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Professional Doctorate · Applied Artificial Intelligence

Online Doctorate in Applied Artificial Intelligence

The highest applied credential in AI — built for leaders.

A professional doctorate for experienced professionals who already lead with AI and want the title to match. You produce a real applied project in your own field — not a shelved research thesis — across 48 credits, 100% online, on a schedule built around your career.

48 credits · Professional doctorate — not a research PhD · 100% online
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Fastest time to your doctorate
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Sprint learning & billing period
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Credits, broken into Sprint modules
$0
Speed caps on a self-paced track
APEX
Accelerated · ™
Powered by Pillar III · Accelerated Programs

The same doctorate — at the speed of your expertise.

APEX-Track is the accelerated path through the Doctorate in Applied AI: Accelerated Professional EXperience. Competency-based learning decouples time from credit — so the years you've already spent leading with AI count for something. Move in focused 8-week Sprints, skip what you've mastered, and reach your defense in as few as 15 months instead of 27–36.

Set your pace

No speed caps — you decide how fast.

Competency-based study lets you go as fast as you can demonstrate mastery. Pick a pace and see your runway to the doctorate. (A minimum completion floor protects the degree's depth.)

Balance the doctorate with a full workload — a measured, sustainable rhythm with room to breathe between Sprints.

Illustrative runways within AGTU's 15–36 month completion range. Your advisor sets exact milestones; the applied-project capstone is paced separately.

Steady pace
36months to your doctorate
A relaxed cadence across your Sprints
FasterSteadier
Typical intensity
1–2 modules / week
Best for
Busy senior leaders
The Skip-Ahead feature

You've led with AI for years. Don't relearn the basics.

APEX-Track's signature differentiator lets experienced candidates test through what they already know — and spend their time only where it counts. No competitor offers a fully integrated, AI-proctored skip-ahead.

Anatomy of a Sprint

Big courses, broken into completable modules.

Each course splits into 1–2 credit Sprint Modules, each one a single, precisely defined competency. Progress is constant and visible — finishing three modules in a day is real, motivating movement.

An 8-week Sprint

One flat Sprint fee covers unlimited module completions in the window. Go as far as you can — the faster you demonstrate mastery, the lower your effective cost per credit, and the sooner you reach your capstone.

  • Granular: one competency per module, no multi-week bloat.
  • Micro-lectures curated from the edX / Harvard / MIT library.
  • Capstone integrates every competency into your applied project.
M1SpecializationPrompt Engineering
M2SpecializationDeep Learning
M3SpecializationAI Governance
M4ElectiveData Analytics
M5ElectiveAI for Business
CCapstoneApplied Project
Speed meets scholarship

Perform faster, pay less, finish sooner.

APEX-Track plugs into the same GPA scholarship that powers every AGTU degree — so velocity and grades compound.

1 · Perform

Demonstrate mastery in your Sprint and earn real letter grades — a 4.0 is yours to claim.

2 · Earn scholarship

Your Sprint GPA sets your scholarship on the next Sprint — a 4.0 earns up to 100%, so you pay $0 to keep going.

3 · Progress faster

Lower cost and no speed caps mean you keep moving — straight toward your defense, sooner.

Who APEX-Track is for

Built for those who already know a lot.

Path A

You already hold a master's degree

Enter directly, skip through fundamentals you've mastered, and transfer prior graduate credits — APEX-Track gets you to the applied project faster than any traditional doctorate.

Path B

You're a senior leader without a master's

Decades of executive practice are exactly what the Skip-Ahead feature rewards. Qualify through a selective review and let your experience accelerate you. Not there yet? The Master's + Doctorate combo is built for you.

Four ways to engage

The doctorate, on your terms.

Your applied doctorate connects to the same four pillars that make every AGTU program accessible — pair it with the path that fits your life.

AGTU doctoral admissions advisor
Maria Gomes Doctoral Admissions Advisor · AGTU
Get in touch

Ready to accelerate?

Tell us your background and the problem you want to solve. A real doctoral advisor will confirm your entry path, estimate how much you could skip ahead, and map your fastest honest route to defense — no obligation.