institute for Data Systems and Society

Alex “Sandy” Pentland is founding faculty director of the MIT Connection Science Research Initiative, which uses network science to access and change real-world human behavior, and is the Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also holds a triple appointment at MIT in Media Arts and Sciences, Engineering Systems Division and with the Sloan School of Business.

Sandy has helped create and direct MIT’s Media Lab, the Media Lab Asia, and the Center for Future Health. He chairs the World Economic Forum's Data Driven Development Council, is Academic Director of the Data-Pop Alliance, and is a member of the Advisory Boards for Google, Nissan, Telefonica, the United Nations Secretary General, Monument Capital, and the Minerva Schools.

In 2012 Forbes named Sandy one of the “seven most powerful data scientists in the world”, along with Google founders and the CTO of the United States, and in 2013 he won the McKinsey Award from Harvard Business Review. He is among the most-cited computational scientists in the world, and a pioneer in computational social science, organizational engineering, wearable computing (Google Glass), image understanding, and modern biometrics. His research has been featured in Nature, Science, and Harvard Business Review, as well as being the focus of TV features on BBC World, Discover and Science channels. His most recent book is Social Physics, published by Penguin Press.

Over the years Sandy has advised more than 50 PhD students. Almost half are now tenured faculty at leading institutions, with another one-quarter leading industry research groups and a final quarter are founders of their own companies. Sandy's research group and entrepreneurship program have spun off more than 30 companies to date, three of which are publicly listed and several that serve millions of poor in Africa and South Asia. Recent spin-offs have been featured in publications such as The Economist and The New York Times, as well as winning a variety of prizes from international development organizations.

Your course guests

Additional guest experts Module arrow

Yaniv Altshuler	Founder and CEO, Endor; Researcher, MIT Media Lab.
Barak Berkowitz	Founder, MarketCentrix; Connection Science Fellow at MIT.
Tanzeem Choudhury	Professor of Computing and Information Sciences, Cornell Tech; HeartRhythms; UnitedHealth Group.
Wilson D'Souza	Chief Technology Officer and Founding Member, Akoya.
Ginny Fahs	Associate Director, Product R&D Consumer Reports Digital Lab.
Roberto Fernandez	William F. Pounds Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management.
Kaigham "Ken" J. Gabriel	Chief Operating Officer, Wellcome Leap.
Bradley Horowitz	Vice President of Product, Google.
Tony Jebara	Head of Machine Learning and VP of Engineering, Spotify.
Alexander Lipton	CoFounder and Chief Information Officer, Sila.
Andrew Lo	Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management; Director of MIT’s Laboratory for Financial Engineering.
Anmol Madan	Chief Data Scientist, Teladoc Health.
YvesAlexandre de Montjoye	Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Imperial College London.
Benjamin Moskowitz	Digital Lab Director, Consumer Reports.
Rosalind Picard, ScD FIEEE	Professor, MIT Media Laboratory; Director of Affective Computing Research; Chairman, Cofounder, and Chief Scientist of Empatica, Inc; Faculty Chair, MIT MindHandHeart.
Beth Porter	COO, Cofounder and President, Esme Learning.
Hossein Rahnama	FounderCEO of Flybits, Associate Professor at Ryerson University, and Visiting Professor at MIT Media Lab.
Nelson Repenning	School of Management Distinguished Professor, Associate Dean of Leadership and Special Projects, and Faculty Director MIT Leadership Center.
Roberto Rigobon	Society of Sloan Fellows Professor of Applied Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Stuart Rubinstein	Chief Executive Officer, Akoya.
Ben Waber	President and CoFounder at Humanyze.
Jinhua Zhao	Associate Professor of Transportation and City Planning and Director, MIT Mobility Initiative.

What Past Learners Say

“I recommend the Oxford Fintech Programme course to everyone interested in learning more about fintech - especially entrepreneurs.”

Alice Fisher, Success Manager, Salesforce

“The Oxford Cyber Security for Business Leaders Programme is by far the best online course I have ever experienced.”

Gina Ganahl, VP Product Management, Mastercard

“Outstanding! The Oxford Cyber Security for Business Leaders Programme should be mandatory for business leaders making technological decisions.”

Jiri Kram, Manager, Accenture

“The Oxford Cyber Security for Business Leaders Programme presented an incredibly up-to-date view of the cyber landscape, technologies and opportunities.”

Adi Ben-Ari, Founder and CEO, Applied Blockchain

“The combination of weekly material applied to a business scenario created a real learning opportunity through the Oxford Fintech Programme.”

Nicholas Watson, Head of Operations, Singular Systems UK Limited

“As someone in the field and knows the technologies and trends shaping the industry, the Oxford Fintech Programme really added value, validated ideas and raised curiosity.”

Rizwan Asghar, Head of Propositions, AION Digital

How you will learn:

Digital videos or audio content, augmented by material created exclusively for the course
Quizzes and exercises designed specifically to help you understand and retain new information
Dialogue with expert instructors and your peers via discussion forums and small group sessions
Simulations and other carefully crafted interactions to provide an engaging learning experience

Real-life examples that place information in context to help you understand how the concepts delivered in the programme material can be applied to your work environment
AI coaching to improve your and your team’s collaboration

The Esme Learning way

Collaborative AI-enhanced learning

We teach executives as they work - in cross-functional teams. Learners participate in interactive simulations and team projects which reinforce applied learning and enhance collaboration and complex problem solving skills. If you are looking for an individually-paced course, this course is not for you.

30x

improvement on completion rates compared to other online courses

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