Designing Organizations with Analytics and AI

Catalog description

This course explores how analytics and AI can help leaders design, diagnose, and adapt organizations. Students will learn to assess whether an organization is aligned with its goals, make better people and management decisions, and update structures and processes as strategy and the external environment change. We will examine analytical techniques with broad applicability, including machine learning, network analysis, natural language processing, and agentic systems. These tools will be introduced through an analytics cycle organized around three activities: perception - understanding what is happening in the organization now; prediction - forecasting what is likely to happen next; and prototyping - testing which interventions are likely to be effective in a given organizational context. The course is hands-on and will rely extensively on group exercises. It is designed for students with a wide range of technical backgrounds. AI-assisted coding tools will make it possible to design, use, and interpret analyses even without prior coding experience, while keeping the emphasis on managerial judgment and organizational design.