A History of Innovation

The University of Florida Warrington College of Business has long been on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. From being one of the first online MBA programs in the world in 1999 to being an early adopter of specialized master’s programs in 1994, innovation led us to where we are today.

With the University of Florida’s AI Initiative and Warrington’s faculty research and academic programming, AI and analytics offer us another opportunity for innovation in business education. We are combining the fastest and most powerful AI supercomputer in higher education with world-class business research and classroom experiences. This is shaping the way Warrington curriculum is created, new classes are built, and career readiness is strengthened.

We are led by our world-class faculty and our new dean, Saby Mitra, who brings a long history of research and expertise at the intersection of business and technology.

Saby Mitra brings a long history of research and expertise at the intersection of business and technology to his new role as dean of the Warrington College of Business.

Saby Mitra brings a long history of research and expertise at the intersection of business and technology to his new role as dean of the Warrington College of Business.

“I think the real gap that companies face today is not in the development of analytics and AI, but in the consumption of analytics and AI,” Mitra said. “In other words, the real opportunity for most businesses is not in the development of the technology itself, but in using that technology to make a business difference. We are preparing our students to make the most of that opportunity.”

UF’s supercomputer, the HiPerGator, with NVIDIA technology gives faculty and students access to AI and analytics tools that can improve lives, bolster industry and create economic growth across the state.

CREATING PROGRAMMING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Changes made to the Warrington curriculum in the last year ensure that every student has a chance to learn about AI and analytics before graduating. Whether they’re an experienced professional in the UF MBA program or an undergraduate student finding their career path, Warrington has intentionally placed classes in the curriculum to make sure students are prepared for immediate impact after graduation.

_{“One of the things we are really working on is our curriculum. We are changing our curriculum to bring our faculty expertise in AI and analytics that has remained more on the research side into the classroom, so that our students are better equipped with the latest tools.”}

Saby Mitra, dean of UF Warrington College of Business

Classes prioritize hands-on experience with AI, analytics and computational tools like AWS, R and Python. These tools are being used by some of the largest companies in the world.

For graduate students, there are more than 15 Warrington courses related to the use of AI and analytics in business. Courses like Artificial Intelligence Methods, Data Mining for Business Intelligence, Statistical Analysis for Managerial Decisions, Web Crawling and Text Analysis, and R and Python-based Financial Modeling ensure that Warrington graduates don’t need a ramp up period when they start their full-time positions.

AI and analytics experience isn’t limited to graduate students. Starting fall 2021, all undergraduate students will have a required course on the Foundations of Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence added to their curriculum. The class provides students with hands-on experience using Python to manipulate and analyze business data.

“We want to give our students a toolkit to use at all times in their career,” said Alex Sevilla, associate dean and director of the Heavener School of Business. “This won’t be one class they take and then they’re done with it. AI and analytics will be prioritized throughout our curriculum so that students can get great jobs. It doesn’t matter where they choose work, AI and analytics are skills our students will need in the future, and we are making sure they are prepared.”

UF Warrington students read and speak Python thanks to the undergraduate course Foundations of Business Analytics and Artificial Intelligence.

WARRINGTON FACULTY LEADING THE CHARGE

Warrington is home to more than 40 faculty members with research or teaching interest in areas related to AI and analytics. In the last three years, Warrington faculty published more than 130 research papers that analyze corporate, social media, stock market, supply chain and electronic commerce data using cutting-edge analytics and AI tools. The changes in our curriculum will allow our faculty to bring that expertise to the classroom to benefit our students.

Our research culture remains strong. Warrington faculty in all departments continue to incorporate analytics and AI into their research. Faculty in information systems, operations management and marketing are focusing on e-commerce, clickstream and experimental data to better understand consumer behavior. They are helping to improve online review systems and develop better models to understand consumer behavior. In addition, they contribute to a growing body of research on social implications of analytics and AI research, such as the governance of AI for corporate digital responsibility, AI’s role in structural bias in decision making in several domains.

In finance, faculty members use advanced empirical methods to analyze financial markets and related big data, while accounting faculty are using AI-based methods to analyze corporate documents like financial reports to better understand drivers of corporate performance. Management faculty are studying the governance of AI for corporate digital responsibility and the use of machine learning to address structural bias in automated human resource management and health services.

“Faculty research in every business discipline has been transformed in the last decade by the availability of this data, and Warrington faculty has been at the forefront of this transformation,” Mitra said.

Clinical Professor Jim Hoover, who teaches students across Warrington, has an extensive background in analytics, AI, machine learning, forecasting and operations research.

Warrington podcast episode with Dean Saby Mitra

This content was paid for and created by University of Florida, Warrington College of Business. The editorial staff of The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.