Would it surprise you to hear 95% of tech CFOs think generative AI will boost their productivity? Now, what if we told you that just 5% say it will be used in finance this year? Clearly, the potential exists, but many CFOs are still hesitant to fully embrace this technology.
But with so many AI courses for finance leaders out there, it’s also clear there is a growing interest in this emerging field. Fortunately, it’s also easier than ever to learn what you need to know about utilizing AI in finance!
Today, we will make it even easier for you by laying out the top eight AI courses for finance leaders. We’ll break everything down by the course name, where it takes place, the institution that provides it, who it’s best for, the length of the course, and other details to help you make the most informed decision.
Top 9 AI Courses for Finance Leaders
By the end of this article, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of the best AI courses for finance leaders and be able to choose the one that best fits your needs.
Let’s go!
1. Artificial Intelligence: Implications For Business Strategy
This online short course, put on in collaboration with Get Smarter, explores how generative AI platforms are revolutionizing business operations. It provides a practical grounding for students in artificial intelligence (AI) and its business applications.
With the knowledge they’ll come away with, participants can transform their organizations into innovative, efficient, and sustainable entities. The course is designed to equip finance leaders with the knowledge and confidence needed to integrate AI into business strategies and improve decision-making.
The course includes the following modules:
- An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning in Business
- Natural Language Processing in Business
- Robotics in Business
- Artificial Intelligence in Business and Society
- The Future of Artificial Intelligence
Institution: MIT Online
Location: Online
Length of Course: 6 weeks (excluding orientation)
Price: $3200 (pricing plans available)
Effort: 6-8 hours per week, entirely online
Learning Format: Weekly modules, flexible learning
Who It’s Right For: This course is ideal for finance leaders looking to understand the practical implications of AI in business strategy and gain the skills needed to harness AI’s potential for organizational improvement.
Other Details: Multiple payment options
2. UT Austin’s Certificate in AI
This postgraduate program offers a comprehensive education in AI and machine learning.
Among many others, UT Austin’s Certificate in AI program covers topics such as:
- Neural networks
- Computer vision
- Natural language processing
- Python for AI
It provides mentorship from AI and ML experts and dedicated career support. Upon completion, participants receive a Certificate of Completion from UT Austin on their resume, a globally recognized leader in analytics.
The course also includes extensive career-development benefits, including LinkedIn and resume profile building and reviews, building an online portfolio, and personalized one-on-one career guidance.
Institution: University of Texas at Austin
Location: Online
Length of Course: Six months (part-time)
Price: Contact for details
Effort: 10-15 hours per week, online and in-person components
Learning Format: Self-paced with weekly live discussions and in-person workshops
Who It’s Right For: This program suits professionals looking to advance their careers in AI, data science, and related fields.
Other Details: Payment plans available. The course includes eight or more hands-on projects during which students work directly with experts.
If you are interested in finance and AI, here’s another post you don’t want to miss next: 12 Top Finance AI Influencers you need to follow.
3. Cornell University AI Strategy Certificate Program
Designed for managers and senior leaders in tech, operations, finance, and HR, Cornell University’s AI Strategy Certificate Program will help leaders learn how to apply AI in their organizations, among other key skills. The program is offered in collaboration with eCornell, the university’s online learning platform.
Along with an introduction to AI and its future, this course also covers:
- Knowledge-Based AI Technologies
- Machine Learning and Data-Based Approaches to AI.
- Strategic Implementation of AI Systems
- Societal Impacts of AI.
Class size is kept under 35 students.
Institution: Cornell University
Location: Online
Length of Course: The course length is two weeks, and the program lasts three months.
Price: $2730 or $700/month
Certificate: Yes (Certificate from the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business awarded upon completion along with 60 Professional Development Hours (6 CEUs) and 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) toward PMI recertification)
Effort: 3-5 hours per week, online
Learning Format: Instructor-led
Who It’s Right For: This program suits managers and senior leaders looking to understand AI and its applications in their organizations.
