Gies Business faculty are turning to artificial intelligence to deepen classroom interaction and elevate critical thinking, using this technology as an active partner in the learning process.
As one example, Senior Lecturer of Accountancy Ron Guymon (right) has brought AI to Gies Business’ fully online MBA – known as the iMBA®. He uses AI to evaluate small group discussions in a course he teaches on business data modeling and predictive analytics.
"Tracking the quality of the intellectual engagement rather than just airtime encourages every student to come prepared, creating a much higher level of collaborative dialogue,” said Guymon. “It allows us to achieve intimate, high-quality human interaction at a scale that would be impossible to manage manually."
Experiences like these reflect a broader shift in business education. As AI becomes embedded in organizations, professionals increasingly need to know how to orchestrate intelligent systems while maintaining strong human-centered approach. By using AI to enhance discussion, feedback, and engagement, Gies Business is helping students develop the communication, judgment, and teamwork skills that remain essential in an AI-enabled workplace.
Guymon’s practical approach is transforming large-scale online courses with 500-plus learners where meaningful group interaction can be difficult to scale.
“It solves the ‘lazy AI’ problem; you can’t prompt engineer your way out of a live video discussion,” said Guymon.
Chatbots create instant support
Gies Business faculty Heather Swenddal and Michael Bednar are among the early adopters of using AI to help answer repetitive questions about assignment logistics and course materials.
“Chatbots deliver an immediate answer for any student, any time, in any time zone,” said Melanie Wiscount, an associate learning designer at Gies Business.
Wiscount has partnered with faculty to develop three types of chatbots: One for assignment logistics, one for course content using MOOC transcripts and readings, and a flagship model that integrates both.
“We’ve had a 100 percent retention rate among faculty who have adopted this tool,” said Wiscount. “Every professor who has used a customized course chatbot in their course has chosen to continue to do so in future course offerings.”
While some applications of AI help streamline routine tasks, others are designed to challenge students' thinking. Across the curriculum, faculty are increasingly using AI not as an answer machine, but as a tool that encourages deeper inquiry, stronger reasoning, and more thoughtful decision-making.
Debating the algorithm
Accelerating performance through technology has become a cornerstone of the Strategic Leadership Capstone (MBA 590), taught by Sandra Corredor, teaching assistant professor and associate head of the Department of Business Administration.
In the high-stakes, hyper-intense two-week sprint leading up to final presentations, students move past basic tool introduction and instead use generative AI to stress-test their corporate strategies. Corredor has designed the curriculum specifically to push back on initial, shallow assumptions.
"We don't want students using AI just to generate a quick script or a clean slide deck. We want them to debate with generative AI," said Corredor, who was recently among the faculty named to Gies Business’ first cohort of AI Faculty Fellows.
For example, when a team proposes a strategy for market disruption, Corredor asks them to feed that strategy into the model and instruct it to act as a cynical board member or a ruthless competitor.
“The AI pushes back, forces them to defend their logic, and exposes the gaps in their business models,” she said.
Corredor also sees how generative AI can boost the confidence of students who can become overwhelmed by the creative process.
“By using the technology to eliminate the 'blank slate' phase of brainstorming, students can focus their energy on deep research, rigorous execution, and high-impact pitching,” said Corredor. “The final products we are seeing are fundamentally sharper."
Balancing group work and tech fluency
This dual approach – using AI to foster better peer-to-peer collaboration on one hand and using it as a sparring partner on the other – is part of a broader, early-adopter AI philosophy across the Gies Business curriculum.
Recent initiatives have included AI-powered tutors, classroom simulations, course support chatbots, and immersive virtual reality experiences. Together, these efforts give students opportunities to experiment with emerging technologies while developing the judgment, communication skills, and human-centered perspective needed to lead in rapidly evolving business environments. Gies is not merely training students to use the latest technology; it is building a pedagogical framework where technological fluency and human leadership are intertwined.
“By integrating AI directly into evaluations and team dynamics, we ensure that human collaboration remains at the absolute center of business education – supercharged, rather than replaced, by technology,” said Guymon.