Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving faster than most college curricula can keep up. As companies race to integrate AI, the skills employers need are evolving just as quickly.
Master of Business and Science (MBS) degree instructor Bryan Bischof saw that shift firsthand. Working in AI leadership roles across startups and established companies, he realized there was a growing gap between what students were learning and what the industry expected. He first joined Rutgers as an instructor of the course “Fundamentals of Analytics and Discovery Informatics” five years ago. Now, he set out to close that gap by creating “Special Topics: AI Engineering”—a course designed to teach students how AI is being built and used in the real world. This course ran for the first time in spring 2026.
“If you’ve ever thought to yourself, ‘I want to use AI for my job, but I don’t really know how,’ this is the kind of thing you’ll know coming out of this course,” said Bischof.
For more than a decade, Bischof has watched artificial intelligence evolve from a niche technology into something that is reshaping nearly every industry. His career has taken him from IBM to leadership roles at Blue Bottle Coffee, Stitch Fix, Weights & Biases, and Hex, where he built the company's AI team. He serves as Head of AI at Theory Ventures, helping identify and support the next generation of AI startups.
What Is AI Engineering?
Most people have heard of ChatGPT or other large language models. AI engineering focuses on what happens after those models are built.
"The simplest example would be connecting a large language model to a user experience where they can chat with the large language model," Bischof explained. "However, it can also be as complex as a very complicated piece of software that has large language models working with you, collaborating, or doing things on your behalf."
AI engineering is about transforming powerful AI models into products and applications people can actually use.
"It's basically software engineering, where somewhere in that system, a language model is involved," he said.
Rather than building foundation models from scratch, AI engineers create tools that integrate AI into existing software, automate workflows, and solve real business problems.
Why AI Engineering Matters Now
The demand for AI skills is accelerating rapidly.
“A lot of industries and jobs are changing rapidly to realize the opportunity provided by AI,” said Bischof.
Bischof compares today's AI boom to a new wave of software engineering. As computers became common and internet access expanded, software engineering exploded as a profession.
“Today,” he said, “we’re seeing a similar spike in jobs for AI engineering. It’s where a lot of jobs are starting to pivot.”
The current job market reflects that shift. According to labor market analytics firm Lightcast, more than 1.16 million job postings over the past year requested at least one artificial intelligence or machine learning skill. Demand for specialized AI talent is also climbing. Over 27,000 job postings for AI or ML engineers were added last year, up from roughly 16,000 the year before.
"Because most jobs are starting to ask whether people can be more effective or efficient if they use AI, a lot of the basic ideas of AI engineering are relevant for people who don’t think of themselves as software engineers," Bischof said.
About the MBS Course “AI Engineering”
“This course is about how you make a product that uses AI work and what the modern techniques are,” said Bischof. Students learn how AI systems work and how to improve and best utilize them.
Students are exposed to current tools, modern development practices, and the kinds of problems companies are solving today. Bischof draws on his day-to-day experience working in AI to ensure the course remains relevant to the real-world AI landscape.
Although the course includes software development concepts, Bischof says students don't need to aspire to become AI engineers to benefit from it.
“If you have any interest in working with technology, there is a lot of value here, because a lot of jobs are starting to involve AI, even ones that aren’t software engineering.”
Bischof drew a comparison to the value of learning to work with data in any career.
The course is designed for anyone interested in technology, including students pursuing careers in software engineering, data science, data engineering, or other technical fields. It also helps students who simply want to become more effective users of AI.
"Taking this course makes you better at using things like ChatGPT or Claude," Bischof said. "It also makes you better at thinking about places where you might insert AI into your workflow.”
The Future of AI Engineering
Bischof believes AI engineering won't remain a specialized field for long.
He expects AI capabilities to become part of nearly every engineering discipline, including software engineering, data science, and cybersecurity. Outside technology, he already sees AI transforming finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and scientific research.
"A lot of professional scientists are starting to use AI to do their work and collaborate with them to do science faster and in a more trustworthy way," he said.
For anyone intimidated by the rapid pace of AI development, Bischof offered simple advice.
"Play with AI," he said. "Start using it for things that you're interested in, and you'll get a lot of useful experience."
Whether students hope to build AI-powered applications or simply become more productive in their future careers, learning how AI works today can prepare them for the opportunities ahead.
Visit the MBS website to learn more about “Special Topics: AI Engineering.”