It’s been just over a year since FIU Business announced our ambitious AI 360° initiative – integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into our curriculum, research and community engagement. Today, you can’t scroll far on a business news website without learning something new about how AI and data analytics promise to transform business across industries.
Since we got into the game, we have seen immense interest among our students, faculty and the wider business community. Our new Business Analytics with Artificial Intelligence program, launched in fall 2025, has reached capacity with nearly 1,000 students – demand unlike any we’ve ever seen before. You can read about this undergraduate program and why it is so attractive in this issue of FIU Business Now. You can also read about our first-ever AI 305 conference, held last fall, which drew a sold-out crowd of 300 executives, technologists, policymakers, entrepreneurs and business scholars to examine how AI is transforming South Florida’s economy.
Our cover feature delves into AI’s impact on small to mid-sized businesses, which make up such a large part of the South Florida business landscape. FIU Business faculty and alumni experts reveal how AI is leveling the playing field for small businesses as they compete with larger, better-financed competitors.
New faculty research featured in the Knowledge Center section also offers good advice to businesses those that rely on online customer reviews. You may be surprised to learn that companies that officially “claim” their pages on review sites may see lower ratings, more negative reviews and heightened customer expectations.
And, finally, in our Network section, you’ll meet a physician using his experience in medicine and business to help children tackle obesity and related problems; an alumna who is helping transform business processes in the ocean, air, trucking and rail industries; and an association executive who finds time to nurture and support women's professional growth and leadership.
As we wrap up another busy academic year at FIU Business, we are thankful for our alumni and other friends in the community. We count on your support as we continue to build upon our growing reputation as a world leader in business education and research.
William Hardin
Dean, FIU College of Business