Cambridge Judge launches 3 new AI programmes in Executive Education

Agentic AI: Design, Build, Govern programme

9-10 July in Cambridge

This programme examines how agentic AI represents the next critical evolution in enterprise technology: while generative AI produces content, agentic AI takes action by planning, executing multi-step workflows and adapting autonomously.

Fewer than 12% of organisations have moved agentic AI beyond piloting, and the biggest obstacle is having the right systems and data in place to use it at scale. So the programme includes hands-on labs that allow participants to build, deploy and stress-test their own agents, and guidance on how to take these agents back to their organisations and safely and effectively embed them into their work.

The programme’s Academic Programme Directors are David Stillwell, Professor of Computational Social Science, who recently co-authored an article in the journal Nature that introduces an ‘ability profile’ for AI models that can predict how they will perform on unfamiliar tasks, and Mark Bloomfield, a Fellow in the Marketing subject group at Cambridge Judge and founder of Turbulence, a board-level AI transformation advisory firm.

Shifting AI beyond isolated tasks

“Agentic AI is important because it shifts AI from assistant to operator, enabling organisations to automate end-to-end workflows rather than isolated tasks,” says David. “This allows companies to scale decision-making and execution in ways that were previously impractical. Those who get it right will have a significant advantage in speed, efficiency, and adaptability.”

Mark, who recently addressed a global Cambridge University Press and Assessment event focusing on AI, adds:

“Agentic AI is an invitation to reimagine the work itself – what gets done, who does it, and how value is created. Design, build and govern are the fundamental steps that turn that invitation into something real: systems you understand, outcomes you can trust and advantage you can sustain.”

AI Governance for Boards and CXOs programme

15-17 July in Cambridge

This programme examines how organisations can better future-proof themselves to risks posed by AI by adopting proactive resistance models rather than relying on minimum legal compliance.

The programme will provide a tailored AI Governance Audit for each organisation participating, which includes a 90‑day action plan that can be presented to the firm’s board. The programme’s Academic Programme Director is Matthew Grimes, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Futures who has developed 2 new AI tools to help scholars solve important ‘puzzles’ in order for their research to be published in top academic journals.

Boards need to boost the pace in responding to AI

“There is a pace problem facing many organisations in how they respond to AI,” says Matthew. “The technology is moving in months, sometimes weeks, yet most boards are moving at the pace of their quarterly meetings – which means the space between what’s being deployed, what’s being regulated, and what’s actually being overseen gets wider every quarter.

“What I want participants to leave the programme with isn’t a checklist, which would of course be quickly obsolete, but more critically a way of thinking and the governance structures to match, so they can stay ahead of both the engineers and the regulators.

“As an example, Microsoft offers a useful reference point for what well-structured AI governance can look like: formal board-level oversight through its Environmental, Social and Public Policy Committee, a dedicated Office of Responsible AI setting company-wide policy, and a cross-functional Responsible AI Council co-led by the President and CTO. They’re treating governance not as a brake on innovation but as the condition that makes responsible scaling possible.”

AI Strategy for Enterprises programme

22-24 July in Cambridge

This programme is designed for senior leaders who want to move beyond experimentation and isolated pilots in making AI a core driver of strategy and value creation in reinventing the enterprise. Across 3 days, the course helps participants rethink their competitive position, reimagine an AI-enabled business model and build a realistic roadmap for implementation.

“AI strategy today must be developed with a responsible data strategy which is implementable,” says Academic Programme Director Michael Barrett, Professor of Information Systems and Innovation Studies, whose academic journal articles have looked at issues such as the risk of AI algorithmic bias and its implications for diversity and marginalisation, and images of (social) data in an AI age.

AI strategy without a responsible data plan is wishful thinking

A key theme of the AI Strategy for Enterprises programme is that AI strategy must reimagine the business model and be developed in tandem with a data strategy. Participants examine how their data assets, data quality and data governance shape what is realistically possible with AI, and how these are aligned with their values and vision.

“AI strategic initiatives without a responsible data strategy is essentially wishful thinking,” Michael notes. “Leaders need to know what data they have, what data they need and how those data flows support decisions right across the enterprise.”

The programme also stresses that any credible AI strategy must address people and ethical issues in implementing their future with AI. Sessions explore human-AI collaboration and implementation of AI, and the skills and literacy required for employees to work effectively with AI systems. “Successful AI adoption is as much about people, values and prioritising valuable use cases as it is about algorithms,” says Michael.