AI for Business
The Next Phase of Digital Transformation
Artificial intelligence (AI) is bound to redefine every industry vertical. Innovative methods for data collection, content creation, and large-scale automation are opening new opportunities for business along with unseen implications for companies, consumers, and society.
AI for Business will support students through research, curriculum, and experiential learning to investigate AI applications. In addition to student support, AI for Business will offer programs for current industry professionals.
The AI for Business Award
AIB is proud to partner with Penn Wharton Entrepreneurship to offer the AI for Business Award for the 2020-21 Venture Lab Startup Challenge. This monetary award is given to the team that best exemplifies the usage of innovative artificial intelligence in their business model. Applications are open from Dec. 7 – Jan. 24.
Our Leadership

Kartik Hosanagar
Kartik Hosanagar is the John C. Hower Professor of Technology and Digital Business and a Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Kartik’s research work focuses on the digital economy, in particular the impact of analytics and algorithms on consumers and society, Internet media, Internet marketing, and e-commerce.
Kartik serves as a department editor at the journal Management Science and has previously served as a Senior Editor at the journals Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly. He is a ten-time recipient of MBA or Undergraduate teaching excellence awards at the Wharton School and has been recognized as one of the world’s top 40 business professors under 40. Kartik’s research has received several best paper awards. Kartik cofounded and developed the core IP for Yodle Inc, a venture-backed firm that was acquired by Web.com. Yodle was listed by Inc. Magazine among America’s fastest growing private companies. He has served on the advisory boards of Milo (acq. by eBay) and is involved with many other startups as either an investor or board member. His past consulting and executive education clients include Google, American Express, Citi and others. Kartik was a co-host of the SiriusXM show The Digital Hour.
Kartik graduated at the top of his class with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering and a Masters in Information Systems from Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS, Pilani), India, and he has an MPhil in Management Science and a PhD in Management Science and Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.
Outside of Wharton, he likes to make short films and work on and with startups.
Contact Kartik at kartikh@wharton.upenn.edu.
John C. Hower Professor
Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
Faculty Co-Lead, AI for Business

Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe
Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
Faculty Co-Lead, AI for Business

Mary Purk
As the Executive Director of AI for Business, Mary Purk leads initiatives in academic research, student curriculum, and thought leadership to advance the application of cutting-edge artificial intelligence methods. Ms. Purk is also the Executive Director of Wharton Customer Analytics.
Ms. Purk has held other principal roles at Nielsen and IRI developing and implementing enterprise-wide analytic platforms focused on customers and brand equity. Her expertise includes forecast models, consumer segmentation, marketing mix models, product assortments, pricing, and digital strategies.
Other work experience includes leading the Retail Research Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and consulting roles with Accenture and AT Kearney.
Ms. Purk is a proud MBA alumnus of the University of Chicago Booth and the University of Illinois. Ms. Purk has designed and instructed executive education courses, presented at numerous conferences, and published papers in the Journal of Marketing and Journal of Retailing.
Contact Mary at marypurk@wharton.upenn.edu.
Executive Director, AI for Business
Executive Director, Wharton Customer Analytics
Our Mission
Education is the cornerstone of AI for Business.
Through interdisciplinary curriculum and lifelong learning opportunities, we will prepare students and professionals for the advancing field of AI.
Featured AI Courses for Students
Stats 471/571/701: Modern Data Mining
- Sample syllabus
- Led by Linda Zhao, Professor of Statistics at the Wharton School
Stats 422: Predictive Analytics
- Sample syllabus
- Led by Kam Hamidieh, Lecturer in Statistics at the Wharton School
Stats 991: Topics in Deep Learning
- Sample syllabus
- Led by various Wharton Statistics faculty
CIS 545: Big Data Analytics
- Course Description
- Led by Zachary Ives, Department Chair and Adani President’s Distinguished Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania
CIS 520: Machine Learning
- Course Description
- Led by Lyle Ungar, Professor of Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania
OID 255: AI, Data and Society
- Led by Sonny Tambe, Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the Wharton School
OID 699 – AI, Business and Society
- Led by Kartik Hosanagar, John C. Howser Professor of Technology and Digital Business at the Wharton School
MGMT 198: AI in Business, Finance, & Sustainability
- Fall 2020 Special Topics Course
LGST 242/642: Big Data, Big Responsibilities: The Law and Ethics of Business Analytics
- Sample Syllabus
- Led by Kevin Werbach, Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Featured AI Online Course for Professionals
Artificial Intelligence for Business is an online program for learners seeking the competitive edge in emerging business technology. Technology-oriented professionals, online marketers, statisticians, automation innovators, and data professionals will benefit from this 4-week certificate.
Artificial Intelligence at Wharton News

How to Kickstart an AI Venture Without Proprietary Data
Despite the tremendous innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities around AI, breaking into AI can be a daunting task for entrepreneurs as they face a chicken-and-egg problem before they even begin, something existing companies are less likely to contend with.

How Can Financial Institutions Prepare for AI Risks?
Artificial intelligence (AI) technologies hold big promise for the financial services industry, but they also bring risks that must be addressed with the right governance approaches, according to a white paper by a group of academics and executives from the financial services and technology industries, published by Wharton AI for Business.

Your Next Job Interview May Be With a Robot—Whether You Realize It Or Not
The use of artificial intelligence has become increasingly widespread in recruitment over the last few years. Candidates are often asked to complete video interviews or online tests without any awareness that an algorithm will be the first assessor of their application.

A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence
Kartik Hosanagar surveys the brave new world of algorithmic decision-making and reveals the potentially dangerous biases they can give rise to as they increasingly run our lives
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Artificial Intelligence For Business
Wharton Academic Research Building
265 S. 37th Street, Third Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104
aiforbusiness@wharton.upenn.edu