Course content
Master of Science Data Science & AI for Business
The program offers you a perfect balance of theory and practice. Elective courses, Certificates and numerous academic opportunities throughout the program allow you to customize the curriculum to your needs and aspirations.
Data is at the core of nearly every business decision. This joint degree with École Polytechnique, will provide students the tools needed to solve real problems, teaching them to ask the “right” questions (both from a Machine Learning and business perspective) and to use the appropriate mathematical and IT tools to answer them.
Students will be equipped to shift seamlessly from data to knowledge, from knowledge to strategic decision-making, and from strategic decision-making to operational business implementations. With the first year spent learning the technical skills at a world-class engineering school, combined with a practical application in the second year at HEC Paris, students will master how to leverage data in a business context.
The teaching in the first year of the MSc Data Science & AI for Business focuses primarily on the foundation skills of Machine Learning and Deep Learning : statistics, probabilities, linear algebra, coding in R and Python…
Students will learn how to perform a complete data analysis, from data manipulation, exploration, and visualization to analysis with powerful machine learning methods and to communicate and deploy their solution.
For further information about the program at École Polytechnique, see their website.
Students can also benefit from refresher courses in probability, statistics and the mathematical foundations of data science.
- Statistics
- Regression
- Machine Learning I and II
- Deep Learning and Optimization
- Database Management
- Python for Data Science
- Generative AI
A 4-month compulsory internship with a company in a data-related sector. Recent examples include Microsoft, Facebook, Orange, Capgemini...
- Applied Mathematics Centre (CMAP), Ecole Polytechnique
- Information Technology Laboratory (LIX), Ecole Polytechnique
HEC Paris offers a sharp focus on Data & AI for Business for the second year of the curriculum through a range of business challenges and courses on how to create business value using data.
During the second year at HEC Paris, students learn how to use data science techniques to design business solutions.
The first semester consists of core courses and business challenges with companies. Students work on real-life business issues using sophisticated data sets.
Two tracks are available in the second semester: Data Entrepreneurship or Data Manager & Data consultant.
Learning expeditions are organized to visit companies and learn about their data science approaches.
Core courses
- Data for business challenges : working on up-to-date business cases using data from a company
- Data engineering courses: using the latest tools (Spark, Github, Dataiku, Python…) to build and deploy models
- Advanced coding in Python for Machine Learning
- Reinforcement learning and advanced Deep Learning
- Data for Finance, Data and Sustainability, Data and Regulation, Data Ethics, Data & Strategy
- Algorithmic Fairness and Interpretability
From one to three week-long challenges enabling students to work in teams on real and up-to-date business issues using data from a company and providing a relevant business solution for the company’s top management.
- Data Entrepreneurship: creating your own startup by joining the HEC Startup Launchpad
- Data Manager & Data Consultant
Two learning expeditions are organized every year to discover the highly diverse approaches of companies to AI and data science.
Students choose a subject they want to work on and master during 3 months with the support of a dedicated tutor.
You will also have the opportunity to obtain a certificate in the following areas, in addition to your degree:
- Climate & Business
- Data Science for Management
- Entrepreneurship in Digital Age
- Energy & Finance
- Engagement & Commitment towards Society Inspiring Excellence
- Influential Luxury
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Inclusive & Social Business
- Strategy for Impact
- Private Equity & Infrastructure
- The future of Money and Payments
At the end of this program you will develop your skills in :
- Ability to analyze any business issue related to Data Science and AI
- Ability to build, optimize and explain Data Science Models using state of the art tools in order to solve business issues alone or working in a team
- Understanding of the impact of the use of Data Science and AI on society
- Having the skills to become Data Manager, Data Consultant or Data Entrepreneur
- Quizzes, exercices
- Case studies
- Business games and role-playing games
- Action projects
- Professional immersions
- A master's thesis (research paper )
Academic Team
In the Digital Age, everything has become information: data from social media, email exchanges, consumption habits, GPS data, bank transactions… All kinds of organizations are converting this vast amount of information into strategic resources. How should these data be stored? How can they be used? These questions impact the profit contributions of many functions within companies (marketing, sales, logistics, risk management) and, therefore, must be addressed.
HEC Paris and École Polytechnique, 2 globally-recognized institutions, have united forces to create a joint degree specifically aimed at providing students with strong skills in both Data Science and Business. This 2-year MSc program has been designed to combine high-level expertise in the engineering field, to train students in data sciences, with proficiency in the business field, to form data managers capable of taking strategic decisions based on data resources.
Profiles specialized in data science are in such high demand that often companies recruit students even before they graduate. This degree will give you an invaluable asset so that you may become a key stakeholder in the digital transformation and evolve successfully in your business career.
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Erwan Le Pennec, Scientific Director, |
Vincent Fraitot, Scientific Director HEC Paris |
HEC Paris and École Polytechnique both boast world-class faculty.
HEC Paris’ permanent faculty all come from the world’s leading research universities such as Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, Wharton, Yale, etc. They regularly share their work in top academic journals and international conferences. 64% are non-French and represent 29 different nationalities.
École Polytechnique has 670 full-time faculty, including 39% of international.
Evolve in a Dynamic Research Ecosystem
Pushing the frontier of knowledge is a shared priority between HEC Paris and École Polytechnique. Both institutions have created specialized research units in order to provide major interdisciplinary contributions to management, innovation, science, technology, and society. École Polytechnique has for example 22 joint laboratories with the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) or other research institutions, such as the CEA, INRIA, INSERM, Université Paris-Sud, ENSTA ParisTech and UPMC.
HEC Paris has launched chairs with major companies on contemporary issues such as leadership, innovation, and sustainability, but also interdisciplinary research centers:
- the Society and Organizations Center, which aims at offering new ways of understanding the world and helping organizations to reconcile economic priorities with a new series of imperatives
- the Entrepreneurship Center, which promotes entrepreneurship through innovative HEC Paris programs, start-ups support, academic and business partnerships
- the Digital Transformation Center, which addresses the challenges of digital transformation, and brings together businesses and students to work directly on such issues.
Faculty
The HEC Paris faculty consists of over 160 professors, comprising more than 25 different nationalities, with Ph.D.’s from leading universities across the world. They work in all major areas of economics and management.
Find out moreDisability Program for Learners
This program is adapted and open to people with disabilities.
Click here to find out more about the HEC Paris Disability Mission
Contact us : esh@hec.fr
Accréditations
HEC Paris is accredited by the “Bienvenue en France” certification, by the Campus France organization and the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for the quality of the reception of its international students. We have obtained the highest level of accreditation, recognizing the quality of HEC Paris for reception in all the criteria provided:
- The quality and accessibility of information
- Reception facilities and the integration process within school and life in France
- Academic support and availability of English-speaking staff and the teaching community
- Housing and quality of life on campus
- The quality of post-graduation follow-up and career placement
