Chile's Aquaculture Innovation Club and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez Launch Joint Master's Diploma in AI for Salmon Farming, Classes Begin May 18, 2027

Chile's Aquaculture Innovation Club (Club Innovación Acuícola) and Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez (UAI) will jointly offer the "Diploma in Artificial Intelligence Applied to Critical Decisions in Salmon Farming" (Diplomado en Inteligencia Artificial Aplicada a Decisiones Críticas en Salmonicultura) starting in 2027. The program, developed with the participation of UAI's Faculty of Engineering and Sciences, will run from May 18 to October 5, 2027, delivered through live online classes.

The program is not designed to train programmers but to serve people directly involved in decision-making processes. It targets executives, professionals and decision-makers at salmon farming companies and goods and service suppliers, as well as representatives of public-sector bodies, research centers, associations and other institutions linked to aquaculture activities. The course aims to help participants identify where artificial intelligence can create value, understand its capabilities and limitations, properly define problems and evaluate existing solutions.

The curriculum is divided into three main modules: digital strategy and value capture; decision intelligence, data and evidence; and AI solutions, integration and responsible scaling. On this foundation, an applied project is added in which participants work collaboratively on real industry challenges, transferring what they have learned to concrete situations.

The program is co-directed by Samuel Varas of UAI and Adolfo Alvial of the Aquaculture Innovation Club. The teaching staff brings together experts from different disciplines including artificial intelligence, data and decision intelligence, management and economics, as well as professionals in technology and advanced aquaculture. Alvial, currently executive director of the Aquaculture Innovation Club, said in introducing the program that the effective implementation of artificial intelligence in salmon farming requires decision-makers at every level to be able to articulate needs, evaluate and drive such solutions, while also being able to use these tools in their own management to improve decision quality and efficiency.

The partnership is built on the complementary strengths of the two parties: the Aquaculture Innovation Club understands the challenges facing the salmon farming industry, while UAI has experience in executive training, artificial intelligence, data and digital transformation. The organizers say this combination is intended to connect existing technological capabilities with the specific decisions corresponding to the industry's increasingly demanding challenges in productivity, sustainability, risk management and technological transformation.

The program launch event is scheduled for November 20 at UAI's Santiago campus, held alongside the seminar "The Next Leap for Chilean Salmon Farming," which will bring together experts, entrepreneurs and industry representatives to analyze several challenges affecting the industry's next stage of development. The organizers also said that although the program was initially designed based on Chile's salmon farming experience, there are plans to expand it in the future to other producing countries and aquaculture activities facing similar challenges. Course information and application channels have been published on the UAI website.