1. What is a Generative and Agentic AI programme for data science and management?

It is a learning programme that combines three layers: data science, Generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI, plus the management skills to lead all three. In simple words, data science helps you read the past, GenAI helps you create, and agentic AI helps you get work done with less manual effort.

A blended format mixes live online classes with time on campus. As a result, you keep your job while you study and still build a peer network in person.

2. Why Generative and agentic AI skills are the fastest career multiplier in 2026

The short reason is money and demand. Companies want AI skills, and they pay more for them. Here are three numbers that every working professional should know.

The AI wage premium more than doubled in one year

PwC studied close to a billion job ads across six continents. Its 2025 report found that AI-skilled workers earn 56% more than peers in the same role, up from 25% in the previous year’s study. Moreover, jobs that need AI skills grew 7.5% even as total job postings fell 11.3%.

That said, PwC’s Global Workforce Leader, Pete Brown, warns that AI skills “can quickly become out of date” without continuous learning. Therefore, you need a deep foundation, not a one-time crash course.

Agentic AI is moving from pilots to everyday software

Gartner expects AI agents to spread fast inside business software. According to Gartner analyst Anushree Verma, agents are moving “to task-specific agents by 2026 and ultimately multiagent ecosystems by 2029.”

The real gap is leadership, not tools

Most companies already use AI somewhere. However, very few turn it into real profit. McKinsey’s State of AI 2025 survey of 1,993 respondents across 105 countries shows how sharply the numbers fall at each stage.

McKinsey sums up the problem clearly. In its words, most organisations have “not yet embedded AI technologies deeply enough into their workflows” to see enterprise-level gains. Similarly, Gartner predicts that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027 because of rising costs, unclear business value or weak risk controls.

India needs lakhs more AI-ready professionals

India’s demand is even sharper. A Deloitte India and NASSCOM report projects that AI talent demand will grow from 6–6.5 lakh to more than 12.5 lakh by 2027. Meanwhile, TeamLease Digital’s Digital Skills & Salary Primer FY2026–27 finds that only about 16% of IT professionals have AI skills, and it puts the GenAI talent gap at about 53%.

Globally, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 names AI and big data as the fastest-growing skill set to 2030, with a net gain of 78 million jobs. These jobs will go to people who combine AI fluency with business judgement.

3. Key learning components of the IIM Nagpur Blended MBA in Data Science & Management

IIM Nagpur designed this 2-year, 8-term MBA for professionals who want to lead in an AI-driven business world.

Together, these components move you from concepts to a live business problem.

4. What the Generative and agentic AI curriculum covers, term by term

Most MBAs treat AI as a single elective. In contrast, IIM Nagpur runs data and AI through every term, starting with Python and ending with agentic AI in the enterprise. The journey below shows how the layers build on each other.

Notice the order: data first, AI foundations next, and GenAI and agents last. As a result, you understand why an AI output may be wrong, not just how to prompt it.

5. What skills will you gain from this blended MBA?

By the end of two years, you should be able to do six things with confidence.

6. Who should apply for a Generative and agentic AI MBA?

This programme suits you if two or more of these lines describe you:

You do not need a coding background. The preparatory bridge and Term I teach statistics and Python from the basics, using business examples.

7. Who leads the programme at IIM Nagpur?

Prof. Sujeet Kumar Sharma is the Programme Director. He is a Professor in the Decision Science & Information Systems area at IIM Nagpur, with over 23 years of teaching experience across India, Oman and Bahrain. His research covers AI, blockchain, social media and IT for disaster management, with 40 international journal publications.

Earlier, he directed the MBA programme at Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat. IIM Nagpur itself was founded in 2015 under the mentorship of IIM Ahmedabad and now ranks in India’s NIRF top 25 (2025).

8. Degree or certificate? How Generative and agentic AI programmes compare

Many IIMs now offer AI programmes. The table below compares the IIM Nagpur Blended MBA with three well-known alternatives on the same criteria.

9. A real-world example: what an agentic AI field project can look like

Consider Ritu (an illustrative profile), a 34-year-old procurement manager at a Pune auto-parts company with 8 years of experience. Her team checks about 1,200 supplier invoices every month. Each manual check takes around 20 minutes, which adds up to roughly 400 working hours a month.

During her Year 2 electives, she learns agentic AI design and AI governance. Next, for her 60-hour field project, she maps an agent that matches invoices with purchase orders, flags mismatches and sends only exceptions to her team. In her pilot plan, review time drops to about 6 minutes per invoice. That would free nearly 280 hours a month, the equal of almost two full-time roles moved to supplier negotiation.

More importantly, Ritu builds the ROI case, sets human-in-the-loop approval rules and presents a roll-out plan to her CFO. A short tools course rarely teaches this mix of AI skill and management judgement.

10. Frequently asked questions