Big Data & AI
in Business
Strategy & Emerging Trends
Microcredentials Webinar
Big Data & AI in Business✩Strategy & Emerging Trends✩Microcredentials Webinar
Big Data & AI
The basics
What is Big Data, exactly?
Data too large, too fast, or too varied for a spreadsheet to handle, the kind that only shows its shape once you analyse it at scale.
Volume
Netflix
Billions of viewing events a day power recommendations
Velocity
Visa
Scores fraud risk on a card transaction in under a second
Variety
Hospitals
Combine vitals, scans, and notes to flag patients at risk
Veracity
Experian
Verifies credit data before a lender ever acts on it
Value
Amazon
Turns browsing data into recommendations behind a third of sales
Where AI meets big data
Generative AI turns data into a conversation
Big data supplies the scale. Generative AI makes sense of it, in plain language.
Query
Ask in English
Query millions of rows, no code
Patterns
Spot the signal
Find trends and anomalies at scale
Narrative
Write the brief
Turn dashboards into a readable story
Speed
Compress the cycle
Weeks of analysis down to minutes
Volume and speed are big data's contribution; generative AI adds the interpretation layer on top.
A field of growing career opportunity
Big data and AI skills are opening new roles across every industry, not just in tech.
Data analyst
Turn raw data into decisions
BI manager
Build dashboards leaders trust
Transformation lead
Drive AI adoption company-wide
AI product manager
Ship AI features that work
AI governance officer
Navigate compliance, ethics, and risk
World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025: data and AI roles rank among the fastest-growing globally.
Who this is for
Built for managers.
Not developers.
No prior technical background required. If you make decisions with data (operational, project, or general management), this is your course.
Financial Services
ICT
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Professional Services
Public Sector
Mini case study
50ms
to score every card swipe for fraud, live at checkout
Mastercard's fraud detection improved by up to 300%
Situation
Catch fraud, stay invisible
No blocked genuine purchases
Data used
Billions of transactions
Mastercard's global card network
Decision
Decision Intelligence Pro
Scores risk at checkout, live
Outcome
Up to 300% better
Scored in about 50ms, each time
Mastercard Global Newsroom, 2026 · corroborated by CNBC, Open Banking Expo, CDO Magazine
A field of opportunity across the whole business
Six functions, together covering the whole organisation, each with room to apply what you learn.
Strategy & leadership
Set direction backed by evidence
Operations & supply chain
Forecast demand, cut waste
Marketing & customer insight
Target offers with real signal
Finance & risk
Model exposure, catch fraud early
Product & technology
Ship features backed by usage data
People & culture
Read retention and engagement data
Illustrative, not exhaustive: your own function likely maps onto one of these six.
The human edge AI can't replace
The tools generate answers. These five decide whether the answer gets trusted.
Problem framing
Deciding which question actually matters
Critical evaluation
Testing a model's assumptions before trusting its answer
Ethical governance
Including the EU Artificial Intelligence Act
Persuasive communication
Making the case to people who don't read code
Systems thinking
Seeing how one decision moves the whole business: the skill your capstone project puts to the test
Skillnet Ireland, Talent Landscape 2025 · Deloitte, State of AI in the Enterprise 2026
Assessment
Real data.
Real stakeholders.
Fully continuous assessment; no exams. Your final project: translate a real-world dataset into an evidence-based narrative for senior stakeholders.
Q&A
The details
Timing
17 Sept 2026*
One semester, through 31 Jan 2027
Schedule
Thu, 6–9pm
Live online, plus one in-person day: Sat 19 Oct at NCI
Award
Level 9 · 10 ECTS
Minor award, accredited by QQI
Fees
80% subsidised
Student contribution €260, due 13 Nov 2026
*Confirm exact start date on your offer letter. Funded via the Micro-credential Learner Fee Subsidy 2026 (a separate scheme from Springboard+, applied for through the Springboard portal). Source: springboardcourses.ie/details/15886
Thank you!
Certificate in Big Data and AI in Business
Applications close 10 August 2026
springboard@ncirl.ie
https://vdr.me/LinkedIn
Click to connect on LinkedIn
Victor del Rosal
National College of Ireland
Not covered live
Appendix
Why now
88%
of organisations already use AI
Only 6% see high performance from it.
McKinsey, State of AI, 2025