Many organizations want to hire candidates who have the core competencies and transferable skills required to navigate dynamic and evolving landscapes. They are looking for qualified and experienced individuals who have critical thinking and communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to collaborate. Increasingly, companies across all industries are searching for candidates who have adept and intuitive artificial intelligence (AI) skills.
Investing in your education allows you to develop an advanced understanding of the evolving AI landscape and gives you the ability to learn more about the responsible AI practices that all businesses can rely on. Now is the best time to consider earning your master's degree in artificial intelligence.
By exploring the AI graduate degree curriculum, you can discover how this innovative program curriculum can benefit all professionals, regardless of their background or area of expertise.
The AI era is upon us, and there is a rising number of degree programs available for graduate students to consider. Choosing the right AI master's degree program allows you to gain an advanced understanding of the evolving landscape while developing the practical skills required to leverage the power of AI to solve real-world problems.
The online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) with a concentration in Data Analytics at Indiana Wesleyan University was developed through a backward design framework, in which the curriculum was built with the business impact of AI in mind. The curriculum is tailored to meet the needs of business leaders with a background in a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, technology, education, and manufacturing.
An industry-aligned curriculum anchors this graduate degree program and focuses on the development of practical skills, giving employers proof that program graduates can implement AI solutions immediately.
While AI technology is taking over nearly every industry, to implement responsible AI practices, professionals have to have a solid foundation in data analysis. Effective data analysis enables data-driven decision-making, which is the key to organizational success in today's global economy.
Data modeling and reporting pipelines enable business professionals to glean actionable insights from raw data. Real-time model monitoring is a key skill that many employers are looking for in the next generation of leaders, making it important to invest in a graduate degree program that has a strong foundation in data analysis.
In addition, feature engineering is a key process that also transforms raw data into a machine-ready format, making it vitally important in the global AI landscape. Without feature engineering, machine learning would not be possible.
In many ways, machine learning is the foundation upon which all AI technology is built. Machine learning is one of the most pivotal AI skills in today's job market, as individuals who know how to create learning models using a variety of training formats can create the algorithms that fuel AI solutions.
Supervised learning is a key machine learning technique where datasets are used to train AI models. Through the use of commercial AI platforms and cloud-based tools, students enrolled in the MSAI program can immediately put supervised learning techniques into practice.
Unsupervised and semi-supervised machine learning techniques can be used along with supervised learning to develop an in-depth, comprehensive understanding of the data sets available. By mastering all machine learning techniques, graduates can demonstrate immediate ROI for their employers.
Before an individual can begin effectively leveraging the power of AI technology, they need to become proficient in the key programming languages. Through natural language processing, or NLP, students in this program learn how to transform text into actionable insight.
NLP converts existing text and audio into formats that machines can understand and process. Data collection and analysis play a key role in enabling NLP, requiring professionals to have a strong background in data science.
Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) is an advanced application that relies on large language models to extend the data set beyond the original input. RAG is widely used in creating chatbots and other intuitive AI applications.
Intelligent automation is an advanced AI skill that combines the use of several technologies to scale data-driven decision-making within organizations. When it comes to data visualization for executives, predictive automation is vital.
Intelligent automation relies on artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, and business process management to streamline the decision-making process. It gives leaders and executives the information they need to redesign and redevelop workflows to improve operational efficiency.
Professionals who rely on intelligent automation often hope to:
Business leaders know that data-driven insights are the key to making the best decisions in today's complex and evolving landscape, but they do not always know how to interpret or apply raw data. Analytics storytelling and data visualization are essential to providing actionable insight that professionals across all industries can use.
Analytics storytelling is the process of building a contextual narrative around raw data. Ultimately, it gives professionals a deeper understanding of the data in a way that they can relate to.
Through data visualization, graduates of the MSAI degree program can communicate trade-offs with their employers or clients, allowing them to showcase the data that they have harvested in a way that is relatable and understandable.
Experimentation and causal thinking are considered to be the key AI skills that will enable generative AI technology to advance to the next level. Generative AI can recognize patterns instantly, yet it can not always understand the reasoning behind those patterns.
Through A/B testing and experimentation, data analysis and AI experts not only learn more about what works, but they can predict outcomes and make adjustments in real-time. This type of testing is significant for the churn prediction use case, as it allows leaders and executives to adapt their approach to reduce their churn rate proactively.
