Innovate business through AI
The Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics, formerly known as the Master of Science in Business Analytics and Information Systems, prepares students for growing needs in industry for expertise in business analytics, data science, data engineering, data analyst, AI/ML engineer, BI developer, and information technology across a wide range of sectors including technology, banking, healthcare, consulting, energy, retail, entertainment, telecom, and many others. This a STEM-designated program, which permits international students to obtain three years of Optional Practical Training (OPT) in the United States.
View BrochureAbout the Program
The Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics—formerly the MS in Business Analytics and Information Systems—prepares students for high-demand roles in data science, analytics, and information technology across industries including tech, finance, healthcare, consulting, and more.
Graduates land roles at top companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Deloitte, JP Morgan, Disney, and Verizon, with starting salaries typically ranging from $100K–$125K, and higher on the West Coast.
Our industry-driven curriculum blends cutting-edge tech and business skills, including:
- AI and machine/deep learning
- Business analytics
- SQL & NoSQL databases
- Cloud computing & big data
- Agile methods, coding, networks, and cybersecurity
Courses are taught by a world-class faculty with PhDs from top universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Northwestern, and NYU. A dedicated industry advisory board ensures our program remains relevant and rigorous.
Students benefit from real-world experiences through:
- Internships and independent study options
- Practice center projects (mentored internships)
- Roles as teaching or research assistants
To boost career readiness, we also offer free bootcamps, certifications, resume and interview workshops, LinkedIn support, and career fairs.
Admission to the MS-AIBA program is highly competitive, with only 250 students admitted
annually from thousands of applicants. We accept students for both Fall and Spring,
with rolling admissions that close once capacity is reached.
International applicants are encouraged to apply early; we aim to finalize decisions
by April to allow time for visa processing. Fall is our primary intake, and Spring
admission is limited. Applications are evaluated based on a comprehensive portfolio.
Incomplete applications—such as those missing GRE scores (unless officially waived)—will
not be reviewed until complete.
Admission Process Steps
Applications are first reviewed by our Office of Graduate Admissions and are then forwarded to our MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics program for further review. The MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics program makes an accept/reject decision, and the Office of Graduate Admissions will notify you of our decision. The admission decision usually takes 1.5 to 2 months, and visas for international students may take an additional 3 to 4 months. Our admission decisions are first come, first served, and will close whenever we reach our intake capacity for the academic year. To help the process move smoothly, we recommend that you do the following:
- Examine our application criteria above to determine your suitability for our MS-BAIS
program. If you wish to apply, submit your application, complete with GRE/GMAT scores,
college transcripts, and other necessary details to USF Office of Graduate Admissions
using our online portal.
- The Graduate Admissions Office will notify you the receipt of your application, assign
you a U number, review your application and supporting documentation, and if complete,
will refer your application to the MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business
Analytics program. This process may take up to one month, depending on their workload.
- If your application is incomplete (e.g., missing TOEFL score, missing application
fee, etc.), it will not be processed beyond this stage. Please check our online portal
to see what is missing from your application. You can also contact the Graduate Admissions
Office at 813-974-3350 or GradAdmissions@usf.edu (not the MS in Artificial Intelligence
(AI) and Business Analytics program director) for further help in this regard.
- If your application is forwarded to the MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business
Analytics program, we will notify you by e-mail our receipt of your application and
ask you to provide additional supplemental information via an online form. If you
did not receive this e-mail, your application is likely still pending at our Graduate
Admissions Office; contact them for the status of your application.
- The MS in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Analytics program will review
your complete application and notify you the final decision on your application. Expect
this process to take another 15-20 days. This is an unofficial decision; the official
decision will come from the Graduate Admissions Office. This is the end of the admissions
process, but you still have a long way to go to join our program.
- Once you have been admitted, please activate your NetID. NetID is your single sign-on
access for USF computer systems, including our library, Canvas learning management
system (which hosts all our class information), Student Self-Service system, Banner
grade system, and many others.
- International students will now have to provide proof of funds for our Office of International
Students to issue you an I-20. This may require a bank statement or a bank loan. Domestic
students may skip to Step 9.
- After receiving your I-20, schedule a visa appointment at your nearest US consulate
or embassy. Depending on applicant volume, it may take months to get a visa appointment.
