- The 6-month blended program is designed to help senior leaders develop the strategic and technical fluency required to drive enterprise AI strategy and adoption.
- Participants learn through 18 live interactive virtual sessions led by Texas McCombs faculty, followed by a one-week on-campus immersion at The University of Texas at Austin.
- The curriculum covers AI strategy, financial valuation, enterprise architecture, Agentic AI, AI portfolio management, governance, organizational change, and board-level communication.
- Successful participants earn a Certificate of Completion and Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from Texas McCombs, along with Texas Exes alumni benefits.
The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin has launched its Chief AI Officer Program, a 6-month blended learning program designed for technology and business leaders responsible for enterprise-wide AI strategy, investment, governance, and adoption.
UT Austin Chief AI Officer Program
Lead enterprise AI transformation with UT Austin’s Chief AI Officer Program. Build expertise in AI strategy, ROI modeling, governance, and scaling AI initiatives.
The program comes as organizations move AI from experimentation toward broader enterprise implementation. According to BCG's AI Radar 2026, 65% of CEOs now rank AI-led transformation among their top three priorities. The challenge for senior leaders is increasingly not whether AI matters, but how to turn that priority into governed, responsible, and measurable business action.
What Does the CAIO Program Cover?
Texas McCombs’ CAIO Program focuses on the strategic and technical decisions involved in evaluating and scaling AI initiatives. It covers AI literacy, financial valuation, enterprise AI architecture, Agentic AI, data strategy, governance, and organizational change.
The 6-month curriculum progresses through four stages: Strategic Diagnosis and AI Literacy; Financial Valuation and Technical Architecture; Managing the AI Portfolio from Prototype to Production Scale; and Governance and Change Leadership. Participants learn to identify suitable AI opportunities, evaluate technical proposals, assess AI investments, and understand enterprise AI deployment.
The program also covers AI ROI, build-versus-buy-versus-partner decisions, enterprise architecture, and Agentic AI governance. Leaders develop the technical fluency to evaluate AI architecture and proposals without needing to build the systems themselves.
How Does the CAIO Program Help Leaders Scale AI Across the Enterprise?
The CAIO Program helps leaders move AI initiatives from validated prototypes toward production-scale deployment. The curriculum covers decision analysis, AI portfolio management, data readiness, governance, scaling, and AI adoption.
Participants learn to assess AI initiatives for production readiness, identify scaling risks, and design governance structures for responsible AI adoption. The program also addresses data quality, AI readiness, and DataOps principles.
The final module focuses on governance and change leadership, covering AI-era organizational change, AI project advocacy, and board-level communication. Participants learn to build business cases, address legal and compliance considerations, and communicate AI's strategic value to executive stakeholders.
Program Delivery and Learning Experience
The 6-month program combines 18 live interactive virtual sessions led by Texas McCombs faculty with a one-week on-campus immersion at The University of Texas at Austin. Participants can expect a weekly commitment of 4–6 hours. The program also includes structured networking with a global cohort of senior professionals and dedicated support from a Program Support Team.
The on-campus immersion provides an opportunity to engage directly with Texas McCombs faculty and peers while building connections within the University of Texas at Austin ecosystem.
Faculty and Industry Expertise
The program is delivered by Texas McCombs faculty and industry experts. Faculty include Dr. Kumar Muthuraman, Gaylen Paulson, Eric Bickel, Jim Nelson, Clint Tuttle, and Luis Martins, among others. Industry experts listed include G Anthony Reina, Jeremy Samuelson, Michael Lively, Sudhir Shandilya, and Arup Das.
Who Is the Program For?
The program is designed for C-suite executives and senior technology leaders, board members and senior executives, business unit and functional leaders, and transformation, product, innovation leaders, and consultants who influence enterprise AI strategy, investment, adoption, and governance.
Certificate and Alumni Benefits
Upon successful completion, participants earn a Certificate of Completion and CEUs from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Participants also join the Texas Exes alumni network, which has more than 600,000 active alumni across 176 countries, with access to alumni resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.
About the McCombs School of Business
The McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin is an institution focused on innovation, research, and leadership, with AI programs grounded in research applying Artificial Intelligence and Data Science to business challenges across industries.
About Great Learning
Great Learning is the program partner supporting the delivery of the Chief AI Officer Program in collaboration with the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin. The company offers professional and higher education programs across technology, data, and business domains in collaboration with leading academic institutions worldwide.
