BIM, Texas university to offer course on AI in Business from next year

Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM), in collaboration with the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in the U.S., on Friday announced the launch of the Master of Science programme in Artificial Intelligence for Business (MSAIB), which is aimed at working professionals in India.

On Friday, representatives of the two institutions exchanged Memoranda of Understanding for the course. The first batch of the course will start in August 2027. The first cohort will include 25 students, mostly working professionals, who are keen to upgrade their skills to secure better job opportunities in multinational companies, and the tuition fee is indicated to be around $27,000.

Asit K. Barma, Director, BIM, told presspersons in Chennai that the classes would be held at the IIT-Madras Research Park. The location, being a technology hub, will be beneficial to students in terms of access to industry interactions.

The conventional MBA course had, over the past few years, been losing its shine gradually, indicated by the falling enrolment for the Common Admission Test (CAT). Last year, there was a 2% drop in students taking the Common Admission Test compared to the previous year, Dr. Barma said. The two-year MSAIB course will provide an opening for young professionals to pursue an industry-oriented course, he said.

Fernando Jaramillo, Associate Dean, College of Business, UTA, said the course would be offered in hybrid mode, with faculty members from the UTA visiting the Chennai campus for conducting classes.

The curriculum for the course would be the same as the one offered at its Arlington campus.

Radha K. Mahapatra, Chair and Professor, Information Systems and Operations Management, UTA, said the faculty for each course would spend about a week on the Chennai campus, while the rest of the classes would be conducted online. For the intake of students, candidates’ holistic performance, including undergraduate GPA score, rigour of courses taken, exposure to mathematics, and even job experience, will be considered, UTA representatives said.

Ravi Appaswamy, chairman, Board of Governors, BIM, said the MSAIB course would provide an avenue for young professionals to learn the use of a tool that had become so indispensable to every profession and industry.

R. Siddharthan, managing director, Accenture India, and Mafruza Sultana, assistant professor and faculty chair-international relations, BIM, were among those present.