Business intelligence, engineered.
At Lally, students learn to lead in industries where technology, data, and AI are reshaping every decision — inside one of the nation's most established technological research universities.
Explore AI Programs
From the Dean
"When a first-year student scraps his hackathon project mid-competition because it isn't solving a real enough problem, then rebuilds and wins, that tells me something about the culture we're building. When faculty research shows that AI isn't just accelerating invention but changing what's possible to invent, that shapes how we teach. And when students from any major can sign up for a 30-day sprint to design, build, and launch an AI product from scratch, that's not a talking point. That's what business education looks like inside a technological research university."
Lally School of Management · Spring 2026
Why AI at Lally
Business education shaped by RPI's technological DNA
Most business schools teach students about AI. At Lally, students learn to work with it, reason about it, and lead with it — inside an engineering and science research university where technology is never an afterthought.
At Lally, AI is not just a topic, it is part of how students learn to solve problems, analyze data, evaluate opportunities, and lead organizations in industries where technology and business increasingly overlap.
How AI shapes the Lally experience
AI integration at Lally runs through four connected dimensions — not a single course, and not an add-on.
In the curriculum
AI and analytics are embedded across business disciplines — from data-intensive modeling courses to strategy classes examining how automation reshapes competitive markets. Students build the judgment to apply AI, not just the skill to use it.
In faculty research
Lally faculty work at the intersection of AI and business — from machine learning in financial decision-making to AI governance in complex organizations. Their research shapes how students understand technology's role in markets and strategy.
In student projects
Students apply AI and analytics skills to real business challenges through project-based courses, consulting-style engagements, and experiential learning. The AI Academy is Lally's flagship applied program for this work.
Through the RPI ecosystem
RPI's research infrastructure, computing resources, engineering schools, and entrepreneurship network open opportunities that no other business school can replicate.
Tazeem Mahashin '28 earned recognition at two major hackathons with two very different projects — showing not just technical range, but the judgment to know when to start over.
Tazeem Mahashin '28
Dual major · Information Technology, Web Science & Finance · Lally School of Management
At HackPrinceton, Tazeem joined a new team mid-competition after being recruited based on his portfolio. The group tackled an ambitious project integrating computer vision, IoT sensors, NFC scanning, blockchain infrastructure, and a mobile app — all within 36 hours. Not every component was finished by demo time, but the team delivered a coherent product and earned meaningful recognition from the judges.
At Columbia, he and teammate Vera Malkova scrapped their original concept partway through after deciding it was not solving a real enough problem. They redirected toward a more conversational learning tool and built Geminilearn instead — a voice-based AI tutoring platform that generates diagrams, flashcards, and quizzes in real time.
Tazeem points to RPI's RCOS open-source development program and his broader experience at Lally as formative. He came away with a clearer sense of when to push through, when to simplify, and when to walk away from an idea entirely — the kinds of decisions that separate good products from abandoned ones.
Columbia win included: $15,000 in Google Cloud credits · Tickets to Google I/O 2026 · Private pitch session with Google's AI Futures Fund
New research from Lally's Shyam Kumar finds that AI is not just speeding up innovation — it is changing how new ideas get made in the first place.
Forthcoming · Strategic Management Journal
"Unlocking novel knowledge recombinations: The effect of artificial intelligence on inventive activity"
Shyam Kumar · Xinying Qu (RPI alum)
Drawing on U.S. firm patenting data from 2005 through 2023, the study finds that inventions involving AI exhibit significantly greater novel knowledge recombination than those that do not. Rather than simply helping researchers find better options faster, AI appears to work as a bridge across knowledge domains that previously had little overlap.
AI expands the frontier of what is actually possible to invent — not just the speed at which invention happens.
The paper challenges the common framing of AI as merely a productivity tool. If AI is reshaping the conditions under which new ideas emerge, understanding its role becomes essential for anyone thinking seriously about innovation, competitive strategy, or the future of the knowledge economy.
For Lally students and graduates operating at the business-technology intersection, that distinction is consequential. The organizations that will lead in the next decade are not simply the ones using AI most efficiently — they are the ones who understand what AI makes newly possible.
A 30-day sprint invites students from any major to design, build, and launch an AI-powered product. No coding background required.
Lally AI Academy · 30-Day Sprint
In 30 days, you'll go from idea to working product, with a team, a real budget, and a real problem worth solving.
