Scaler Launches undergraduate Program in AI and Business

TASHI CHODEN

The Scaler School of Technology has developed a new degree program for students interested in pursuing a career in technology start-ups by offering a program focused on AI, business, and product development. This four-year undergraduate program is designed to be fully residential, giving students the opportunity to reside at the school for the duration of their studies while receiving training on both the technical and entrepreneurial skills required to develop sophisticated solutions and commercialise those solutions through the application of AI and product development.

The philosophy behind this program is the belief that innovation in today's world requires more than just a knowledge base centred on technology alone. For example, Anshuman Singh, a former engineering leader at Facebook Messenger, stated that AI has provided a great time-saving benefit to companies bringing products to market. However, he goes on to say that along with having tools to create products at an accelerated rate, it is important for schools to teach their students how to identify and find valuable problems to solve and design sustainable solutions to those problems. As such, the curriculum is organised to provide students with a hands-on education system based upon experiential learning through execution, experimenting with ideas based upon their own experience, and refining their end-product ideas against current market conditions.

The program has an educational framework that is both an evolution of an applications-focused curriculum. The first year of the program emphasizes developing solid foundational knowledge in programming, data structures, mathematics required for AI, and communication skills. In the second year, students begin to develop production-level systems, build AI models and explore market entry strategy. In the third year, students are exposed to industry experience through working with startups in the Scaler Innovation Lab where they experience product strategy, user acquisition and operations. The fourth and final year of the program operates under "Founder Mode" where students are responsible for launching and growing an AI-driven startup as a part of their formal academic experience

The program is strengthened significantly by the strong support that it receives from industry players. All students receive mentorship from individuals associated with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and NVIDIA as well as partnership with Amazon and Microsoft on placement opportunities. The initial cohort of students performed remarkably well securing both grants from Samsung and internships at firms like Apple. Currently, the number of students being admitted into the program is limited and application submissions are now being accepted. As such, the program represents Scaler's commitment to fostering a new generation of AI entrepreneurs/start-up leaders that are prepared to thrive in the future economy.