The major, set to be available to Wharton MBA students from Fall 2025, is designed to prepare future business leaders with both technical and ethical foundations in AI.
Jointly administered by the school’s Statistics and Data Science, and Operations, Information and Decisions (OID) departments, the major will offer technical training in applied machine learning, data science, neuroscience, data engineering, and statistics. Wharton will also place an emphasis on addressing ethical, economic, legal, and societal dimensions of AI adoption.
“It is no longer a question of if, but how artificial intelligence will fundamentally alter every aspect of business and society, and business schools have a crucial role to play in ensuring that AI adoption leads to positive outcomes,” said Erika James, dean of Wharton.
“At Wharton, we are simultaneously focused on harnessing AI’s transformative potential while also understanding and addressing its risks. Artificial Intelligence for Business represents a bold step forward in our mission to prepare the next generation to responsibly lead in an AI-driven world.”
Central to the new major is a mandatory ethics course titled Big Data, Big Responsibilities: Toward Accountable Artificial Intelligence. Led by Professor Kevin Werbach, director of Wharton’s new Accountable AI Lab, the course will leverage Wharton’s legal studies expertise—the school remains the only business school globally with a dedicated legal studies department.
Wharton will support the initiative through its AI and Analytics Initiative and will directly include faculty research, it said. The initiative will also provide resources for faculty to adapt their courses and develop new teaching materials that reflect the real-time evolution of AI.
The launch of the new major is particularly timely, according to Eric Bradlow, vice dean of AI and Analytics at Wharton.
“We are at a critical turning point where practical AI knowledge is urgently needed," he said. “Companies are struggling to recruit talent with the necessary AI skills, and students are eager to deepen their understanding of the subject. Wharton is uniquely positioned to lead as we collectively confront the myriad of challenges and opportunities AI poses.”
Alongside the MBA major, Wharton will also introduce a complementary undergraduate concentration in Artificial Intelligence for Business.
