MBA | AI

Where your HHL adventure begins!

The Welcome Weeks dive straight into the HHL spirit. With a mix of intercultural team-building activities and informative sessions about HHL and the program, you will embark on your unforgettable HHL adventure. You will connect with classmates from all of our programs and lay the foundation for a powerful network of contacts that will support you not only through your studies but far beyond.

The key qualifications for tomorrow

Here, you will lay the foundation for your management career. Our three pillars provide a balanced mix of essential management fundamentals and cutting-edge knowledge.

From prompt to product

The AI Track consists of four modules of 10 ECTS each, and every module is made up of two courses of 5 ECTS. Three modules are mandatory and share one clear goal: you leave able to build. You start with programming and data, learn how machine learning and today’s language models actually work, and then build with them, from your first automated workflow to a complete AI agent that runs in the cloud and does a real job for a real business. Every technical course combines weekly hands-on exercises with a project on a real business case, so you never learn a technique without using it. The fourth module, Leading AI-Driven Organizations, is optional. It completes the 40 ECTS and turns a builder into someone who can lead the change.

The three technical modules are mandatory in both the Fast Track and the Advanced Track. The fourth module is optional in both.

AI Technology Foundations (10 ECTS, mandatory)

The technical base everything else stands on. The module consists of two courses that take you from your first line of code to your first trained models.

Data & Coding (5 ECTS, mandatory). The track starts here, from zero. You learn to program in Python with the tools professionals use every day, then put it to work on real business data: loading, cleaning, combining, and querying it. You finish by turning a raw, messy business dataset into one that is ready for AI.

Deep Learning & Machine Learning (5 ECTS, mandatory). You go inside the techniques behind modern AI. You learn how machine learning models are trained and evaluated, build classical models for cases such as credit scoring, and then train your own neural networks. You finish with the models behind computer vision, recommendations, and forecasting, and with the judgment to say where deep learning beats a simpler model.

AI & Business (10 ECTS, mandatory)

From prompts to automated processes. Two courses take you from understanding how language models work to automating entire business processes with them.

LLM Agents & Intelligent Automation (5 ECTS, mandatory). You open up the large language model: how it works, what it can do, and where it fails. Then you build on top of it, connecting to models in code, letting them answer from your own documents, and chaining several steps into a repeatable workflow, the bridge between using a chatbot and automating a business process.

AI-Driven Process Automation (5 ECTS, mandatory). You scale from a single workflow to entire business processes, using no-code automation tools to put AI to work inside them. Building is paired with process thinking: redesigning a process rather than automating its inefficiencies, and deciding where a human stays in the loop. You leave having built three fully automated business processes, such as invoice processing or customer support triage.

Building Agents (10 ECTS, mandatory)

Where you stop using AI and start building it. By now you know how the models work; this module is about everything around them that turns a model into a system a company can run. Two courses, developed specifically for this program, take you from your first integration to a working, deployed agent that does a real job for a real business.

IT Infrastructure & Architecture for AI (5 ECTS, mandatory). You learn how software systems talk to each other and how to connect a language model reliably to real tools and company data. You decide how an AI system fits into an existing corporate IT landscape, deploy it to the cloud, and set up the pipeline that ships every change. You finish with an architecture you can defend in front of an IT department.

Agent Architecture & Harnessing (5 ECTS, mandatory). The most demanding course in the track. You build the machinery around the model: the reasoning loop that lets an agent plan and act, the memory that lets it remember what matters, the coordination that lets several agents share a job, and the guardrails that keep it safe. Your final project is a complete, working agent for a real business use case, built from the ground up.

What you take with you is unusually concrete: an agent you built yourself, running in the cloud, evaluation results showing where it holds up and where it breaks, and the judgment to recognize when an agent is the wrong answer. That combination lets you lead an AI project from the inside rather than approve it from the outside.

Leading AI-Driven Organizations (10 ECTS, optional)

The one module in the track without a line of code. It is optional, open to every MBA student, and answers the question the three technical modules leave open: once you can build it, how do you get a company to adopt it, and where should it change the business?

AI & Organization (5 ECTS, optional). How organizations actually change: the structures, teams, and leadership practices that decide whether AI adoption sticks or stalls. You assess an organization’s readiness, design how people and AI work together, rethink roles and incentives, and lead the change. You leave with a concrete change initiative for your own organization.