Graduates will be able to go beyond the causal inference basics to provide applicable uses of experimentation and causal thinking within their organizations, making them a valuable asset in an evolving landscape.
Machine learning operations, or MLOps, are strategic practices that can simplify machine learning workflows within an organization. Having an advanced understanding of MLOps allows professionals to implement intelligent automation workflows, making this a key AI skill for those in the manufacturing or supply chain sectors.
The MLOps model lifecycle involves collecting and preparing data, using a data pipeline to train and refine the algorithm, and deploying the model to test it in real-time.
When using MLOps to improve shipping and production times, data analysts and AI professionals often work closely with the engineering department to ensure that all workflows are streamlined.
There is a lot of hype about AI technology, with businesses of all sizes and across all industries looking to use it to their advantage. However, responsible AI practices are required to ensure that AI is being used properly.
AI technology has advanced so rapidly that regulations are struggling to keep up. Yet organizations are responsible for protecting data privacy and remaining in compliance with changing regulations. Individuals who earn a master's degree in AI will have a stronger understanding of this evolving landscape and can help organizations create responsible AI practices.
There is a risk of inherent bias within AI algorithms, requiring organizations to prioritize fairness and transparency when adopting AI applications. Bias and fairness testing play a critical role in developing new AI practices and applications within an organization.
By choosing a graduate degree program that focuses on practical applications, you will be able to develop the key AI skills required across all industries. Our AI curriculum for working professionals allows you to begin working with the leading cloud platforms and tools immediately, giving you the ability to develop skills and techniques that you can apply immediately in the workplace.
Within the coursework for this degree program, you will work with commercial artificial intelligence platforms and cloud tooling for AI, giving you hands-on experience with the most relevant and advanced tools.
In addition to offering a comprehensive, skills-based curriculum for those interested in the leading career pathways in AI, this program offers capstones and domain tracks that allow students to personalize their education.
Students in this program often work in cross-functional pods to leverage the power of their existing professional experience and learn how to collaborate with others to develop responsible AI practices and use cases.
Within this program, students complete portfolio projects for AI careers that enable them to showcase their knowledge and skills. Before graduating, students must complete a capstone project in which they develop an artificial intelligence solution to a real business problem in their own domain.
When you graduate from this program, you will leave with more than just a degree — you will move forward with actionable skills and proof of your ability to develop and implement real-world AI solutions.
An increasing number of employers are going to be searching for professionals with expertise and background in the responsible use of AI technology, allowing you to expand your career and explore new opportunities.
With a master's in AI, you will be able to expand your job search into new sectors. Across all industries, employers recognize that AI will change the landscape of their work, and they require intuitive and skilled professionals who know how to develop and implement AI solutions.
You will need to effectively use practical math, such as probability, statistics, and linear algebra basics for AI tooling. Primarily, the focus of this program is on solving business problems reliably.
The projects in this graduate degree program mirror the workplace constraints that employers are facing today, such as messy data, budget limits, and stakeholder acceptance criteria. Throughout this program, you'll build the artifacts employers expect, such as dashboards, model cards, and runbooks.
Analytics explains what happened and why, while machine learning predicts what will happen or recommends actions. The curriculum teaches when to use each and how to measure impact.
Yes. In this program, you will cover prompt design, RAG evaluation, safety guardrails, and cost control alongside traditional supervised and unsupervised methods.
Every model includes privacy checks, fairness testing, documentation, and an audit trail. You’ll submit model cards and incident playbooks with each major project to ensure that you are using responsible AI practices.
As part of your coursework, you will practice shared backlogs, acceptance criteria, decision logs, and release runbooks. You will often work in team pods that simulate real cross-functional workflows.
Employers are looking for evidence that you can frame problems, build reliable pipelines, ship models with guardrails, and tell a clear business story — backed by portfolio artifacts, not just grades.
Artificial intelligence is already reshaping the way that we live, work, and create — and it will continue to revolutionize daily life in the years to come. The online Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (MSAI) with a concentration in Data Analytics program at IWU is an innovative degree program that emphasizes the development of the practical and technical skills required to effectively and responsibly use AI technology in the workplace. Graduates leave with the ability to solve real-world problems through the application of machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
Learn more about our degree programs, request more information about our Christ-centered campus, and apply to IWU today.
