USF Data Institute

AI is transforming every industry, and you can see exactly who is building it at the Data Science Conference & Practicum Showcase (DSCO 2026) on Friday, June 5.

USF MS-DSAI students will present real-world, semester-long projects built in collaboration with industry partners. Running from 9:00 AM to 6:30 PM at the USF Downtown Campus, the day features student presentations, a panel on the future of AI talent, a keynote on AI ethics with Common Sense Media, and community networking.

It is a great opportunity for industry professionals, alumni, and prospective students to connect with the local AI community!

Register here: https://rsvp.usfca.edu/event/ab68a4d6-7be1-4601-9612-33598fea3c2c

Enrollment is almost full for our Applied Agentic AI course starting in June! Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn everything you need to know in order to create, deploy, and evaluate agents AI systems in modern workflows.

Some key highlights include:

Core Concepts: Understand how AI agents handle reasoning, planning, memory, tool-use, and decision-making.

Design & Development: Build and prototype simple agents using beginner-friendly frameworks to manage workflows and user interactions.

Evaluation & Ethics: Test and refine agents for safety, reliability, and accuracy while applying human-centered, ethical design principles like fairness and transparency.

Practical Application: Create a functional AI agent that solves a real-world problem and present it at a final Hackathon showcase.

Learn more about the course and how to enroll here: https://www.usfca.edu/data-institute/certificates/applied-agentic-ai-certificate

See you there!

Agentic AI is transforming how businesses and organizations operate. Customer service teams are building autonomous support agents. Creative teams are using AI to research and generate ideas. Operations teams are automating workflows with intelligent agents that can retrieve information, draft content, troubleshoot issues, and complete tasks.

Don't be left out of the future.

Learn more about our hands-on and in-person Applied Agentic AI program here: https://www.usfca.edu/data-institute/certificates/applied-agentic-ai-certificate

AI is reshaping every industry. Come see who's building it. 🤖

DSCO 2026 is our annual showcase where USF MS-DSAI students present real AI and data science projects — built with industry partners, for real-world impact.

Join us for:
✅ Student project presentations + poster sessions
✅ Industry panel: the future of AI talent
✅ Keynote: AI and data ethics with Common Sense Media
✅ Networking with students, alumni, and professionals

📅 June 5, 2026 | 9 AM – 6:30 PM
📍 USF Downtown Campus
🎟 General Admission: $20

Link in bio to register.

This Friday, May 8, the College of Arts and Sciences is hosting the annual Creative Activity and Research Day in the Fromm Complex from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Undergraduate and graduate students will present their original research through oral presentations, poster displays, and creative activities. These projects represent collaborative work between students and faculty mentors.

This year's event also marks 100 years of educational history at the University of San Francisco. We invite you to attend and review the research our students have completed.

Submit your RSVP and view the program here:
https://myusf.usfca.edu/arts-sciences/card

Last week, we had the great opportunity to host Josh Starmer, the creator of StatQuest! His YouTube channel provides educational videos to over 1.6 million viewers, explaining concepts such as means testing, p-values, distributions, and the mathematics of Large Language Models.

During his visit, Josh presented a highly anticipated seminar to the students in the MSDSAI program. We were also very happy that he visited two local schools, Saints Peter & Paul and Notre Dame des Victoires. There, he presented his children’s book, "Norm and 'Squatch Make a New Friend." The book uses the scenario of a French fry eating contest to demonstrate exactly how statistics apply to predictive models! In addition to these talks, we also sat down with Josh and had him for our podcast. Stay tuned for the release in the coming weeks.

We are very grateful to Josh for his presentations to both the university and the local school students. He is always welcome here in San Francisco, and we consider him a great friend of the Institute. We will share more behind-the-scenes content from his visit soon!

We are starting our new certificate program on April 22, and spots are filling fast! If you intend to participate, complete your registration soon.

This course teaches you how to use Python and machine learning to analyze marketing data, conduct A/B tests, and optimize campaigns based on the results. The live, online sessions are held every Wednesday evening and will be led by Obtin Zandian, a Data Scientist at Apple and an alumnus of the USF Master's in Data Science program.

Course Details:

Dates: Wednesdays, April 22 - June 3, 2026

Time: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. PT

Requirements: Basic Python proficiency, fundamental statistics knowledge, and familiarity with marketing concepts.

Register here to claim one of the remaining spots:
https://www.usfca.edu/data-institute/certificates/data-science-marketing

We are excited to welcome Josh Starmer back to the USF Data Science Speaker Series. As the creator of StatQuest, Josh has used a unique visual style since 2016 to help millions of people worldwide master statistics and machine learning algorithms.

In this upcoming talk, Josh addresses a critical challenge in modern AI: quantifying the confidence we should have in Large Language Model (LLM) outputs. While LLMs are known for generating false or misleading responses, little effort is often spent on measuring the reliability of those results.

Josh will illustrate this problem using a simple neural network and demonstrate two specific methods for quantifying model confidence. He will then show how these techniques can be applied to LLMs and broader AI systems. Whether you are a student or a professional, this session provides a clear, step-by-step framework for understanding model certainty.

Join us at the University of San Francisco to move beyond the hype and learn how to evaluate AI responsibly!

RSVP now to secure your spot: https://www.usfca.edu/event/usf-data-science-artificial-intelligence-speaker-series/13104065

The University of San Francisco is launching the Applied Agentic AI Certificate this June, led by USF MSDS Alumna and Prolific AI Community Lead Viviana Márquez. With a background at HBO and Royal Caribbean, Viviana has trained over 4,000 learners to turn complex machine learning into practical, career-ready skills.

This two-week, in-person program at our Downtown Campus is designed for professionals to lead AI strategy and automation without requiring a background in math or programming. As industries shift from simple chatbots to autonomous agents that can reason and execute workflows, understanding these systems is becoming a critical business competency. According to research from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey, organizations are prioritizing generative AI literacy, yet few teams feel confident in responsible implementation.

Supported by Women in Data Science (WiDS) at USF, this certificate helps close that gap by offering a practical pathway into the San Francisco AI innovation ecosystem. From June 15 to June 24, participants will move from foundational theory to building functional prototypes, culminating in a live AI Hackathon at 101 Howard Street. This is a direct path to upskilling in a high-growth field while earning 2 Continuing Education Units.

View the curriculum and register for the June session: https://www.usfca.edu/data-institute/certificates/applied-agentic-ai-certificate