Co-creating a Europe-centric business course on generative AI

The rapid adoption of generative AI is reshaping how European organisations operate, innovate, and compete. However, generative AI tools, platforms, and learning materials remain largely America-centric. Responding to this gap, Haaga-Helia and the University of Seville have jointly developed a new master’s-level course, Generative AI in European Business, as part of the Ulysseus European University alliance joint academic offer. The course is the outcome of sustained co-creation throughout 2025 and will be implemented in March 2026.

Haaga-Helia’s Applied AI innovation hub

Haaga-Helia’s Applied AI for Business and Education Innovation Hub links research, education, and practice within the Ulysseus alliance. The hub promotes the practical application of advanced AI tools and methods across both business and educational domains, integrating thematic areas such as generative AI into real-world innovation activities.

The Generative AI in European Business -course directly benefits from this environment, as teaching content and case studies draw on the hub’s research outputs and industry engagements. This integration ensures the course remains practice-oriented and aligned with cutting-edge developments in AI strategy and implementation.

AI field dominated by American players

Generative AI development remains structurally America-centric, with the largest foundational models, capital investment, and ecosystem control concentrated in U.S. private and public institutions. The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (2025) reports that Europe accounts for only about 7 % of global generative AI activity, while the U.S. and China account for the majority. Substantial gaps in patents, investment, and business formation further reinforce U.S. dominance.

In response to this dependence and competitive imbalance, the European Union’s AI Act and associated policies aim to regulate high-risk AI systems, establish transparency requirements, and enhance digital sovereignty. Europe’s strategy emphasises rights-centric governance and strategic capacity building rather than purely market dominance (Wittmann & Meynhardt 2025).

AI course with a strong European focus

The key objective of developing the new Ulysseus course was to create an engaging, up-to-date generative AI business course from a European perspective. Even within Ulysseus, a fully European cooperation network, there is a lack of AI courses that place European legislation, industry players, and business applications at the centre.

The course carries 3 ECTS credits and is structured into three modules. Upon completion, learners will

• understand the fundamentals and limitations of generative AI,
• identify concrete business use cases,
• apply AI tools to operational and content-related business challenges,
• evaluate the business impact of AI solutions in a European context.

The course places a strong emphasis on applicability and experimentation with AI tools.

Co-creation as a guiding principle

Beyond its academic content, Generative AI in European Business exemplifies international co-creation within the Ulysseus network. The collaboration between Haaga-Helia and the University of Seville demonstrates how shared curriculum design, joint teaching, and aligned assessment can be implemented effectively across borders.

Haaga-Helia served as the main course coordinator and curriculum designer, contributing practical, hands-on expertise in the use of generative AI tools for business, combined with a strong academic foundation in current AI research. The University of Seville contributed expertise on how businesses utilise AI in their processes, as well as perspectives on AI adoption, legislation, and maturity across Europe.

Throughout 2025, teams from Haaga-Helia and the University of Seville collaborated on learning outcomes, content, and assessment criteria. Regular co-creation meetings, iterative feedback rounds, and shared pedagogical decisions ensured that the course reflects multiple European business contexts, diverse institutional strengths, and compliance with Ulysseus quality standards and common pedagogical guidelines.

The outcome is a business course that balances university-level analytical depth with the practical relevance characteristic of universities of applied sciences, grounded in European business realities. This collaboration reflects the broader Ulysseus ambition to move from coordination to genuine integration in European higher education. Within Ulysseus, students from any participating university can take courses across Europe, gaining access to a wide range of subjects and an international perspective.

The first online implementation of Generative AI in European Business begins on 2.3.2026, with more than 30 students enrolled from across Europe. The course will be offered again either in autumn 2026 or spring 2027.

Picture: Shutterstock