If you don’t get your visa appointment in a timely manner, you may have to defer your
joining date to the following semester. Let us know if you choose to defer. If you
change your mind and want to join another university, you will have to restart your
I-20 process with your new university and get a new visa, which may further delay
your arrival to the USA by several more months.
- Please ask us to for a prerequisite check. We will examine your transcript and prior
work to determine if you meet our program prerequisites. If you do not , we will suggest
you online courses that you can take to meet these prerequisites. In general, you
must complete all your prerequisites and e-mail us the certificate of completion before
we can register you for classes for your first semester, but there are some exceptions
that we make you aware of as we do the prerequisite check. Students not meeting prerequisites
will have to take remedial classes first, which may add to their cost and delay graduation
from our program. If you are an international student. you can do in parallel with
the visa process outlined in step 8.
- Plan to arrive to our campus at least one week before the start of the semester. This
is the time when we do orientation sessions and conduct free workshops (bootcamps)
on R and Python – the two programming languages you must know for your first day of
class. If you miss these bootcamps, it will be your responsibility to learn these
tools on your own. Our professors do not teach programming in class; they assume that
you attended the bootcamps, are conversant in these tools, and are ready to use them
to build statistical models and machine learning models in your first semester. This
extra week will also help you find an apartment to stay, which is quite difficult
to get at the start of any semester.
- Upon arrival to the USF, apply for a USF ID card.
View Faculty List
Manish Agrawal • Professor • Tampa
Don Berndt • Associate Professor • Tampa
Anol Bhattacherjee • Professor • Tampa
Kaushik Dutta • Information Systems Director and Professor
Grandon Gill • Professor and Academic Director, DBA program
Alan R. Hevner • Distinguished University Professor and AAAS Fellow
Wolfgang S. Jank • Anderson Professor and advisor, Center for Analytics and Creativity
Joni L. Jones • Associate Professor • Academic Director, MS in BAIS program • Faculty Liaison,
Florida Center for Cybersecurity and Academic Director • Tampa
Sunil Mithas • Professor and World Class Scholar • Tampa
Matthew Mullarkey • Associate Professor of Instruction and Director, DBA program
Ronald K. Satterfield • Professor of Instruction • Academic Director, Weekend Executive MS program• Instructor
• Member, Board of Directors, USF Federal Credit Union • Tampa
Shivendu Shivendu • Associate Professor • Tampa
Tim Smith • Professor of Instruction • St. Petersburg
Tom Stablein • Assistant Professor of Instruction • Director, Weekend Executive MS program
Dezhi Yin • Assistant Professor • Tampa
Daniel Zantedeschi • Assistant Professor • Tampa
He Zhang • Assistant Professor • Tampa
Barbara Warner • Senior Instructor • Advisor, MS in BAIS program
A limited number of graduate (teaching) assistantships are available starting in a student’s second semester at USF. These positions offer in-state tuition rates, health insurance, and a monthly stipend, and require up to 20 hours/week of work assisting with classes. Selection is highly competitive and based on academic performance, relevant skills (e.g., we will only hire students with a strong background in statistics as teaching assistants for our statistics classes.), and work ethic.
Students may also apply for on-campus jobs in other departments—such as the Dean’s Office, USF Library, or Morsani Center for Medicine—through USF’s internal Handshake portal. These roles require specific technical skills like Power BI or coding and are only open to enrolled students. Incoming international students cannot apply for these jobs from their home countries.
In addition, students can pursue paid full-time or part-time internships through the Curricular Practical Training (CPT) for a maximum of 12 months after completing two full semesters. CPT internships—at companies like Amazon, BMW, and JP Morgan Chase—often lead to full-time roles. Students also retain their 18-month OPT eligibility after graduation.
The Global Executive Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics program is designed for full-time, working professionals worldwide. This is a fully online program with 100% live instruction that combines information systems and business analytics courses. This program offers a predetermined set of required and elective courses in a lockstep format, without the flexibility or customizability of our regular program. Since students in this executive program are already full-time working professionals, our extracurricular support (bootcamps, internships, job placement, etc.) is not available to students in this program.
The School of Information Systems has a number of international partnerships. Depending on the nature of the partnerships, students who have completed certain programs, or courses at the partner institution, will receive credit for courses in the MS Artificial Intelligence and Business Analytics program.
Current Partnerships
- SP Jain Institute of Management & Research - Mumbai, India
Phone: (727) 873-4786
muma-msaiba@usf.edu