Innovative classroom thinking with AI

Students in a classroom listening to a professor.

The buzz in the room was impossible to miss. Part startup pitch, part group brainstorm, all backed by the hum of something new. It wasn’t just the students’ excitement or the high-stakes energy of real entrepreneurs in the room. It was that moment when AI stopped being abstract and started being useful.

In the University at Buffalo School of Management’s MGO 199 class, students weren’t just reading about AI — they were wielding it.

As part of a special collaboration with the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, students worked directly with four business owners, each with a unique challenge. Their mission? Use generative AI to help entrepreneurs think differently — faster, smarter, bolder.

And they did.

“You could really feel the energy and creativity in the room,” says Celine Krzan, clinical assistant professor of entrepreneurship. “The students were exploring AI tools and using them to solve real problems. It felt like a startup incubator disguised as a classroom.”

The assignment wasn’t about theory. It was about outcomes. Students used AI to brainstorm new revenue streams, prototype customer experiences and draft real-world content that’s now being compiled and shared back with the entrepreneurs.

  • Antonia, a student in the class, was stunned by the scope of what she could accomplish: “I had no idea I could do all of that with AI. It was cool to really help a business owner and bring an idea to life.”
  • For Issrat, it clicked on a personal level: “It was like magic. I have so many ideas living in my head, and now I know how I can actually prototype them and bring them to life.”
  • Yara put it plainly: “I loved this class. It helped me discover new and exciting information I had never known before.”

Krzan, who is also developing a “Build Your Own No-Code App” module for future courses, sees this not as a one-off — but a blueprint. She’s already sketching out case studies based on the projects, hoping to create more hands-on opportunities where students become strategic partners.

It’s all part of a bigger movement at the UB School of Management — using AI not as a gimmick or buzzword, but as a serious tool for bridging today’s research with tomorrow’s business solutions.

This story was written by AI and edited by a member of the UB School of Management Marketing and Communications Office.