About the SPS AI Lab
Mission
Our mission is to engage with students, faculty, alumni, and the community to develop the needed skills, applications, approaches and frameworks necessary for the modern world through collaborating, teaching, learning, thinking and building.
Leadership
Shahryar Shaghaghi, Professor of Professional Practice | Program Director, M.S. Technology Management | Enterprise Risk Management
Shahryar is a Professor of Professional Practice and Program Director for the M.S. in Technology Management at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies, teaching IT Risk, Cybersecurity Risk, and Strategic Communications.
With over 30 years of experience, he has held senior roles at Quantum Xchange, Deloitte, BDO, CohnReznick, and Citigroup, and has advised the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on cybersecurity oversight. He regularly advises boards and executives on risk strategy, serves in interim CISO roles, and contributes to the field through research and professional leadership.
Katja Schroeder, Senior Lecturer | Associate Program Director, M.S. Technology Management
Katja is Associate Program Director and Senior Lecturer in the Technology Management program at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies, specializing in leadership communication, technology-enabled business strategy, and entrepreneurship.
She brings international experience advising corporations and startups on positioning, storytelling, and thought leadership. Previously Director of Entrepreneurship at St. Francis College, she holds master's degrees from Freie Universität Berlin and CELSA, Sorbonne, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Global Leadership at Troy University.
Dr. Mark Ritzmann, Lecturer | Associate Dean, Analytics and Strategic Communications | M.S. Technology Management & Information and Knowledge Strategy
Dr. Mark Ritzmann is a Lecturer at Columbia University's School of Professional Studies and Associate Dean for Analytics and Strategic Communications, where he also leads AI initiatives across the university.
With over 20 years of experience across financial services, healthcare, energy, and the public sector, he is Director and CTO of the Responsible AI Leadership Consortium and a founding partner of AIQ Venture Labs. His research focuses on machine learning, neural networks, and the ethical use of AI.
Our Pillars
The SPS AI Lab is committed to advancing the broader conversation on AI's role in business, education, and society. We bring together faculty, practitioners, and industry voices to explore the ideas, tensions, and opportunities that define this moment in AI's evolution. This pillar comes to life in many forms, among them speaker series featuring industry leaders and researchers, blogs, articles and perspectives on emerging AI topics, conference presentations by lab community members, and collaborative research that positions Columbia SPS at the forefront of applied AI thinking.
Real learning happens at the intersection of academia and practice. The SPS AI Lab actively builds relationships with leading companies and organizations to create opportunities for students and faculty to engage with AI challenges as they exist in the real world. These relationships may take the form of collaborative research projects, applied problem-solving engagements, co-developed learning experiences, or longer-term institutional relationships. What they share is a common purpose: ensuring that the lab's work is grounded in the realities of how AI is actually being adopted, resisted, and reimagined across industries.
Knowing about AI is not the same as knowing how to work with it. The SPS AI Lab evaluates emerging AI tools and platforms for teaching, learning, and applied research in collaboration with faculty, the SPS Pedagogical Lab, and Online Support & Academic Technology (OSAT) team. Through experimentation, hands-on exploration, and real-world use cases, we help bridge the gap between classroom concepts and practical AI capability.
AI is reshaping what it means to teach and to learn, and the SPS AI Lab exists in part to help faculty and students navigate that shift thoughtfully and responsibly. This pillar supports the integration of AI into the academic experience by building shared resources, frameworks, and expertise for educators to draw on. Examples of how this work takes shape include faculty development resources, guidance on responsible AI use in the classroom, and practical tools designed to enhance the student learning experience without replacing the human judgment at the heart of good education.
The SPS AI Lab generates and supports research that connects AI theory to the practical realities of work, leadership, and organizational life. This is research oriented toward impact, designed to produce knowledge that is relevant to practitioners, policymakers, and educators alike. Students and faculty contribute to and lead research that explores how AI is transforming skills, industries, and decision-making. Some of this work finds expression as published papers or reports, some lives in presentations, collaborations, or ongoing research. What matters is the questions being asked and the dedication brought to answering them.