{"id":25257,"date":"2025-04-30T14:02:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T18:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/2025\/04\/30\/nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T06:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:27:43","slug":"nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/2025\/04\/30\/nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier\/","title":{"rendered":"NC&#160;State students use AI to help businesses work smarter, faster and friendlier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This article was written by Caroline Kinlaw and first appeared on the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sas.com\/content\/sascom\/2025\/04\/29\/nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SAS blog. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For the 12th annual SAS NC State College of Design project, students used generative AI within B2B products in varying industries.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The annual NC State Design Day came back for its 12th year. Like many years before, the future designers brought their &#8220;A game&#8221; to SAS world headquarters, showcasing innovative concepts, cutting-edge creativity and a bold vision for B2B industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The challenge: Using generative AI in B2B products<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For this year\u2019s project, the NC State College of Design students were tasked with creating an original B2B application incorporating&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sas.com\/en_us\/insights\/analytics\/generative-ai.html\">generative AI<\/a>&nbsp;to satisfy business and user needs. Using SAS\u2019 tech stack for generative AI, students were asked to understand the data collection and output of generative AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The students presented the results of their work. Each group was tasked with understanding their assigned industry&#8217;s needs and learning each sector&#8217;s work and roles. The result was five product prototypes spanning these five focus industries:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Retail<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Social media<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Media and entertainment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Finance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Education and learning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SAS Head of Product Design Rajiv Ramarajan opened by welcoming attendees and thanking the many stakeholders of this event, including NC State faculty and staff and SAS employees. He also discussed the purpose behind this year\u2019s project assignment and the challenge proposed to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are witnessing a rapid adoption of generative AI in our daily lives,\u201d Ramarajan said. \u201cBut let\u2019s face it. There is still work to develop use cases that harness this technology for business. For this project, we challenged the class to conceptualize applications of generative AI in a business context, specifically, B2B applications.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NC State Graphic and Experience Design professor Jarrett Fuller, now in his fourth year leading this project, gave insights into the details and processes behind the students\u2019 work before inviting them to present. At the core of their efforts was a shared commitment to applying powerful technology in meaningful ways \u2013 specifically, leveraging it to address business use cases and solve real-world problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fuller kicked off his talk with a relatable sentiment: \u201cI\u2019m kind of tired of talking about AI. Anyone else feel similar?\u201d His words resonated with many in the audience, especially those interacting with AI daily. He highlighted a prevalent issue: &#8220;Studies show that a lot of time people will use these new AI tools for a couple of weeks and then abandon them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He emphasized the need for AI beyond novelty, stating, \u201cWe know that AI is a very powerful set of technologies, but it is still in search of some use case, and it is not always actually solving the specific problems that we want it to solve.\u201d By framing the conversation around meaningful implementation, Fuller set the stage for the students to demonstrate how they had tackled this challenge with their innovative designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He went on to describe the students\u2019 design process, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Concept development<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Persona creation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Task flows<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Wireframes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Visual design and branding<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>High-fidelity prototypes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The projects demonstrate how cutting-edge technology, when thoughtfully applied, can address specific challenges in business settings. By focusing on real-world applications, their designs showcased the potential of these powerful tools to streamline processes, enhance customer experiences and solve tangible problems that industries face today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SAS employees served as mentors throughout the wireframe phase of the project. Their guidance was instrumental as they tested the students\u2019 prototypes and provided valuable feedback, helping the designers refine and enhance their ideas. This collaboration ensured the students\u2019 designs were impactful and polished, contributing to the event&#8217;s overall success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe AI hype is over,\u201d Fuller stated. \u201cWe know these tools are here; they are very powerful, but we cannot lead with them anymore. They are becoming a part of everything else. Adding AI on top of things that already exist is not enough.\u201d His words emphasized the need to move beyond superficial applications of AI and instead focus on integrating it in ways that transform and solve problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sas.com\/content\/sascom\/2025\/04\/29\/nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the full story on SAS&#8217;s blog<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<p><em>This post was <a href=\"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/blog\/2025\/04\/30\/nc-state-sas-studio-2025\/\">originally published<\/a> in College of Design Blog.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"<!-- wp:ncst\/dynamic-header {\"block\":\"ncst\/default-post-header\"} -->\n<!-- wp:ncst\/default-post-header {\"displayCategoryID\":387} \/-->\n<!-- \/wp:ncst\/dynamic-header -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>This article was written by Caroline Kinlaw and first appeared on the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sas.com\/content\/sascom\/2025\/04\/29\/nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SAS blog. <\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><strong>For the 12th annual SAS NC State College of Design project, students used generative AI within B2B products in varying industries.