AI & Strategy (5 ECTS, optional). Where and why AI reshapes a company’s competitive position, and what a leader should do about it. You analyse how AI changes industries and business models, identify the opportunities worth pursuing in a real company, and weigh how fast to build capabilities and where regulation sets limits. The course ends with an AI strategy roadmap pitched to a board-style panel.

You have never written a line of code?

Neither have many of the people sitting next to you, and the track is designed with that in mind. The technical courses are deliberately sequenced: Data & Coding starts from your first line of Python, and each course lays the foundation the next one builds on, so nothing is assumed and nothing is skipped. You work through the material in small weekly steps, with live builds in class, feedback from your peers, and practitioners who do this work every day. The track will ask something of you, and you will have the support to see it through.

Alongside your mandatory AI Deep Dives, you will choose at least one additional Deep Dive worth 10 ECTS, giving you the opportunity to broaden your expertise and explore another area that matches your interests and career goals.

Gain practical and international experience

Make your MBA even more your own with up to 20 ECTS of customization modules. This is where your AI skills meet real business challenges and where you can shape your experience around your own interests and career goals. Consult for a company, complete an internship, spend a term abroad, or take your own idea through a start-up seminar. The experience you gain and the people you meet stay with you long after graduation.

The culmination of your MBA program

The Master Thesis in our full-time MBA program is the crowning achievement of your academic journey, highlighting your expertise in business and management. This independent research project lets you delve into a topic of your choice, focusing on real-world relevance and critical thinking. With guidance from experienced mentors, your thesis will showcase your ability to analyse and apply the knowledge you’ve gained throughout your MBA program.

• Personality tests
• Career orientation workshops
• Self-leadership training
• Individual coaching
• Webinars

• CV & cover letter checks
• CV optimization software VMock
• Interview preparation
• Case study training
• Digital career center with talent bank
• Advice on salary negotiations
• Tips for the onboarding process

• On-campus company presentations
• On-campus interviews
• Alumni talks
• Company excursions
• Recruiting workshops
• Student consulting projects
• Yearly Career Day

Did you know that Germany’s visa regulations are very favourable for international students looking to enter the German job market? After completing your studies, you can apply for a range of options, including:

• 18 months job seeker visa: search for employment opportunities that match your skills and aspirations
• a work permit: enables graduates to work and reside in Germany as long as they hold the position which the work permit is tied to
• EU Blue card: a permit for highly skilled professionals who meet a minimum salary threshold per annum

Want to learn more about your post-MBA visa options?

The tuition fees for the MBA program amount to EUR 43,500. We offer a tuition fee reduction if you submit your complete application by the following Early Bird deadlines*:

• Early Bird 1: November 30 – Discount: EUR 6,000 
• Early Bird 2: January 31 – Discount: EUR 4,500
• Early Bird 3: March 31 – Discount: EUR 1,500

This covers all tuition including the fees for one term abroad at one of our partner universities.

*To qualify for the early bird discount, you must submit your completed application by the deadlines above. This includes providing all remaining documents and test scores (GMAT, GRE, or HHL Entry Test) by January 31 (Early Bird 1), March 31 (Early Bird 2), or June 30 (Early Bird 3).

We gladly support you in financing your studies. Various financing options are available. We also offer scholarships for particularly committed and outstanding applicants. How do you obtain a scholarship? Win us over not just with your excellent academic record but also with your personality.

Scholarships Overview 

Pay your tuition fees in instalments!

Of course, the tuition fees at HHL do not have to be paid in one lump sum. After having been admitted to HHL, we ask you to pay a down payment of EUR 3,500 to secure your place in the full-time MBA program. The remaining fees will be paid in 3 instalments: at the beginning of Term 1, Term 3 and Term 5.

The Full-time MBA | AI is an English-taught MBA at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management with a specialization in applied artificial intelligence, based in Leipzig and starting every September. It awards an MBA and runs either as a Fast Track (15 months, 90 ECTS) or an Advanced Track (up to 21 months, 120 ECTS). What sets it apart from programs that teach you about AI: it makes you able to build and deploy AI solutions yourself, including your own agents, on top of a full general management foundation.

