AI Strategy and Leadership Program: Thriving in the New World of AI

The AI Strategy and Leadership Program: Thriving in the New World of AI from MIT xPRO equips senior technology leaders and aspiring executives to harness artificial intelligence (AI) for strategic advantage in their organizations. The program combines leadership development with AI implementation strategies to help you manage disruption and lead responsibly in the digital age.

With AI, including generative AI (GenAI), reshaping every industry, forward-looking leaders must balance competitiveness, ethics, and growth to advance AI-driven transformation in their organizations. This program addresses this challenge by covering data strategy, AI adoption and governance, and ethical frameworks. Participants gain practical tools from industry experts to accelerate innovation and integrate AI into organizational strategies and leadership practices.

The MIT xPRO AI Strategy and Leadership Program will equip you to:

• Examine how AI enables new enterprise activities that can transform how organizations operate

• ​Design a road map for integrating AI and data into your organization or department

• Assess essential leadership and AI concepts, and apply those AI insights in your organization or department to stay competitive

• ​Create a basic organizational or departmental AI and data strategy

• ​Create new processes to increase AI and data transparency and accountability

• ​Apply AI tools to leadership processes and improve leadership capabilities

• ​Assess and evaluate your organization's current leadership mindset, your teams' ability to innovate and reinvent in a changing world, and the organization's ability to respond to change

• Envision and plan an AI-led future by architecting your organization at all levels — individual, team, and system-wide

• Demonstrate the strategic role of leadership in building human–AI ecosystems

MIT xPRO’s AI Strategy and Leadership Program is ideal for:

• C-suite executives and senior leaders: CEOs, COOs, CTOs, and other senior executives responsible for strategic AI integrations and deployments, and exploring how AI can help strengthen their leadership signature and support their sensemaking, vision creation and communication, relationship building, and fostering of innovation to enhance business performance amid AI disruptions.

• Mid- to senior-level leaders: Mid-level directors and managers focused on sharpening their ability to lead with AI — applying data and AI strategies to drive innovation, build and guide effective teams, and manage change responsibly — and translating AI’s potential into actionable strategies, including GenAI, best practices, risk management, and ethical considerations

• Entrepreneurs: Founders, business owners, and leaders focused on harnessing AI’s potential to scale their ventures and build competitive advantage without requiring deep technical expertise

• Tech consultants: Technology consultants or strategists focused on understanding AI and data strategy, implementing best practices, and managing associated risks and ethical considerations to offer superior solutions to their employers and clients

Founded in 1861, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is committed to generating, disseminating, and preserving knowledge and to working with others to bring this knowledge to bear on the world’s great challenges. MIT is ranked #1 in Forbes America's Top Colleges list of the nation’s best schools. MIT is dedicated to providing rigorous academic study, innovative research and scholarship, and a diverse campus community.

MIT’s motto, Mens et manus (“Mind and hand” in Latin), epitomizes the university’s dedication to education focused on practical solutions. Through MIT xPRO — one of the institute's online learning platforms — global executives can access vetted content from world-renowned experts anytime, anywhere. Designed using cutting-edge research in the neuroscience of learning, MIT xPRO programs are application-focused, helping business leaders build their skills on the job and in real time.

Session 1: Human–AI Collaboration for Innovation Gain practical insights and strategies for leveraging human–AI collaboration to drive digital innovation and strategic development.

Session 2: Surviving and Thriving in the New World of AI Explore the leadership challenges and opportunities presented by AI, focusing on effective approaches to navigate the complexities of AI integration, particularly that of generative AI.

• A Brief Primer on General-Purpose AI

This session covers pretraining, the role of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and the data supply chain for multimodal AI systems. It also highlights emerging uses and recent trends shaping the future of generative AI.

• Do Not Wait for Perfect, Act with Purpose: Building Strategic Advantage in the Imperfect Gen AI Era

Generative AI is already transforming business, not because it is flawless, but because some leaders are building learning velocity while others debate readiness. In a rapidly evolving technology landscape, the ability to experiment, learn, and adapt quicker than competitors is itself a competitive advantage. We mocked the first iPhone for lacking “copy-paste”, and then we bought 1 billion of them. The organizations that act now strategically, not perfectly, will define the next era.

• Pitfalls of AI: The Strategic and Operational Risks of Deepfakes

This session examines the negative aspects of AI. You will explore the mechanics of deepfake fraud, a rapidly evolving new threat to businesses and individuals. Through real-world cases, you will assess its impact on security and reputation and identify the practical strategies for detection and mitigation.

• AI Safety and Security Practices and Their Shortcomings

This session offers expert insights on AI safety, security, and governance. You will explore gaps in current evaluation and governance frameworks through case studies on model “red-teaming” and adversarial attacks. You will learn why better oversight and stronger safeguards are urgently needed as AI systems reshape society.

• Loyal Agents: Safety and Security in a World of AI Agents

In this session, you will discover the latest trends in AI agent safety and explore real-world security risks linked to AI agents, including prompt injection, data leakage, over-permissioned access, and agent “vibe” unpredictability. Learn why treating AI agents like workforce members is crucial for organizations as automated agents gain more power in workflows and business processes, and gain actionable insights on balancing advanced automation with robust safeguards.

• Deploying AI in Practice: Managing Regulations, Ethics, and Governance

This session covers LLMs, their training, strengths, limitations, and legal applications, and compares traditional ML methods and AI models. It also explores RAG, AI regulation, and nontechnical deployment factors.

Your learning journey culminates with two comprehensive capstone projects, each designed to challenge and empower your leadership acumen. These projects provide an excellent opportunity for participants to demonstrate their understanding of the program material and develop valuable skills that are highly sought after in today's AI-driven business landscape.

AI and Data Strategy: In this capstone project, learners will develop a comprehensive AI and data strategy for a fictional organization facing real-world challenges. Over the first six modules, they will craft a strategic plan that could revolutionize operations and drive innovation. From stakeholder analysis to risk mitigation, participants will learn the critical elements of implementing AI in complex business environments. Learners will emerge with the skills to drive data-driven decision making in any industry, armed with a strategy that showcases their ability to balance cutting-edge technology with practical business needs.

AI Leadership: In this capstone project, learners will identify a critical business challenge and develop a strategic plan to solve it, using AI. They will create a compelling value pitch that addresses every aspect of implementation — from selecting the right AI tools to managing teams and ensuring ethical compliance. Perfect for aspiring AI leaders across all sectors, this capstone equips participants with the strategic thinking and practical skills needed to drive AI adoption and organizational change. Learners will emerge ready to champion AI initiatives that can transform businesses and industries.