AI for business is new professional frontier

Disu Dang

Artificial intelligence has reshaped industries across the globe - and its influence is only expected to grow.

As detailed in the budget, the government has allocated HK$1 billion to establish the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute.

In alignment with this initiative, City University of Hong Kong has launched its inaugural Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence in Business program for the 2025-2026 academic year, a first of its kind in Hong Kong.

Offered by the university's Department of Information Systems, the program aims to equip future business leaders with AI-driven insights and prepare them for the evolving job market.

"AI has deeply changed our society and will continue to lead the way of change in the future," said program leader Ma Jian. Since 2007, Ma's team at the Department of Information Systems has been developing ScholarMate.com, the largest specialized research social network in China.

In 2024, the team introduced STIGPT - a generative pre-trained transformer focused on science, technology, and innovation - an initiative that enhances open-source large language models with a self-constructed research knowledge graph and vector database spanning various academic disciplines and industries.

In the same year, the department received funding from the government's Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One Plus fund to advance federated learning technology that integrates research knowledge graphs with large language models.

"If we don't understand AI nowadays, we can't keep up with the developments of society," Ma said.

The program, offered for a HK$360,000 tuition fee, is available in both full-time and part-time formats, requiring students to complete 30 credits. Applications will be accepted until May 31, with 50 spots available.

Alex Wang, head of the Department of Information Systems at CityU, said they had already received hundreds of applications online as of March 5. "With 50 spots available, we expect at least 500 applications," Wang said.