4. AI in Finance Specialisation from CFTE
With a focus on how AI is transforming the world of finance and banking, the online and entirely self-paced course AI in Finance Specialisation from CFTE is designed to help professionals gain practical skills and knowledge to apply AI and Machine Learning in their careers.
This certificate consists of four courses, each of which can be purchased individually:
- Course 1: Foundations of Artificial Intelligence: Applications and Trends
- Course 2 AI Technologies: Machine Learning Techniques, NLP and Recommendation Engines
- Course 3: Implementing AI in an Enterprise: Technology Skill Sets and Regulation
- Course 4: Applications of AI in Finance: Use Cases from the Industry
Institution: Centre for Finance, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (CFTE)
Location: Online
Length of Course: Self-paced, but students can access the course for six months upon purchase.
Price: Students can purchase the program for a one-time payment of £600 or three £200 payments.
Certificate: Yes (Participants receive a digital certificate upon completion that can be embedded on their LinkedIn profile or other professional website)
Effort: Self-paced, including at least 12 hours of expert content (including 72 videos).
Learning Format: Video lectures, case studies, quizzes, and projects.
Who It’s Right For: This program is suitable for finance professionals looking to upskill and understand the impact of AI on their industry. As there are no prerequisites for this course, the course is accessible to people at any point in their career.
5. AI Applications in Marketing and Finance from the University of Pennsylvania
In this four-part online course through the University of Pennsylvania, you’ll explore the dynamic realm of AI-driven applications designed to elevate the customer experience and extend customer relationships.
One of the four modules is dedicated to finance and explores how AI is being used within the industry to detect fraud, manage risk, and automate financial decisions.
The fourth and final module covers additional AI topics in finance, including how some of the world’s biggest brands use AI for a secure online shopping environment.
Institution: University of Pennsylvania
Location: Online
Length of Course: Five hours between the four modules and approximately six hours of work total.
Price: Free to enroll
Certificate: Yes
Effort: Self-paced
Learning Format: Includes videos, quizzes, and reading
Who It’s Right For: Marketing and finance professionals or students interested in understanding how AI transforms these industries and how they can utilize AI and machine learning to influence consumer habits.
Did you know Datarails offers on-demand webinars to help you deepen your knowledge of all things FP&A? Watch when it suits you to strengthen your financial leadership knowledge and career!
6. AI for Finance from Udemy
One of the most popular online learning platforms, Udemy offers a comprehensive course on AI for Finance authored by Jakub Konczyk, a Python and Django expert. This course is geared towards professionals and students who have a basic understanding of finance and want to incorporate AI into their work or studies.
Through this course, you’ll learn how to use Python, Keras, Scikit-Learn, and pandas for financial forecasting and data preparation. You’ll also gain hands-on experience in predicting future values based on single and multiple variables using key machine learning methods.
Institution: Udemy
Location: Online
Length of Course: The course has five sections and 18 lectures that total nearly two and a half hours.
Price: $47.99 (for lifetime access)
Certificate: Yes.
Effort: Self-paced.
Learning Format: Video lectures.
Who It’s Right For: In their own words, this course best suits “aspiring data scientists, ML practitioners, as well as Investment Analysts and Portfolio managers working in the finance and investment industry.”
7. Quant University Machine Learning and AI for Financial Professionals Course
This live and on-demand nine-module course from Quant University consists of nine modules, each 1.5 hours.
Some of the topics and lessons include:
- The role of machine learning and AI in financial services
- When to use machine learning and AI techniques
- Key machine learning methodologies
- How to choose an algorithm for a specific goal
- Case studies with fully functional code
Prior to enrolling, it’s important to have a solid grasp of Python. If you are unfamiliar with Python, Quant University recommends taking their Just Enough Python for Data Science in Finance course first.
Institution: Quant University
Location: Online
Length of Course: The course includes nine modules, each 1.5 hours.
