Artificial intelligence is becoming part of everyday business, but for many leaders, understanding where it can create real value remains a challenge.
This October, the Clemson MBA Program will help business professionals move beyond the headlines and gain a deeper understanding with AI Essentials for Business, the latest offering in the MBA Executive Board Learning Series. The four-session series will take a practical approach to evaluating, implementing and managing AI within an organization.
“AI is here and there is every indication that it will continue to increase in capabilities and become easier to use,” said Joe Gibson, lecturer in the Clemson MBA Program and instructor for the series. “The consequence is that business leaders need to understand the technology and how it may help their businesses. They need the information to be able to make informed decisions.”
For Gibson, one of the challenges facing leaders is separating the reality of AI from the attention-grabbing examples that often dominate social media, news coverage, blogs and podcasts. These narratives can leave decision-makers with an incomplete picture of both AI’s potential and its limitations.
Separating hype from reality
Brianna Woodsby, Clemson MBA Executive Board member, believes effective leadership in the age of AI does not require becoming a tech expert.
“Business leaders don’t need to become AI experts, but they do need enough understanding to separate hype from reality,” Woodsby said. “AI is becoming part of everyday business decision-making, so leaders need to know where it can create value, where it falls short and how to ask the right questions.”
Fellow Clemson MBA Executive Board member Paul Sinanian sees that understanding becoming increasingly important across industries and roles.
“Business leaders are faced with a simple choice: embrace AI or fall behind,” Sinanian said. “It is no longer seen as a ‘nice to have’ but a critical tool that can help improve business capabilities and outcomes. We simply cannot assume it is for niche segments of the business community. It is for everyone.”
AI Essentials for Business builds on the MBA Executive Board Learning Series, created to provide focused professional development on emerging business trends. An earlier installment explored introductory AI, showcasing the new technology and examples of companies leveraging early AI tools.
Shifting the conversation: What opportunities are worth it
This new series shifts the conversation toward a new question facing organizations: How do you determine which AI opportunities are actually worth pursuing?
“The initial rush to implement AI resulted in many projects with little understanding if they were actually helping the company,” Gibson said. “Now, companies are focusing on ROI. They are looking for AI projects that either increase revenue or decrease costs.”
Across four sessions, participants will examine how AI is reshaping organizations, assess AI readiness and gaps in expertise, identify potential projects, evaluate ROI and explore effective implementation. Discussions will also address the challenges, risks and broader issues surrounding AI.
That broader perspective is particularly important as AI becomes integrated into more areas of business.
“Anyone can learn how to use an AI tool. The bigger challenge is understanding the appropriate use cases,” Woodsby said. “Leaders need to know where AI can create value, where human judgment remains essential and where the risks may outweigh the benefits.”
The AI role in everyday work
Implementing those use cases also requires organizations to overcome employees’ uncertainty around the technology. Sinanian said leaders have an important role in making AI a more familiar part of everyday work.
“What business leaders need to do is figure out how to make it common and comfortable to integrate AI into a normal operating process for team members to utilize in their daily activities,” Sinanian said. “It needs to be thought of as just another tool that they can use to solve problems without fear of using it.”
Gibson brings experience from the corporate world, startups and mentoring local businesses to the classroom, an approach that will shape the series.
“I approach AI as a working executive instead of an academic even though I have been teaching in the MBA program for nine years,” Gibson said. “This means we will focus on how to use AI to help improve your business, on the practical aspects not the theory.”
Session Details and Registration
The series is designed for current and former Clemson students as well as business leaders across industries and organizations of all sizes, with Gibson anticipating particularly strong value for leaders of small and midsize businesses.
Participants should leave with a stronger understanding of what AI can do for their organizations, where to find reliable information and how to move forward with an AI program.
AI Essentials for Business will meet Oct. 6, 13, 20 and 27 from 3-5 p.m. Participants will receive a digital certificate of completion at the end of the series.
To learn more about the MBA Executive Board Learning Series and the AI Essentials for Business or register to participate, click the here.
Article written by Drew Henry.
