Employers Evaluate AI Strategies Developed by ICEF Students

As part of the ICEF elective course “Artificial Intelligence for Business”, students work on projects for partner companies and potential employers. AI experts from these companies also serve on the jury during the final project presentations.

ICEF students present their project at the Gazprombank office

© ICEF

ICEF students can take the elective course “Artificial Intelligence for Business”, taught by Nikita Khudov, Deputy CEO of the AI Alliance Russia and an ICEF BSc graduate of 2016. The course culminates in the presentation and defense of practice-oriented projects before a panel of business experts and representatives of leading employer companies. This year, students were tasked with developing a range of AI implementation initiatives for a Russian company.

The impressive panel of judges encouraged participants to demonstrate their strongest ideas and analytical skills:

1. Nikita Khudov
   Deputy CEO, AI Alliance Russia. Managing Partner, StrategAI. Lecturer of the ICEF course “Artificial Intelligence for Business.” ICEF BSc graduate of 2016.
    
2. Nina Azizova
   Executive Director for AI-Native Transformation, Sber. ICEF BSc graduate of 2009 and ICEF MSc graduate of 2011.
    
3. Adel Valiullin
   First Vice President and Head of AI, Gazprombank.
    
4. Alexander Abramov
   Head of AI, VkusVill.
    
5. Roman Bednarsky
   Head of Retail Payments and Transfers, Ozon Bank.

A team of five first-year ICEF students developed AI implementation strategies for two Russian banks—Tochka Bank and Gazprombank.

The students presented their proposals to Adel Valiullin, First Vice President of Gazprombank, and Igor Vakhlamov, Managing Director of the bank’s AI Technology Center.
The presentation took place at Gazprombank’s office, where the students received highly positive feedback on their work. Several initiatives were singled out as particularly promising.

The experts were especially impressed by the level of preparation demonstrated by ICEF first-year students. The team’s strong performance has opened opportunities for participants to apply for internships at Gazprombank.

Meanwhile, students who worked on the project for VkusVill have already progressed to internship interviews. In addition, Nikita Khudov, the lecturer of the course “Artificial Intelligence for Business”, invites the five highest-ranked students in the course to a fast-track interview process at his company.

Nikita Khudov

Deputy CEO, AI Alliance Russia. Managing Partner, StrategAI. Lecturer of the ICEF course “Artificial Intelligence for Business”. ICEF BSc graduate of 2016.

“From the very beginning, I designed this course to be as practical and industry-oriented as possible. That is why I am especially pleased to see my students continuing their professional growth beyond the classroom and successfully engaging with leading companies in the field”.