Overview
This new Ivy League certificate invites students to think, act, and lead as innovators. As a knowledge incubator and AI lab, it is designed to bring the intellectual rigor and innovation ethos of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, the Wharton School, and Penn Engineering directly to youth leaders around the globe.
Student Experience
The immersive program offers learners a unique opportunity to engage with Penn’s world-class faculty while exploring the frontiers of entrepreneurship, innovation, business, and artificial intelligence. The experience combines academic depth with real-world application, enabling students to develop ideas, test assumptions, and communicate their thinking with clarity and confidence. Students will learn how to:
- Identify real-world challenges and uncover opportunities for innovation using design thinking and entrepreneurial problem-solving
- Develop an entrepreneurial mindset by learning how founders think, create, and lead
- Explore the innovation process from idea to implementation using business frameworks and AI-powered tools
- Build confidence in generating, testing, and refining creative solutions
- Collaborate with global peers to transform ideas into impactful ventures and initiatives
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the certificate, learners will receive:
- A University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Certificate in Global Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and AI
- Practical skills in leadership, business, and emerging tech that strengthen academic performance and career opportunities
- Hands-on experience with AI-powered tools that help entrepreneurs brainstorm, build, and communicate ideas
- A personalized Entrepreneurial Mindset Profile highlighting individual strengths and growth areas
- A completed portfolio and final product - e.g., pitch deck, website, AI app - showcasing an original idea or solution developed across the program
Teachers and administrators often observe a meaningful shift in students’ confidence, engagement, and ownership of their learning. Through the program, students strengthen their critical thinking skills, develop a more entrepreneurial approach to problem-solving, and become more proactive contributors in academic and professional settings. They bring fresh perspectives to classroom discussions, collaborate more effectively with peers, and often spark new ideas and initiatives that help foster a broader culture of innovation within their schools and organizations.
In Their Own Words
“I often reflect on all that I learned through the Global Education Entrepreneurship and Innovation program. Afterward, I was fortunate to receive a full scholarship to Columbia, where I am studying the global diffusion of edtech organizations. I am also building an AI-powered edtech platform designed to help students find scholarships. As I continue building Scholified, I often find myself returning to many of the ideas and lessons from our program.”
Sumit Karn
Founder, Scholified
Curriculum
The Global Entrepreneurship, Innovation, & AI certificate program is designed to be flexible and can be customized to meet the needs of your organization. The program can be delivered in fully onsite, fully virtual, or blended formats, combining live instruction, self-paced coursework, and immersive learning experiences. For organizations seeking an intensive experience, the in-person model is typically offered as a 3–5-day bootcamp.
Big Question: How do entrepreneurs discover problems worth solving?
Key Topics
- Design Thinking for Problem Identification
- Research Methods and Community Challenges
- Stakeholder Mapping and Root Cause Analysis
- Opportunity Finding
Lab 1: AI for Exploration
Students will leverage AI as a tool for discovery, analysis, and problem framing. Through hands-on activities, they will use AI to analyze trends, synthesize interview insights, explore diverse perspectives, and refine problem statements, helping them develop a deeper understanding of complex challenges and identify meaningful opportunities for innovation.
Big Question: What mindset helps entrepreneurs turn challenges into solutions?
Key Topics
- Mindset Attributes and Skills
- Curiosity & Creativity
- Learning from Failure
- Innovation vs Invention
- Ideation Techniques
Lab 2: AI as Thought Partner
Students will use AI to expand their thinking beyond initial assumptions. Through a series of creative exercises, they will test existing beliefs, generate novel ideas, explore alternative pathways, and uncover emerging opportunities for innovation and impact.
Big Question: What does it take to move an idea from concept to reality?
Key Topics
- Solution Design Mapping
- Market Value Proposition
- Rapid Prototyping
- User Feedback
Lab 3: AI for Experimentation
Students will leverage AI to rapidly transform ideas into tangible concepts and prototypes. Through hands-on experimentation, they will generate and refine ideas, create mockups and visual assets, and simulate user feedback to test and improve their solutions before bringing them to life.
Big Question: How can we become better learners, creators, and future leaders in the era of AI?
Key Topics
- Human Intelligence + AI
- Prompting for learners
- AI Agents as Learning Assistants
- Responsible use of AI
Lab 4: AI for Leadership
Students will design and build practical AI systems that support their own learning and productivity. By creating a personalized AI learning assistant and an AI-powered study system, they will explore how AI can enhance knowledge acquisition, organization, reflection, and lifelong learning.
Instructors
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