AI in Action: Students Deliver Ethical, Practical Solutions for Local Businesses

Working with artificial intelligence (AI) and big data is no longer optional in today’s business world; it’s necessary. The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business’s Artificial Intelligence in Business Case Competition offers a new way for students to develop data competency before they enter the workforce.

On Friday, Nov. 1, 2024, at Van Munching Hall, over 120 Business Master’s, Full-Time MBA and Plus 1 students divided across 26 multi-disciplinary teams participated in the competition to present innovative solutions to real-world problems brought forward by industry clients in attendance.

Participating teams were assigned one of four cases, which focused on AI solutions for small local businesses and how they can leverage the technology to measure return on investment and ethically and responsibly enhance employee productivity. Cases were specifically geared toward identifying solutions for social media marketing, human resources, logistics and real estate. The solutions put forward by teams were required to be viable for real-world implementation and aligned with their business sponsors’ pre-AI and post-AI vision.

Each student team was given just under a week to meet with clients and prepare their ten-minute presentation, followed by a five-minute Q&A with a panel of judges comprised of Smith School faculty and AI industry experts on the day of the competition. The solutions put forward by teams were required by judges to be viable for real-world implementation and aligned with their business sponsors’ pre-AI and post-AI vision.

Other scoring criteria included the extent to which background research influenced the proposed solution, the solution’s fit concerning the case description and its potential impact on the broader business ecosystem.

Smith School professors Balaji Padmanabhan, Dean's Professor of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies, and Tejwansh (Tej) Singh Anand, Clinical Professor of Practice and academic director for the MS in Information Systems programs, oversaw the competition.

Padmanabhan, in particular, was encouraged by student participation and the teams’ ability to address the “pain points” of the various businesses engaged in the competition.

“Experiences like these complement what we do in the classroom and provide opportunities for students to stretch themselves. Companies love to hear students talk about things they did outside the classroom that showcase their skills and initiative,” says Padmanabhan. “We hope to provide such an experience every semester if we can for the students to showcase their abilities to design cool AI solutions to thorny business problems.”

One student who took advantage of the opportunity to participate in the valuable problem-solving project is Mateo Noguera ’23, MSBA ’24. Noguera’s team, which was one of four winners, worked with Brewington Management Company, a small local construction project management company, on leveraging AI for marketing initiatives and social media content creation.

His team created an AI content creation software trained on the business’ website data, enabling employees to fill out short questionnaires based on desired marketing materials and receive high-quality realistic images in captions.

Based on the competition’s format and time allotted to teams, Noguera says his team took a “fail-fast” approach that continuously forced them to iterate their ideas throughout the competition. However, he felt the process enhanced his critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

“Our approach was to step back and identify pain points, craft a set of team values and use these problems and our values to guide our “solution-search” methodology,” says Noguera. “It reminded me that simplicity and clear values always make for strong decisions. Ultimately, we created a tool for our client, empowering them to make decisions and take action in ways that were previously out of reach for her.”

Vladimir Martirosyan, a first-year Master of Science in Information Systems graduate student, and his team created an AI-powered chatbot for local Mexican food catering service Trippy Tacos, which helped the business reduce response time for bookings and increase profits with saved wages as a result of the time saved. 

He says that the competencies he demonstrated through participating in the competition validated his decision to pursue a career centered around data analytics. Additionally, he says that the opportunity to learn “invaluable lessons” in leadership and work with other driven students offers more reasons why future students should capitalize on this opportunity. 

“In my opinion, it was one of the best ways to practice my skills while also having fun with my friends,” says Martirosyan. “It is an incredible feeling to speak to judges from major companies like Microsoft and Adobe, asking for their feedback on our work, presenting in front of the entire audience in the Frank Auditorium and networking with them after the competition.”