Online Mini-MBA: Artificial Intelligence

One important component of research and development is to envision and understand the business and market components of the work. Without this essential component, great ideas never become reality.  The world of business and finance are often seen as after-thoughts, to be conducted by a future marketing team, but in practice, these are essential elements of success for R&D. The Rutgers Business School program integrated with IEEE offered a solid professional integration between our technical world and product development, innovation, and fundamentals of business practice.

I work within a B-Corp marketing agency that supports many mission-driven nonprofit organizations, and the IEEE | Rutgers Online Mini-MBA in Artificial Intelligence provided a structured, business-focused framework for integrating AI in a way that aligns with both operational goals and ethical responsibility. One of my primary goals was to move beyond experimentation and use AI in a way that meaningfully improved how we work. This program helped me do exactly that by translating complex AI concepts into clear, actionable strategies.

I was able to apply the program’s teachings across multiple areas of our agency, including reporting, case study development, and team-wide AI adoption. The coursework helped me evaluate where AI genuinely adds value, how to operationalize it responsibly, and how to integrate it across teams without creating risk or inefficiency. This has allowed me to guide internal stakeholders with more confidence and clarity.

While all modules were valuable, the most impactful for my role were Data Analytics, Process Optimization, Marketing & Sales, and Ethics in AI. As a B-Corp that serves many nonprofit organizations, ethical considerations are central to everything we do, and the ethics module provided an especially important framework for responsible AI use.

As a direct result of this program, we are currently launching several AI pilot initiatives based on my learnings to streamline business practices, improve consistency, and scale our operations in a thoughtful and sustainable way.

The program benefited my organization by equipping me with frameworks for prioritizing digital initiatives using AI, presenting clearer ROI arguments, and structuring cross‑functional governance. I used the program’s budgeting and portfolio prioritization methods to refine our roadmap for model‑based systems engineering pilot projects, which improved stakeholder alignment and reduced duplicated effort across programs. I completed the IEEE | Rutgers Online Mini‑MBA to strengthen my ability to translate Digital Engineering initiatives into measurable business value in the AI field.

As Manager of the Digital Engineering department at Boeing Technology Innovation Brazil, I found the program directly applicable to the work of aligning engineering investments with enterprise objectives. The Mini‑MBA helped me reach my goals of becoming a more effective bridge between engineering teams and business leadership. The finance, strategy, and product/portfolio modules were the most valuable—they provided concrete tools and language to evaluate tradeoffs, quantify benefits, and make stronger, data‑driven proposals. The applied case studies were especially useful for practicing concise executive communication and adapting technical plans to business constraints.

As Artificial Intelligence integrates into every industry (from Sales and Marketing to Medicine), having a formal university credential ensures the team uses the tools rather than being replaced by them. Reach your goals faster by reducing time spent on manual tasks that can be automated, allowing you to spend 70 to 80 percent of your time on the 20 to 30 percent of work that actually moves the needle. Bias Audit & Mitigation Tools-This is perhaps the most hands-on part of a modern program. It moves beyond just acknowledging that bias exists and teaches  how to use fairness metrics to test the output data and response.

The program was simply amazing and I was able to leverage my Capstone Project as a major innovation submission at my employer, which is now being actively reviewed for implementation by the executive leadership. I am coaching my teams to actively use Copilot Chat which has also been very well received by leadership. We are changing the game of how we operate, not by getting rid of people, but by providing them with “superpowers” at their fingertips. Our CTO/CIO always says: AI Copilot, not Autopilot.