The Fast Track (15 months) consists of 12 months of coursework, during which students complete the Essential Modules and choose their Deep Dives, followed by 3 months dedicated to the Master Thesis. The Advanced Track (up to 21 months) builds on the same curriculum and adds Customization Modules with additional practical experience, such as an internship, a student consulting project, a term abroad, or German language courses.

No. The Full-time MBA | AI is a leadership program, not an engineering degree, and it is built for people coming from marketing, operations, medicine, finance, law, or anywhere else. The modules start from the fundamentals and build up through guided, practical work, so curiosity and a willingness to learn count for more than prior technical experience. The admission requirements are the same as for HHL’s other Full-time MBA tracks: a bachelor’s degree in any discipline and at least two years of post-graduate work experience, with no coding prerequisite.

You will be able to build and deploy AI solutions rather than only commission them: design and run your own AI agents, automate a business process end to end, and judge what infrastructure and architecture a use case requires. You will also be able to assess where a large language model is dependable and where it is not, and lead a team through an AI rollout, including the parts that are about people rather than technology. In a leadership role, the most valuable skill is the one that follows: telling an AI project worth funding from one that is not.

All Full-time MBA Programs share the same General Management Essentials (45 ECTS) and the same Master Thesis (15 ECTS); the specialization is what differs. The MBA | AI has three mandatory AI Deep Dives worth 30 ECTS in AI & Business, AI & Organization, and AI & Strategy, while the MBA | Finance has mandatory Deep Dives worth in corporate finance, and the standard Full-time MBA lets you assemble your Deep Dives across general management subjects.

The Full-time MBA | AI opens with the Welcome Week, followed by the General Management Essentials (45 ECTS) and the three mandatory AI Deep Dives (30 ECTS), which are identical in both tracks. The Fast Track then leads straight to the Master Thesis (15 ECTS), finishing at 90 ECTS in 15 months. The Advanced Track adds 30 ECTS of optional Deep Dives plus Customization Modules such as an internship, a student consulting project, or a term abroad, finishing at 120 ECTS in up to 21 months. Choose the Fast Track for the direct route back into the market, and the Advanced Track if you want practical experience and a network in Germany before you graduate.

The program is open to graduates from any academic discipline with a minimum of two years of post-graduate work experience. Candidates also require proof of very good English skills and competitive admissions test scores. Beyond test scores, HHL places equal weight on personality, motivation, and ambition. A free profile check is available for anyone unsure whether their background qualifies.

The tuition fee for HHL’s Full-time MBA | AI is EUR 43,500, including all teaching and one optional term abroad. Students pay a EUR 3,500 down payment followed by three tuition installments. Early bird discounts apply for applications submitted by November 30 (EUR 6,000 off), January 31 (EUR 4,500 off), or March 31 (EUR 1,500 off). HHL also offers a range of scholarships based on academic achievement, professional experience, leadership potential, diversity, and personal circumstances.

According to HHL’s MBA Employment Report 2025, 92% of graduates launch their post-MBA career in Germany and 91% are employed within six months of graduation. Graduates across HHL’s MBA programs see an average salary increase of 80%. For this track, the typical directions are corporate leadership roles with an AI mandate, consulting and digital transformation, product and technology leadership, and founding an AI venture.

Students can complete a term abroad at one of HHL’s 140 global partner universities, with tuition fully included, or pursue a double degree with a select partner institution. Beyond the international experience, the Advanced Track also includes a six-month student consulting project and an internship in year two — both of which give students the chance to work with potential employers, build hands-on experience in Germany, and strengthen their CV before graduation. The cohort is 97% international with an average age of 32, and German language courses at all levels are offered throughout the program.

Applications are submitted online through the HHL application portal. Mandatory documents include: CV, Letter of Motivation, bachelor’s degree certificate, bachelor’s transcript, and a portrait photo. Additional documents (proof of work experience, proof of English proficiency, admissions test score, high school certificate) can be submitted later.

Admitted students pay a non-refundable down payment of EUR 3,500 approximately two weeks after receiving their admission offer. The remaining tuition fees are paid in three installments: the first at the start of the program in September, the second approximately six months later, and the final installment six months after that.