Boost your career with new AI summer short course
Class will cover the basics of building AI apps in the workplace to improve productivity
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (05/15/2026) — Artificial intelligence is changing the workplace in fields ranging from engineering to healthcare to marketing. The University of Minnesota Twin Cities Department of Computer Science & Engineering is offering a new four-week summer short course to help professionals boost their careers and their productivity with new AI skills.
The course, entitled Beyond the Prompt: Building Custom Tools with AI, meets on Mondays and Wednesday evenings June 1-24. The class will cover the basics of building applications in the workplace and is designed for professionals in all careers, regardless of coding experience.
Through guided, hands-on exercises, students will learn how to build a functional custom application tailored to their professional or personal needs. The course will also give an “under the hood” look at how AI works, and will explore ethical issues related to AI use in the workplace. Students will finish the course with a better understanding of modern AI and a roadmap to build real apps for their personal and professional lives.
‘With the right tools in place, I’ve seen a professional increase their productivity by 10 times or maybe even 100 times in some cases,” said Dan Knights, a University of Minnesota Computer Science and Engineering associate professor who will be teaching the short course. “On the flip side, AI can give wrong answers or what people often call “AI slop.” This course is for people who want to use AI to improve their workflows or amplify their work, but don’t have the time to dig deep and research all the tools and best practices.”
Knights, a researcher and educator whose work centers on building custom AI and data tools to decode complex systems, said people taking the class will come away with an understanding of how much they can accomplish in terms of building their own tools, like websites and web apps.
“Those taking the course will walk away with the skills to build an app that they can run on their computer or their phone,” Knights added. “We also will explore opportunities for running AI apps on your local machine for summarizing or analyzing private documents or making a dashboard to track key information in one place. This class is really about meeting people where they are and helping them address their needs.”
Learn more and register for the course.
New AI curriculum will future-proof the next generation of graduates
This fall, the College of Science and Engineering is rolling out a bold new curriculum designed to turn every student—regardless of their major—into an AI-savvy professional. The Department of Computer Science and Engineering will debut two flagship "AI for All" courses. A comprehensive AI minor is also set to launch the same semester, pending final approval. This new curriculum arrives alongside the summer short course for professionals and the opening of a new AI Makerspace, a cutting-edge hybrid learning space where all University students can learn, engage, and create with AI.
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