UVA Darden Launches New Artificial Intelligence in Marketing Course to Learners Across the Globe

Artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous implications for the future of a variety of sectors, and marketing is no exception. By harnessing the power of AI, businesses and marketers can tap into significant growth potential and explore new opportunities to reach customers in the rapidly expanding field. 

In the new online course on the Coursera platform, “Artificial Intelligence in Marketing,” University of Virginia Darden School of Business Professor Rajkumar Venkatesan offers learners a roadmap to incorporating AI into a marketing strategy, dissecting the current state of the field, and using case studies from companies including Ford, Netflix, Coca-Cola Co. and The Washington Post Co., among others, to illustrate plans in action.

Students will explore the key forces enabling the AI revolution in marketing — notably algorithms, networks and data — to gain a deeper understanding of how businesses in a wide variety of industries can get the most out of this exciting technology. Led by Venkatesan, who also teaches the course “Marketing Analytics” on Coursera, students will hear from practitioners in the field explaining how AI is shaping the present and the future in their respective industries. Students will also learn the business models that are critical for the growth and understand the value of AI in personalizing customer engagement.

“In this course, we’ll explore how the modern marketer is successfully using AI to build better, more effective campaigns,” said Venkatesan. “Students with a variety of backgrounds should leave the course understanding how to include these powerful tools in their strategic marketing toolkit.”

Venkatesan has taught a variety of marketing courses at Darden, including “Marketing Technology Products,” “Marketing Strategy”, “Marketing Analytics,” and “Digital Marketing,” among others. His research explores analytics and technology as it relates to marketing return on investment, customer lifetime value and mobile marketing, among other areas of interest.

In addition to the new Coursera course, Venkatesan is coauthor of the forthcoming The AI Marketing Canvas: A Five Stage Roadmap to Implementing Artificial Intelligence in Marketing, which will be published in May 2021.

The course, which is available for enrollment, includes engaging video lectures, on-location productions, interviews with industry experts, and dynamic animations that illustrate key concepts. The course consists of four weeks of content, and learners can obtain a Coursera certificate upon completion.