One of the world’s leading global analytic software companies is expanding its diversity with HBCUs and Morehouse College is assisting their mission.
The Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) announced their return for a third year of their FICO Educational Analytics Challenge and their second year working with Morehouse. This semester-long program will partner with Bowie State University, Delaware State University, Alabama A&M University and Morehouse to develop the next generation of Black data scientists.
This year’s challenge will focus on artificial intelligence, with hopes to train students in developing large/small language models.
“One thing I want to focus on is what are the responsible ways to use generative AI,” said Dr. Scott Zoldi, chief analytics officer of FICO. “We want the students to know how they are built, how they work and how they can be biased so we can use the technology more responsibly in the future.” “Anyone can build these models with sufficient training.”
Last year’s challenge focused on detecting fraud. The transition to building language models is a result of the proliferation in AI.
Students at each university will be broken into teams for the semester. Attending lectures and scrums are necessary, with the goal of the challenge being to complete a final project.
“The project is to learn enough about these new technologies,” Zoldi said. “Use these transformer technologies to generate synthetic conversation. They will use these technologies to simulate a banking employee and customer .”
Included in this year’s cohort for the FICO challenge are Spelman women. The college is not a direct partner with FICO but data scientists come from all backgrounds.
“We are always looking for a gender balance,” Zoldi said. “We are very pleased to see Spelman participants this year.”
FICO’s first-hand impact on HBCUs
The challenge is not only beneficial in the short term but long term as well, with internship opportunities available at FICO. If individuals wish to pursue other opportunities in the tech industry, the mentors assigned during the program will be present as a reference and can help guide them through that process.
“This last summer, I opened up five internships for students specifically from the challenge,” Zoldi said. “Around 25 people applied and we accepted five, including one from Morehouse. Beyond that, we encourage those in the FICO challenge to keep conversations going and build relationships with industry practitioners.”
Julius L. Jones Jr ’25 was a part of the Educational Analytics Challenge last year. His work secured him one of the five spots at FICO under Dr. Zoldi this past summer, where he served as an analytic scientist.
Entering its third year, Zoldi says FICO will add two more HBCUs in the future. The challenge’s numbers will rise to six but he wants to go beyond that.
“Some of the faculty at these HBCUs want to get involved as well,” Zoldi said. “They are interested in a special program just for them to understand how AI may impact their domains. For us, it’s one of the most fulfilling things to do and we enjoy it.”
FICO’s mission for Morehouse
Certainly, FICO’s return for another year at Morehouse showcases their dedication to achieving diversity in their occupational field. Morehouse may not have all the resources, but Dr. Zoldi and FICO are here to assist in any way possible. Their mission is to provide the necessary knowledge to the next generation.
“We really encourage students to take a very serious look at doing the challenge,” Zoldi said. “We want to teach each and every student to take advantage of the mentors, get extra help and surround themselves with members that are supportive.”
