Future Electives & Specialization Tracks
Program-level details: See program/curriculum.md
Ideation — nothing on this page is approved or committed. This content captures brainstorming on future MSBAi-specific elective courses. The current program uses a General Elective (any iMBA course). Approved elective courses live in their own pages: Agentic AI, Quantum, General Elective.
Industry Specialization Tracks
All students complete the same core and required electives (see CURRICULUM.md). The General Elective slot (Spring 2027, Weeks 9-16) and capstone project offer opportunities to specialize by industry. In future cohorts, MSBAi-specific electives (below) could replace or supplement the general iMBA elective.
Track 1: Finance Analytics
Goal: Roles in investment management, trading, risk management, financial institutions.
How it works: Core courses provide the foundation (BADM 576 for time series/prediction, BADM 557 for financial dashboards). Students choose a finance-focused elective and capstone project.
- Elective options: Fintech (blockchain analytics, algorithmic trading) or Risk Analytics (VaR, stress testing, portfolio optimization)
- Capstone: Finance project (e.g., trading algorithm, portfolio optimizer, risk dashboard)
- Career Outcomes: Quantitative Analyst, Risk Manager, Financial Data Scientist, Investment Analyst
Track 2: Healthcare Analytics
Goal: Roles in healthcare systems, biotech, pharmaceuticals, health tech.
How it works: Core courses provide the foundation (BADM 576 for patient outcomes prediction, BADM 557 for hospital dashboards). Students choose a healthcare-focused elective and capstone project.
- Elective options: Healthcare Analytics (patient segmentation, EHR data, health economics) or Clinical Informatics (HIPAA, data quality)
- Capstone: Healthcare project (patient stratification, readmission prediction, hospital efficiency)
- Career Outcomes: Clinical Data Scientist, Health Informaticist, Epidemiologist, Hospital Analytics Manager
Track 3: Technology & Marketing Analytics
Goal: Roles in tech companies, marketing analytics, product management, consumer insights.
How it works: Core courses provide the foundation (BADM 558 for event tracking at scale, BADM 557 for A/B testing dashboards). Students choose a marketing/product-focused elective and capstone project.
- Elective options: Marketing Analytics (customer LTV, attribution, personalization) or Product Analytics (funnel analysis, cohort analysis, growth metrics)
- Capstone: Tech company project (growth analysis, user segmentation, product feature impact)
- Career Outcomes: Marketing Data Scientist, Product Analyst, Growth Analyst, Analytics Manager
Future MSBAi-Specific Elective Options (Ideation)
Note: The current program (Cohort 1) uses a General Elective (any iMBA course) in the Spring 2027 elective slot. The options below are under consideration for future cohorts as dedicated MSBAi electives.
Option A: Data Engineering Specialization (BADM 5XX)
- Focus: Building production data systems at scale
- Topics: Airflow, dbt, Kubernetes, real-time streaming (Kafka), data quality frameworks
- Prerequisite: BADM 558
- Project: Build end-to-end data platform for real business problem
Option B: Advanced Machine Learning Systems (BADM 5XX)
- Focus: Production ML systems, MLOps, A/B testing, feature stores
- Topics: ML monitoring, data drift, model retraining, feature engineering at scale
- Prerequisite: BADM 576
- Project: Deploy ML system with monitoring + A/B test framework
Option C: AI Strategy & Leadership (BADM 5XX)
- Focus: Strategy, governance, ethical implications of AI/analytics
- Topics: AI strategy, governance frameworks, bias & fairness, regulations (GDPR, etc.)
- No prerequisites
- Project: Develop AI strategy for a real company
Option D: Industry-Specific Deep-Dive (Rotating)
- Rotating electives based on faculty expertise + student demand:
- Financial Risk Analytics (VaR, stress testing, portfolio theory)
- Healthcare Analytics (patient stratification, clinical outcomes, privacy)
- Marketing Analytics (customer LTV, attribution, personalization)
- Supply Chain Analytics (demand forecasting, optimization, resilience)
Recommendation: Offer Option A (Data Engineering) as the first MSBAi-specific elective when demand and faculty availability allow. If two electives become possible, add Option B (MLOps + A/B testing).