The University of Mary Washington’s Center for AI and the Liberal Arts in partnership with Continuing and Professional Studies will offer an executive strategy session on Wednesday, Jan. 21, at noon. The virtual seminar, titled “AI ROI: Empowering your Team to Work Smarter with AI,” is tailored to leaders, executives and HR directors with no cost to attend online. It will address how to move from the first steps of exploring AI to generating business value.
The free session will cover:
- The “Intern” Trap: Why treating AI like a search engine leads to workforce complacency and how to fix it.
- The Bubble vs. Reality: A clear-eyed look at the massive infrastructure spending compared to headlines about workforce changes.
- Redefining Success: Moving beyond simple time-savings (“Hard ROI”) to capture cultural innovation (“Squishy ROI”).
- The Transformation Loop: A preview of the framework needed to ensure your workforce adapts rather than stagnates.
“We are living through the largest infrastructure build-out in history, yet many companies are finding that AI adoption is yielding more ‘busy work’ than actual productivity,” said Director of the Center for AI and the Liberal Arts and Professor of Communication Anand Rao, who will lead the session. “The problem isn’t the technology—it’s the management strategy behind it.”
The Jan. 21 hour-long introduction is a preview to the full-day session Executive’s Guide to AI coming up on Friday, Feb. 6, as part of the 2026 Business Acumen Series. In addition, a $15 Introduction to AI self-paced course is offered by Continuing and Professional Studies, covering basic AI tools, critical evaluations of AI outputs and future implications of AI. Learners interested in any application to their personal or professional lives can find a session available.
The Jan. 21 virtual AI ROI session will be held via Zoom. Register and learn more.
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