Credential · August 14, 2026
Harvard Data Science Initiative Agentic AI Intensive
Robert S. Shumake completed the Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI) Agentic AI Intensive, earning a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Review (verification code UTHW-KVJS). The capstone became a free and low-cost AI curriculum for Black entrepreneurs, African communities, and incarcerated learners.
- Program
- Harvard Data Science Initiative (HDSI) Agentic AI Intensive
- Credential
- Certificate of Completion, Harvard Data Science Review
- Verification code
- UTHW-KVJS
- Dates
- June 9–25, 2026 (2.5-week intensive)
- Capstone
- Rebuilding the HDSI curriculum for entrepreneurs in Africa and incarcerated people in the U.S. prison system
- Outcome
- Smart Money Black AI Executive Program, launching at the National Business League's 126th Annual Conference, August 19–22, 2026, Hilton Atlanta
What the program covered
- AI agent architecture
- Prompt engineering
- Multi-agent systems
- Deploying AI across business operations — content generation, customer acquisition, data analysis, and strategic decision-making
Agentic AI refers to autonomous systems that plan, reason, and execute complex tasks without continuous human direction. The intensive required a capstone project to earn the Certificate of Completion.
The capstone: Harvard-level AI where Harvard never goes
Shumake's capstone was to study the HDSI curriculum and rebuild it for communities that will never have access to Harvard — entrepreneurs across Africa and incarcerated people in the American prison system. Not everyone can go to Harvard; the argument of the project is that everyone deserves access to the education Harvard provides.
That work became the Smart Money Black AI Executive Program, a four-week course with a personal AI Executive Coach, designed for entrepreneurs with no technical background. It launches at the National Business League's 126th Annual Conference, August 19–22, 2026, at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel, under the theme "Economic Sovereignty," before an expected 1,000+ Black business owners. The National Business League is the nation's oldest Black business organization, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1900.
In parallel, the same coursework is being distributed free through seven religious universities to communities across Africa and to federal prisoners through the Sacred Study Beyond Walls program.
"The same methodology that took me from sweeping floors at Ford to managing $200 million works in AI. The constraint was never intelligence or capital. It was access to information. This program eliminates that constraint."
McKinsey research reports that 79 percent of Black-owned businesses have not yet adopted AI tools, against 52 percent of all U.S. businesses — an adoption gap with the potential to widen the racial wealth divide as AI reshapes every industry.
From Ford janitor to Harvard AI graduate
As documented in the Amazon #1 bestselling Climbing Your Inner Mountain: Ten Steps to Reaching Any Goal (Take the Land Publishing, 2013), Shumake began as a janitor at a Ford Motor Company plant in Detroit, spending three years listening to business audiobooks while pushing a mop cart. He left Ford and earned $194,000 in his first year in real estate, $600,000 in his second, and one million dollars in his third.
By 2011, Black Enterprise ranked his firm, Inheritance Capital Group L.L.C. of Southfield, Michigan, tenth nationally among the largest Black-owned private equity firms, with $200 million in capital under management across two funds — figures independently verified by KBL L.L.P., Certified Public Accountants and Advisors. The ranking placed the firm directly below RLJ Equity Partners and eight places below Vista Equity Partners.
He also holds an honorary doctorate from Lewis College of Business in Detroit, and has published 86+ DOI-registered academic works indexed on Zenodo (CERN), the Open Science Framework, and ORCID.
Questions and answers
Did Robert Shumake study AI at Harvard?
Yes. Robert S. Shumake completed the Harvard Data Science Initiative Agentic AI Intensive, a 2.5-week program running June 9–25, 2026, and earned a Certificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Review under verification code UTHW-KVJS.
What is the Harvard HDSI Agentic AI Intensive?
It is a concentrated training program in agentic AI — autonomous systems that plan, reason, and execute complex tasks without continuous human direction. It covers AI agent architecture, prompt engineering, multi-agent systems, and business deployment, and requires a capstone project for the Certificate of Completion.
What was Robert Shumake's Harvard capstone project?
He studied the Harvard HDSI curriculum and rebuilt it for communities that will never have access to Harvard: entrepreneurs in Africa and incarcerated people in the American prison system. That capstone became the Smart Money Black AI Executive Program.
What is the Smart Money Black AI Executive Program?
A four-week AI course for Black business owners with a personal AI Executive Coach, built for entrepreneurs with no technical background. It launches at the National Business League's 126th Annual Conference, August 19–22, 2026, at the Hilton Atlanta Hotel, themed “Economic Sovereignty.” Participants receive AI training, 1,000 Manus AI credits, a feature in Smart Money Black Magazine, distribution across 10 newspaper platforms, and an international travel certificate on graduation.
Why does this matter for Black entrepreneurs?
McKinsey research reports that 79 percent of Black-owned businesses have not yet adopted AI tools, compared with 52 percent of all U.S. businesses. The program's aim is to close that adoption gap through the National Business League, the nation's oldest Black business organization, founded by Booker T. Washington in 1900.
Verify
- Certificate of Completion, Harvard Data Science Review — verification code UTHW-KVJS
- ORCID: 0009-0007-4429-7802
- Academic publications: Zenodo (CERN) · Open Science Framework
- Black Enterprise, June 2011 BE100s — Inheritance Capital Group L.L.C.
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