Artificial Intelligence for Business, BS

The Artificial Intelligence for Business undergraduate concentration is part of the key strategic initiative on AI and Analytics (WAIAI) and is in direct response to growing student interest in AI courses and AI tools and platforms (e.g., extracurricular activities like the recent “hack-AI-thon” are often oversubscribed). In addition, we expect student demand to keep growing as companies everywhere continue to invest in AI and Wharton continues to expand its AI-related content offering.

The educational needs in this area belong to two broad topics: (1) the (more) technical understanding of methods and how they are being applied by firms to solve business problems and (2) the (more) conceptual understanding of how the technology impacts firms and society, including economic, social, and ethical issues that AI deployment introduces. Reflecting this conceptualization, the concentration has two pillars, F&I:
1. Foundational Methods (or F)
2. Impact and Ethics (or I)

Courses taken on a pass/fail basis cannot be counted toward the concentration. A maximum of 1 CU of an Independent Study Project (ISP) can count toward the concentration with advisor approval.

Artificial Intelligence for Business Concentration Advisors: Giles Hooker for STAT (ghooker@wharton.upenn.edu) and Prasanna Tambe for OID (tambe@wharton.upenn.edu).


The degree and major requirements displayed are intended as a guide for students entering in the Fall of 2025 and later. Students should consult with their academic program regarding final certifications and requirements for graduation.


Other Wharton Requirements

First-Year Foundations
BEPP 1000Introductory Economics for Business Students 11
MATH 1400Calculus, Part I1
or MATH 1070 Mathematics of change, Part I
Critical Writing Seminar1
WRIT 0020, 0110, or 0120-0990
Business Fundamentals
Leadership Journey
WH 1010Business and You0.5
WH 2010Business Communication for Impact0.5
or WH 2011 Global Business Communication for Impact
MGMT 3010Teamwork and Interpersonal Influence0.5
Senior CapstoneOne course with attribute WUCP required 20.5
Fundamentals 3
ACCT 1010Accounting and Financial Reporting1
ACCT 1020Strategic Cost Analysis1
BEPP 2500Managerial Economics (or Honors)1
FNCE 1000Corporate Finance (or Honors)1
FNCE 1010Monetary Economics and the Global Economy (or Honors)1
LGST 1000Ethics and Social Responsibility (or Honors)1
or LGST 1010 Law and Social Values
MGMT 1010Introduction To Management1
MKTG 1010Introduction to Marketing (or Honors)1
OIDD 1010An Introduction to Operations, Information and Decisions1
STAT 1010Introductory Business Statistics (or Honors) 41
or STAT 4300 Probability
or ESE 3010 Engineering Probability
STAT 1020Introductory Business Statistics (or Honors)1
or STAT 4310 Statistical Inference
or ESE 4020 Statistics for Data Science
Flex Fundamentals
Global Economy, Business & Society
One course unit with attribute WUGE required1
Technology, Innovation & Analytics
One course unit with attribute WUTI required1
Liberal Arts & Sciences7
Foreign Language Requirement
Two semesters at the beginner level of a language other than English or demonstration of equivalent proficiency required 5
Humanities
Natural Science, Math & Engineering
Social Science
Flexible Gen Ed
Three course units of approved undergraduate coursework taken outside of Wharton required
Cross-Cultural Perspectives
Three course units with substantial cross-cultural content required 6
Business Breadth
Three upper-level course units from three different Wharton departments outside of the student's concentration required. Please visit https://undergrad-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/business-breadth/ for details.3
Unrestricted Electives
Five course units required 75
Total Course Units33
1

For students who take ECON 0100 Introduction to Micro Economics and ECON 0200 Introductory Economics: Macro in place of BEPP 1000 Introductory Economics for Business Students: one of these courses can be used to satisfy BEPP 1000 on the degree audit. The second course may be used to fulfill a Liberal Arts & Sciences or Unrestricted Elective requirement.

2

Beginning with capstones offered in Fall 2027, all students must complete all business fundamentals as a prerequisite for the senior capstone, in addition to the Leadership Journey courses and any other required prerequisite course(s).

3

Course numbers for honors business fundamentals are: BEPP 2508 Managerial Economics, FNCE 1008 Corporate Finance (Honors), FNCE 1018 Monetary Economics and the Global Economy (Honors), LGST 1008 Ethics and Social Responsibility, LGST 1018 Law and Social Values, MKTG 1018 Introduction to Marketing, STAT 1018 Introductory Business Statistics, and STAT 1028 Introductory Business Statistics.

4

Dual-degree students majoring in SSE (Systems Science Engineering) and EE (Electrical Engineering) must take ESE 3010 Engineering Probability and ESE 4020 Statistics for Data Science.

5

Courses taken at Penn that satisfy the Foreign Language requirement may double-count as Humanities or Flexible Gen Ed.

6

Up to one course may be on U.S. cultural diversity. Please see course attribute WUCN for a list of non-U.S. courses and WUCU for a list of U.S. courses. Two CCP course units may double-count as Humanities; Natural Science, Math & Engineering; Social Science; or Flexible Gen Ed.

7

Students pursuing a second concentration may apply three course units of concentration courses to Unrestricted Electives.

Courses taken on a pass/fail basis cannot be counted toward the concentration. A maximum of one (1) CU of an Independent Study Project (ISP) can count toward the concentration with advisor approval.

Foundational Methods Pillar (F)
Required Course
STAT 4230Applied Machine Learning in Business1
Complete one additional course unit from the Foundational Methods (F) Electives:1
Data Science for Finance
FinTech
Healthcare Data and Analytics
Applied Neuroscience for Business Decisions
Contagious: How Things Catch On
Optimization and Analytics
Information Strategy and Economics
Introduction to Python for Data Science
Applied Machine Learning in Business
Text Analytics
Introduction to Bayesian Data Analysis
Modern Data Mining
Convex Optimization for Statistics and Data Science
Impact and Ethics (I) Pillar
Required Course
LGST 2420Big Data, Big Responsibilities: Toward Accountable Artificial Intelligence0.5
Complete one and a half additional course units from the Impact and Ethics (I) Electives:1.5
Market Dynamics and Technical Change
Innovation, Change, and Entrepreneurship
Idea Generation & the Systematic Approach for Creativity
Work and Technology: Choices and Outcomes
AI in Our Lives: The Behavioral Science of Autonomous Technology
Artificial Intelligence, Business, and Society
Other Wharton Requirements33
Total Course Units37