<\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The annual NC State Design Day came back for its 12th year. Like many years before, the future designers brought their \"A game\" to SAS world headquarters, showcasing innovative concepts, cutting-edge creativity and a bold vision for B2B industries.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:heading -->\n<h2><strong>The challenge: Using generative AI in B2B products<\/strong><\/h2>\n<!-- \/wp:heading -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>For this year\u2019s project, the NC State College of Design students were tasked with creating an original B2B application incorporating&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sas.com\/en_us\/insights\/analytics\/generative-ai.html\">generative AI<\/a>&nbsp;to satisfy business and user needs. Using SAS\u2019 tech stack for generative AI, students were asked to understand the data collection and output of generative AI.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The students presented the results of their work. Each group was tasked with understanding their assigned industry's needs and learning each sector's work and roles. The result was five product prototypes spanning these five focus industries:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:list -->\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Retail<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Social media<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Media and entertainment<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Finance<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Education and learning<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<!-- \/wp:list -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>SAS Head of Product Design Rajiv Ramarajan opened by welcoming attendees and thanking the many stakeholders of this event, including NC State faculty and staff and SAS employees. He also discussed the purpose behind this year\u2019s project assignment and the challenge proposed to students.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cWe are witnessing a rapid adoption of generative AI in our daily lives,\u201d Ramarajan said. \u201cBut let\u2019s face it. There is still work to develop use cases that harness this technology for business. For this project, we challenged the class to conceptualize applications of generative AI in a business context, specifically, B2B applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>NC State Graphic and Experience Design professor Jarrett Fuller, now in his fourth year leading this project, gave insights into the details and processes behind the students\u2019 work before inviting them to present. At the core of their efforts was a shared commitment to applying powerful technology in meaningful ways \u2013 specifically, leveraging it to address business use cases and solve real-world problems.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Fuller kicked off his talk with a relatable sentiment: \u201cI\u2019m kind of tired of talking about AI. Anyone else feel similar?\u201d His words resonated with many in the audience, especially those interacting with AI daily. He highlighted a prevalent issue: \"Studies show that a lot of time people will use these new AI tools for a couple of weeks and then abandon them.\u201d<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He emphasized the need for AI beyond novelty, stating, \u201cWe know that AI is a very powerful set of technologies, but it is still in search of some use case, and it is not always actually solving the specific problems that we want it to solve.\u201d By framing the conversation around meaningful implementation, Fuller set the stage for the students to demonstrate how they had tackled this challenge with their innovative designs.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>He went on to describe the students\u2019 design process, including:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:list -->\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Concept development<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Persona creation<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Task flows<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Wireframes<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>Visual design and branding<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item -->\n\n<!-- wp:list-item -->\n<li>High-fidelity prototypes<\/li>\n<!-- \/wp:list-item --><\/ul>\n<!-- \/wp:list -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The projects demonstrate how cutting-edge technology, when thoughtfully applied, can address specific challenges in business settings. By focusing on real-world applications, their designs showcased the potential of these powerful tools to streamline processes, enhance customer experiences and solve tangible problems that industries face today.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>SAS employees served as mentors throughout the wireframe phase of the project. Their guidance was instrumental as they tested the students\u2019 prototypes and provided valuable feedback, helping the designers refine and enhance their ideas. This collaboration ensured the students\u2019 designs were impactful and polished, contributing to the event's overall success.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>\u201cThe AI hype is over,\u201d Fuller stated. \u201cWe know these tools are here; they are very powerful, but we cannot lead with them anymore. They are becoming a part of everything else. Adding AI on top of things that already exist is not enough.\u201d His words emphasized the need to move beyond superficial applications of AI and instead focus on integrating it in ways that transform and solve problems.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.sas.com\/content\/sascom\/2025\/04\/29\/nc-state-students-use-ai-to-help-businesses-work-smarter-faster-and-friendlier\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Read the full story on SAS's blog<\/a><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NC State College of Design students were tasked with creating an original B2B application incorporating\u00a0generative AI\u00a0to satisfy business and user needs. Using SAS\u2019 tech stack for generative AI, students were asked to understand the data collection and output of generative AI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":25258,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"ncstate_wire","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-25257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-_from-newswire-collection-271"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":{"ncst_posts_meta_modified_date":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25257"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25352,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25257\/revisions\/25352"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/design.ncsu.edu\/graphic-design\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}