Live online executive program will run October 16 – December 18, 2024

April 25, 2024

PHILADELPHIA, PA: It’s well established that artificial intelligence (AI) has changed and will continue changing the way we work. Yet with so many organizations rapidly adopting AI technologies, risks are growing as well, including well-known concerns such as bias, hallucinations, privacy and intellectual property issues, legal liability, and regulatory penalties. What are companies doing to prepare and protect themselves? Not enough, it appears. A recent BCG survey found that although 84 percent of executives believe responsible AI should be on top management agendas, only 25 percent have comprehensive programs in place.

“Everyone agrees that accountability has to be a part of what implementing AI means,” says Kevin Werbach, Wharton professor and department chairperson of legal studies and business ethics. “So, you’re either going to be one of the leaders in doing AI governance, or you’re going to get pulled along by regulation or catching up to your competitors.” He adds that the best approach for companies is to “get ahead of the curve and understand how your AI investments can go wrong, so you can limit the risks that they will.”

Werbach, alongside Wharton’s thought-leading AI faculty, will be helping executives do just that — get ahead of the curve — in the new Wharton Executive Education program Strategies for Accountable AI. Werbach serves as academic director, accompanied by faculty experts from the renowned research center AI at Wharton. The live online program will run October 16–December 18, 2024.

Strategies for Accountable AI offers participants a real-world, up-to-the-minute roadmap for effective AI oversight, empowering them to build, monitor, and maintain accountable AI solutions. Participants will explore the legal, ethical, and business controversies posed by AI; acquire techniques to mitigate AI risks; discover how fast-changing laws and enforcement across the globe could affect their business; assess their own organization’s responsible AI readiness; and more. The program helps executives win a competitive advantage as they discover how to protect their firm and its reputation while leveraging AI for business success.

The program’s format enables participants’ exposure to Wharton’s up-to-the minute research and teaching about the subject with direct interaction with the faculty via weekly, 90-minute, flipped-classroom, live online sessions. The learning is interspersed with self-paced online video segments and activities. Moreover, participants will engage in team collaboration, case studies, and a capstone project.

The program’s live online sessions will be led by prominent Wharton faculty and AI thought leaders including Kevin Werbach (academic director), Ethan Mollick, Stefano Puntoni, Scott Snyder, Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe, and Lynn Wu. Participants will also get program-exclusive perspectives of industry experts including top responsible AI executives, ethicists, investors, and government officials, among others.

Sessions include The AI Dynamic Landscape: Market Trends and Technological Insights; Frameworks for Accountable AI: AI Laws, Regulation, and Governance; When AI Goes Wrong: Accuracy, Risk, and Transparency; Data Acquisition: Privacy, Copyright, Licensing, and the AI Supply Chain; Fairness, Bias, and Discrimination; Abusive Practices: Manipulation, Misinformation, Market Power; The Human Dimension: How AI Changes Work and Consumer Experiences; and Techniques and Strategies for Accountable AI.

Executives in all industries who are considering, adopting, evaluating, or expanding AI systems will benefit from this program. So will entrepreneurs working in the AI space, as well as developers and marketers seeking a better grasp of AI’s risks and how to mitigate them. The program is also valuable for those working in legal and compliance groups, although Werbach notes that implementing responsible AI is by no means limited to the general counsel’s office: “People who are actually managing AI projects need to understand this broader set of issues.”

Werbach observes that in addition to the financial benefits and reputation protection offered by adopting AI accountably, there is a social responsibility advantage. “You want to be building things that are responsible and fair and trustworthy; those are important values that organizations have at a broad level,” he says.

Strategies for Accountable AI is now accepting applications. Prospective participants can learn more and apply at executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu.

About Wharton Executive Education

Wharton Executive Education has served as the global leader in executive development for 35 years. Steeped in the heritage and analytical insights of the Wharton School, with an eye toward shaping the future of business, Wharton Executive Education’s individual, online, and custom programs prepare over 100,000 professionals a year to transform their careers and organizations. For more information on Wharton Executive Education’s practical business solutions, visit executiveeducation.wharton.upenn.edu.

About the Wharton School

Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs, and thousands of pre-collegiate students explore business concepts through Wharton’s Global Youth Program. More than 105,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. For more information, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

Media Contact

Sarah SchwabDirector of Communications Aresty Institute of Executive Education
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania execed-pr@wharton.upenn.edu