STR3501 Brain Rush: Generative AI for Business Growth and Strategy
4 Advanced Management Credits
Generative AI has prompted leading analysts to forecast trillions of dollars in new market opportunities while propelling the shares of a handful of publicly traded companies competing to satisfy individual and corporate demand for ways to capture AI's benefits while mitigating its risks.
The attention focused on generative AI raises many questions for business leaders, investors, and policymakers:
Does generative AI hype anticipate real potential for the technology’s ability to create social and economic value?
What should policymakers do to maximize generative AI’s opportunities and mitigate its risks?
How can business leaders capture the opportunity and minimize the risks of generative AI?
Which generative AI applications will create the most sustainable value for society?
How can employees, managers, and executives use generative AI to perform their work more effectively and efficiently?
How can investors pinpoint companies with the most wealth creation potential and shun the rest?
Professor Cohan's views on these questions are framed by his experience running his own growth strategy consulting firm, working in an AI startup, investing in new ventures which produced billions in gains, writing columns for Forbes, and publishing his 2024 book, Brain Rush: How To Invest and Compete in the Real World of Generative AI.
STR 3501: Generative AI for Business Growth and Strategy features class discussions on these topics, in-class group analysis of real-life cases, and outside speakers with AI expertise. In the final six weeks of the course, student teams work with companies to help them apply AI to boost their revenue growth.
Past students have found the course valuable. Here is a comment from a student in the Spring 2025 session: "I wanted to take a moment to thank you for such an engaging and insightful class this past semester. It was one of the most interesting courses I’ve taken at Babson, and I truly appreciated how relevant and interesting the material was. I’m confident that what I’ve learned will be valuable as I explore potential AI-related investments in my future career. I’m looking forward to staying in touch and keeping you updated. Thank you again for a great semester!"
Prerequisites: STR 3000