Price: Contact for details
Certificate: Yes, students receive a virtual certificate.
Effort: Download the brochure for more details.
Learning Format: Students can choose from live training dates or participate on an on-demand basis using pre-recorded sessions with interactive videos, slides, demos, and fully functional code.
Who It’s Right For: The course is beneficial for: “fundamental and quantitative analysts, risk and investment professionals, portfolio managers new to data science and machine learning.”
8. Artificial Intelligence for Trading from Udacity
In an online course made for traders, quants, wealth managers, portfolio and assets managers, and developers, students can learn the fundamental concepts of AI and machine learning in financial trading.
This course is considered advanced, with prerequisites consisting of:
- Object-oriented Python
- Linear algebra
- matplotlib
- NumPy
- Basic calculus
The course also includes hands-on projects and case studies to apply the learned concepts in real-world scenarios. Students will have access to industry experts for guidance and networking opportunities.
Institution: Udacity
Location: Online
Length of Course: Five months
Price: Udacity subscriptions start at $330 per month (for unlimited access to their online catalog), but you can save on annual subscriptions.
Certificate: Yes
Effort: Self-paced
Learning Format: Case studies, reading, quizzes, etc.
Who It’s Right For: Quants, traders, portfolio and assets managers, and wealth managers.
9. Advanced ChatGPT for Finance
ChatGPT can be a powerful financial analysis tool, and courses like Advanced ChatGPT for Finance by finance experts and influencers, Nicolas Boucher and Christian Martinez, can help business leaders harness the power of this tool.
Some of the course’s outcomes and teachings include:
- Advanced instructions to ChatGPT
- Knowing how to use ChatGPT for Financial Analysis
- Solve the Confidential Data issue
- Analyse PDFs with ChatGPT
- Use Python with ChatGPT
- Use ChatGPT plugins
In this two-day co-hort based course, students will get the chance to learn from financial AI leaders while also learning how to put ChatGPT to work for them.
Institution: Maven
Location: Online
Length of Course: Two Days
Price: $599 USD
Certificate:
Effort: Intensive
Learning Format: Online, two-day cohort
Who It’s Right For: Those who want to learn to use ChatGPT for financial analysis, those who want to expand their existing knowledge, and those who want to be pioneers in the use of AI for finance.
Conclusion: Top AI Courses for Finance Leaders in 2024
As a finance leader, staying up-to-date with advancements in AI is vital to keeping your organization ahead of the curve. Whether you’re just starting your career or are an experienced professional, there’s a course for you. Today, there are virtually limitless options for learning about AI and its applications in finance.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for a powerful FP&A solution, you’ve found it in Datarails. Widely regarded as the best FP&A software for Excel users, Datarails leverages AI and machine learning to streamline financial processes and provide real-time insights for better decision-making in their AI driven FP&A Genius Solution.
Our blog is also rich with other financial planning and analysis resources for finance leaders looking to stay ahead of the curve.
Did you learn a lot from “Top 8 AI Courses for Finance Leaders?”
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- 5 Professions to be Impacted by AI.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you still have questions about AI courses for finance leaders, here are some commonly asked questions for your reference.
What AI is best for finance?
You’re in the right place! Datarails offers a robust AI-powered Chat FP&A tool as well as financial consolidation software and business budgeting software to help finance leaders utilize AI to streamline their financial processes, make more informed decisions, and stay ahead of the competition.
How to learn AI for finance?
Plenty of online courses, webinars, and workshops are available to help finance leaders learn about AI in finance. Choose from paid, free, self-paced, or instructor-led courses, and select the option that best fits your learning style and schedule. Additionally, you can also learn from industry experts through blogs, whitepapers, and other resources.
What is the AI program for executives?
Several universities and business schools offer executive programs focused on AI for finance leaders, providing them with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively utilize AI in their organizations. With so many options, you’ll want to do your research (reading this outline of the top eight AI courses for finance leaders was a great start!) to find the right fit.