Business Analytics and AI Certificate Q&A with Kelsey Condon (BSM ’26, LAS ’26)

Hailing from Chicago, Kelsey Condon is fourth-year student majoring in Art History and Marketing with a Business Analytics and AI Certificate. Below, Condon explains how she became interested in the Business Analytics and AI Certificate, why learning analytics and AI is important for students, and how she’ll apply the skills from the certificate to her new job at PwC. 

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Why did you decide to pursue a Business Analytics and AI Certificate on top of your other degrees?

I wanted to pursue my marketing major in the business school, but I've also always been really interested in the intersection of business and culture, especially visual culture. I thought it would be really effective for me to gain that liberal arts background and then merge it with the data analytics and AI certificate in that data visualization piece of it. I think it's just been a nice match for me.

Can you tell us about your career interests and how the certificate will complement your career goals?

Since the start of my Freeman journey, I’ve always been interested in the intersection between business, technology and culture. The Business Analytics and AI Certificate complements my interest because it allows me to learn about how to analyze problems, how to get insights from data, and then how to communicate those insights clearly, which is so important in consulting and for early career professionals in general.

This combination skillset is going to be very helpful when I join PwC as an associate consultant in fall 2026.

What are some of the major topics the certificate covers?

It’s mixture of technical and analytics skills. I’ve had the chance to use Power BI and Excel for data visualization, perform data analysis with R and Python, and practice using innovative AI solutions to enable creativity and improve efficiency.

What’s an experience from the certificate program that stands out to you?

One experience that really stood out was my final project for the AI and business class. In that project, I got to develop an app called Sashay. It was meant to help designers put in their preferences, materials and occasions, and then help come up with design ideas and logistics to make that process a little bit easier. That was a cool experience to learn how that worked and how I can apply some of that social data into solving business problems. 

Why is it important for students to learn how to use AI?

It’s so important to learn how to analyze and use AI because it's not just a nice-to-have or a niche thing anymore. It's honestly something that, in my experience with my internship, has really been essential. Plus, I think you can apply it really to any industry and it benefits everyone. 

What advice do you have for students who are interested in Business Analytics and AI Certificate?

One piece of advice I'd give to students who are interested is that you really don't need to be intimidated. You don't need to be a programmer. That held me back a little bit at the start, but I quickly learned that this program is really for anyone, and you just have to be willing to think about things a little bit differently and stay curious, and you can definitely succeed.

Tell us about your internship with PwC and your future plans. 

My internship last summer was in digital marketing consulting at PwC. While I was there, I was doing a ton of data analytics as my team was trying to work on how we can integrate AI processes and improve workflow efficiency.

I added the certificate this year on the recommendation that it would help me once I started at PwC full-time. And I definitely have learned, especially with Power BI and Excel, and some of the programming, that stuff really applies every day. It’s super applicable to consulting, and I’m glad that I have that foundation going into my new job.