A curated multidisciplinary team of Wharton and Penn students, ranging from undergraduates to MBAs, works alongside a Wharton mentor and your company champion on an 8-week project to explore your real-world business challenge using your datasets and the latest techniques including machine learning and AI. Accelerators occur during the fall and spring semesters and are typically planned six months in advance.
Benefits
Company Applications
Advance your organization’s capabilities with cutting-edge AI and analytics insights.
Applications are open on a rolling basis and reviewed throughout the year.
The program runs during the fall and spring semesters, and applications are considered for both sessions.
Please note: This is a highly competitive application process, and submission does not guarantee selection for a project. Due to limited availability, only a select number of companies will be chosen each cycle.
“The results from our AI & Analytics Accelerator project were truly outstanding. We were so impressed with our student team. What was discovered was actionable and well thought out. McDonald’s is eager to implement the students’ recommendations and assess the impact.”
Jola Oliver
Director of Global Social Listening & Measurement, McDonald’s Corporation
How it Works
Join the AI & Analytics Accelerator
Secure your spot by becoming a Corporate Partner
Scope Your Project
Identify the business challenge, objectives, and datasets
Prepare and Share Data
Agree to a process around secure data sharing
Launch Your Project
Meet your student team and discuss project objectives and expectations
Meet Regularly
Attend weekly meetings with your student team and Wharton mentor
Participate in the Summit
Experience student presentations with insights, models, and solutions
Evaluate Impact
Discuss project recommendations and business implications with the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative
Spring 2025 AI & Analytics Accelerator Projects
Marketing Mix Models (MMMs)
Project Details
Google aims to focus on enhancing Marketing Mix Models (MMMs) to estimate longer-term effects of advertising by incorporating new response variables, such as brand value indicators like Google search queries. It also aims to create more dynamic, granular MMMs with daily-level updates, providing improved insights and scalability for long-term impact assessment and model implementation.
Detect Potential Cases of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
Project Details
CenterWell aims to develop a model that leverages AI technologies to detect patterns in our data that may indicate potential cases of fraud, waste, and abuse.
Automate Client Onboarding
Project Details
RxSense’s first project aims to automate client onboarding by developing a template based on historical claims data from past clients, streamlining the process of designing plans for prescription needs. This approach minimizes manual effort, enabling faster, more accurate, and efficient onboarding.
Analyze Pharmaceutical Demand Trends
Project Details
RxSense’s second project aims to analyze pharmaceutical demand trends, such as the 2023-2024 spike in Ozempic usage, to better forecast pricing and client cost trends. This insight will enable RxSense to optimize pricing strategies and offer cost-saving drug-switching alternatives to members.
Develop an AI tool to Predict Sales Trends
Project Details
Spencer’s Gifts seeks to develop an AI tool to predict sales trends for t-shirts and other trendy items by analyzing historical and current data. The tool will provide weekly reports to the Planning Team, highlighting projected changes in sales, including the magnitude, timing, and revenue impact of these shifts.
Discover the Impact of the AI & Analytics Accelerator: Insights from IKEA and Petco
AI & Analytics Accelerator Case Studies
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Current & Previous Partners
