Small business operators will engage in artificial intelligence (AI) training through a partnership between the Office of Executive Education at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation.
Smith information systems professors Tejwansh (Tej) Anand and Balaji Padmanabhan will guide 50 participants selected from 250 applicants. They comprise the first cohort for “Artificial Intelligence for Small Business with the University of Maryland,” a first-of-its-kind venture – regionally, if not nationally, says Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation President and CEO David Iannucci. “We believe we’re the first economic development corporation to offer AI training to our small businesses — certainly in Maryland, but maybe even in the United States.”
The first cohort initially will take an online course to establish an in-depth understanding of how AI can revolutionize their business models, operations, and customer experience.
A subsequent, three-day boot camp will bring the cohort to the UMD College Park campus in June 2024 for hands-on learning and real-world application under Anand, a clinical professor and academic director of MS in Information Systems programs, and Padmanabhan, Dean's Professor of Decisions, Operations and Information Technologies and director of Smith’s Center for Artificial Intelligence in Business.
"Participants in our program will experience a dynamic combination of online and in-person learning, specifically designed to empower and equip small business owners to leverage the power of AI to run their business more efficiently and gain competitive advantage," says Jonathan Southgate, director of the Office of Executive Education at Smith. “This training is a testament to Smith's progressive strategy of equipping students, professionals, and organizations with the skills to adapt to and harness the potential of AI in business.”
The emerging niche was recently reinforced by Smith’s launch of its Center for Artificial Intelligence in Business under Padmanabhan, who will guide the center’s mission to conduct research and outreach to realize the potential of AI through intentional design and governance frameworks centering on human judgment and creativity.
Read more about AI at Smith and “Artificial Intelligence for Small Business with the University of Maryland.”
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.