SAP Labs India collaborates with IIM Bangalore to upskill Managers in Artificial Intelligence

Announces launch of AI for Managers Programme to make the knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and its components available to managers who aspire to become competent decision makers.

BENGALURU, India — April 22, 2022— SAP Labs India announces collaboration with IIM Bangalore to launch AI for Managers programme. The initiative aims to make the knowledge of Artificial Intelligence and its components such as Statistical Learning, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning accessible to a pool of interested managers who aspire to become competent Decision Makers.

Commencing from April 22, 2022, it is a 16-month long certification programme comprising 11 online modular courses stacked together based on the order of their sequence in a learning curve. Each module is enriched with concepts, applications, and case studies to ensure participants learn and apply AI techniques and machine learning algorithms such as supervised learning, unsupervised learning, and reinforcement learning algorithms to solve problems across various functional areas of management.

Some of the key objectives of the AI for Managers programme are to help participants:

• Recognize the emergence of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning as a competitive strategy.
• Understand foundations of data science on which the AI models are built.
• Learn descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, and prescriptive analytics and their applications in generating solutions for business problems.
• Learn the functioning of artificial neural networks (ANN) and deep learning algorithms such as recurrent neural network (RNN) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) with applications.
• Application of AI techniques to solve problems in various sectors such as Aerospace, Banking financial services and insurance (BFSI), E-commerce, Manufacturing, Retail, Sports and Services.

Sindhu Gangadharan, SVP, SAP User Enablement & MD, SAP Labs India said, “At SAP, we believe in continuous learning and offer our colleagues immersive experiences for upskilling, reskilling and newskilling. In order to realize SAP’s vision to help the world run better and support our half a million customers in their journey to become intelligent and sustainable enterprises, it is imperative our workforce remains agile and constantly reinvents itself to fuel unfettered innovation. The AI for Managers programme, in partnership with IIM-B, is a step forward in this regard and is designed to upskill our managers in the fast-evolving business landscape. The 16-month long programme focuses on action-oriented approach where SAP colleagues can bring in their current problem statements and explore solutions. As we start with the AI for Managers programme, we are keen to expand this to our developer community, Product owners and Product managers in the near future to become an AI-first organization.”

Vasanthi Srinivasan, Chairperson, MOOCs and Digital Learning, IIM Bangalore said, "Research estimates that AI will result in increasing the global GDP by about 1.2% annually by 2030. The program 'AI for Managers' being launched by IIMBx is designed to impart industry ready skills to the participants in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and enhance computational thinking to solve business problems and facilitate effective decision making."

Instructors of the programme come with a combined experience of over 70 years across teaching and consulting in the AI domain. Prominent names include Professor U Dinesh Kumar, Decision Sciences and Chair of Excellence; Professor Rajluxmi V Murthy, Decision Sciences; Kumar Rahul, Alumnus of IIMB and Research Scholar of IIMK; Manaranjan Pradhan, Alumnus of IIMB; Naveen Kumar Bhansali, Adjunct faculty and alumnus of IIM Bangalore; and Sharada Sringeswara, IIM Bangalore and BITS Pilani alumni, among others.

Interested candidates applying for the programme will be subjected to a comprehensive admission procedure to ensure that the learners’ goals are oriented towards a challenging experience. To earn a programme completion certificate, participants are expected to score 60% and above in all the 9 individual courses.

Present in India for the last 25 years, SAP’s purpose is “to help the world run better and improve people’s lives” serving more than half a million customers in their quest for digital transformation and the journey for sustainable growth. SAP Labs India is SAP's largest Research and Development center outside its headquarters in Germany and a part of a connected lab network of 21 Labs in 18 countries. It is one of the earliest R&D centers of a global company to have a footprint in India and has over the period of more than two decades grown in strategic importance for SAP.

About SAP SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives.

About  IIMBx

IIMBx is the digital learning department of IIM Bangalore. Founded on the philosophy of making quality Business and Management education accessible to all, IIMBx creates Massive Open Online Courses with the faculty of IIM Bangalore. The courses are delivered to a wide section of global audience through edx, SWAYAM and the IIMBx platforms. IIMBx now has a learner base of over 1.5 million learners representing 190 different nations from across the globe. IIMBx’s vision is to create a positive social impact by leveraging educational technology to create a world-class repository of digital courseware in management studies for learners across the globe. In the long run, IIMBx aims to be a thought leader and preferred digital hub for management education supporting managers, academicians and institutions.