One of the first majors of its kind
Many universities offer AI degrees focused on building AI systems. Northwestern is among the first to offer a full undergraduate major that combines modern AI with operations research.
Major in AI-Augmented Decision Systems
Prepare to lead the future of AI-powered decision-making
The world has more data and more AI predictions than ever. What it's short on is people who can turn those predictions into good decisions: decisions that are transparent, trustworthy, and good for the people and organizations they affect.
Launching in fall 2027, the AI-Augmented Decision Systems (AI-ADS) major prepares you to be one of those people, empowering you to solve real problems in healthcare, finance, supply chains, energy, and the public good.
In the AI-ADS program, a decision isn’t viewed a single prediction or a simple everyday choice. It’s understood as many interconnected choices made at once, balancing competing goals within real-world limits on time, money, and resources. That could be a hospital planning patient care, an investment firm managing risk, or a city keeping people and goods moving. That’s the “systems” in Decision Systems: a whole system engineered around the decision, not just the model at its center.
Within that system, AI is one essential part of a process that moves from data to model to computation to decision. You'll learn when to use tools like generative AI and reinforcement learning, and how to pair them with statistics and operations research, the math of making the best possible choice.
AI-ADS is built around a simple idea: AI should strengthen human judgment, not replace it. You'll design systems that keep people in the loop and treat accountability as part of good engineering.
Imagine yourself:
- Building a tool that helps clinicians plan tumor treatments that spare healthy tissue and adapt as “what-if” questions arise
- Designing a delivery network that uses traffic reports and customer messages to update routes and pricing in real time
- Creating an investment tool that blends market data and news sentiment to show how a portfolio performs at different risk levels
- Using analytics and AI to help nonprofits make better decisions
- Helping organizations find where AI adds value and adopt it responsibly
Why study AI-Augmented Decision Systems (AI-ADS)?
Employers need people who can put AI to work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 35 percent growth in data scientist jobs and 12 percent growth in operations research analyst jobs from 2025 to 2035. As well, demand for “forward-deployed engineers,” who have both the technical and operations expertise to integrate AI models into organizations to solve critical problems, has surged 800 percent, according to the Financial Times. AI-ADS is among the first majors in the country to combine modern AI with operations research, preparing you for exactly these roles and providing you with a foundation that holds its value however the job market changes.
Why Northwestern?
Built on a top-ranked program
AI-ADS is housed in Northwestern’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences, home to the nation’s #5-ranked undergraduate industrial engineering program and internationally recognized faculty.
Real clients, real problems
In Client Project Challenge, you’ll apply AI-enabled decision-making to an open-ended problem for a real organization, putting everything you’ve learned to work.
Curriculum and Study Options
Study AI-augmented decision systems in an engineering context or double major with another program
The curriculum builds a strong foundation in computer science, data engineering, probability and statistics, and optimization, then layers on machine learning and generative AI. Upper-level courses focus on AI-enabled decision-making, including new classes on how people and organizations make decisions alongside AI, along with a required ethics course and a client project with a real organization. Domain and concentration electives let you apply these skills to an area you care about, such as finance, health care, logistics, or the social good.
Earn a BS in Engineering with a Major in AI-ADS
For students enrolled in the McCormick School of Engineering
Students complete 48 courses, including McCormick core requirements and AI-ADS major coursework. Prerequisites in math, programming, probability and statistics, and linear algebra are built into McCormick’s distribution requirements. Students then complete 16 core courses spanning computational and data foundations, statistics, optimization and mathematical modeling, AI and data science, and AI-enabled decision-making. The core also includes an ethics course and a client project. Electives from any discipline add depth in an application area.
Note: Students may not pursue both the BS in Industrial Engineering and the BSE with a major in AI-ADS.
Pursue AI-ADS as a Second Major
For students enrolled in McCormick or any other Northwestern school
Pair AI-powered decision-making with another field that excites you—from data science, statistics, and computer science to economics, philosophy, and beyond—to prepare yourself to improve health care, strengthen supply chains, guide financial strategy, or advance the social good. Electives can come from any discipline, so the major is built to connect with your other field of study.
Students complete 7–8 prerequisite courses in math, programming, probability and statistics, and linear algebra, plus the 16 core courses, 3 domain electives, and 3 concentration electives.
Note: Students in other Northwestern schools may add AI-ADS as a second major while remaining enrolled in their current school.
Complementary Programs
Great decisions depend on knowing the world they happen in. Pair your major with a program that builds that knowledge.
Kellogg Managerial Analytics Certificate
Learn the business models leaders use for strategy, pricing, and supply chain decisions. It's a natural fit if you see yourself in consulting, strategy, or business leadership.
Minor in Entrepreneurship
Turn your decision system into a product or a startup. Through the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, you'll learn to launch ventures and lead innovation.
Segal Design Certificate
AI-ADS puts people at the center of every system. Human-centered design gives you the tools to understand the people who will use your systems and build tools they'll trust.
McCormick’s Major in AI
McCormick's Major in AI focuses on how AI systems are built. AI-ADS focuses on how they're used to make decisions. Combine these two majors for end-to-end expertise.
Career Paths
Where do we go from here?
You'll be ready for roles in tech, finance, healthcare, logistics, consulting, energy, government, and nonprofits, or for graduate study in engineering, business, law, or data science. Northwestern Engineering Career Development will help you find internships and co-ops along the way.
Forward-Deployed Engineer
Integrate AI into an organization's daily operations
Machine Learning Engineer
Build and deploy the models behind smart decisions
Operations Research Analyst
Use math and optimization to find the best path forward
Supply Chain and Logistics Analyst
Keep goods and people moving efficiently
Quantitative Analyst
Manage risk and returns in financial markets
Healthcare Systems Analyst
Improve patient care and hospital operations
Visit Northwestern
See where the next generation of decision-makers is getting started. Explore campus, meet students, and picture yourself at McCormick.