The AI Academy brings together students from across every major to imagine, build, and ship something powered by AI. You don't need to know how to code. What you do need is curiosity, a willingness to figure things out, and teammates who see the world differently than you do.
Teams move through the full arc of building a product: spotting where AI can genuinely help, making decisions with limited resources, and getting something into the hands of real users. Along the way, you'll practice the kind of thinking that holds up in almost any career: asking sharper questions, testing ideas before falling in love with them, and knowing when to change course.
This isn't a class about AI. It's a chance to work with it.
Students who want to go further can participate in multiple sprints and tap into RPI's entrepreneurial ecosystem, including the Severino Center for Technological Entrepreneurship, to take their product toward something commercially real.
What you'll do
- Design and build an AI-powered product from scratch
- Work in cross-disciplinary teams where every perspective matters
- Launch something people can actually use
At Lally, innovation isn't a lecture topic. It's something you do. The AI Academy is where that starts.
Programs: AI Across the Lally Curriculum
Lally's most explicitly AI-focused program. Prepares business leaders to manage and lead AI-driven initiatives, combining management strategy with a grounding in computing and emerging technology. Designed for students entering roles at the intersection of technology leadership and organizational decision-making.
Ranked #1 by TFE Times four consecutive years: 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Builds the quantitative and computational foundation for data-driven decision-making. Covers machine learning, statistical modeling, data visualization, and applied analytics across business functions. STEM-designated with strong placement in technology, consulting, financial services, and operations.
A 30-day sprint open to students from any major. Teams design, build, and launch an AI-powered product from scratch — with no prior coding experience required. The Academy is where the institutional commitment to AI becomes a hands-on experience.
Lally students can pursue coursework and project opportunities across RPI's schools of engineering, science, and computing. Students graduate able to move fluently between business leadership and technical environments.
Student Support & Technology Resources
Lally students work with the tools and platforms used by today's technology-driven organizations — not just in coursework, but throughout their time at RPI.
ChatGPTHands-on experimentation with generative AI, prompt development, automation, and applied business use cases. | IBM Quantum System OneRPI hosts the first IBM quantum computer at a university. Students access quantum and classical computing resources for research and coursework. | Bloomberg TerminalIndustry-standard platform for financial data, market analysis, and financial modeling. |
S&P Capital IQBusiness and financial research platform used across strategy, consulting, and investment roles. | FactSetPortfolio analytics and investment research data used in finance and quantitative coursework. | WRDSWharton Research Data Services — academic research database supporting business analytics, finance, and quantitative research. |
Career Pathways: Where AI literacy takes Lally graduates
AI is not a sector — it is a capability that applies across industries. Lally graduates enter roles where working with data and leading in technology-shaped environments is a real and immediate advantage.
| Sector | Representative Roles |
|---|---|
| Financial services | Quantitative analysis, risk modeling, AI governance, fintech innovation, algorithmic strategy |
| Technology and product | Product management, AI product teams, technology strategy, data and analytics leadership |
| Management consulting | Data-driven strategy, digital transformation, AI implementation and change management |
| Operations and supply chain | Process optimization, demand forecasting, automation strategy, logistics analytics |
| Marketing analytics | Customer intelligence, growth strategy, digital marketing, consumer analytics platforms |
| Entrepreneurship | Founding or joining ventures where AI and data are core to the business model |
What students ask about AI at Lally
AI in business education means teaching students to use artificial intelligence tools, understand machine learning concepts, apply data analytics to organizational decisions, and lead in environments where technology shapes how businesses compete. Strong programs develop judgment about when and how to apply AI, not just the skill to use it.
Yes. Lally offers the MBA in AI and Advanced Computing — a graduate program preparing business leaders for roles at the intersection of management strategy and emerging technology. Lally also integrates AI and analytics into the MS in Business Analytics and across undergraduate coursework, and runs the AI Academy for hands-on applied learning open to all majors.
Lally is embedded inside Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one of the nation's most established engineering and technological research universities. That means students learn business in an environment where AI, computing, data science, and engineering are central to the institutional mission — not housed in a business school that has added an AI course. The result is graduates who can bridge business leadership and technical environments.
AI-related business roles include product manager, data analyst, business intelligence analyst, strategy consultant, operations manager, financial analyst, marketing analytics specialist, AI project manager, and chief data officer. AI literacy increasingly matters across all business functions — making it a broadly applicable advantage for graduates entering management, consulting, finance, and operations careers.
