At the Forefront of AI, Rooted in Elmhurst
Professor, entrepreneur, and local dad Birju Shah on technology, teaching, and life in Elmhurst
Birju Shah calls Tuesdays his “AI day.” With a few monitors and a list of priorities, Shah uses artificial intelligence tools to tackle everything from business strategy to lecture content to vacation planning and more. The kinds of tasks found on the to-do list of a business leader, professor, entrepreneur, AI expert, husband, and dad.
Shah estimates AI has helped him save 15 hours weekly. But Shah’s use of technology goes far beyond his Tuesday tasks. Leveraging technology to solve real problems is at the heart of Shah’s expertise and his career at the forefront of artificial intelligence.
From Engineer to AI Leader
Shah grew up in Hanover Park as the son of immigrant parents. After graduating from Hoffman Estates High School, he earned an engineering degree from Northwestern University in 2005.
Shah describes learning tools that would evolve into what we know today as artificial intelligence.
“As an engineering student, I learned workflows,” he explains. “Applying these workflows to various projects in school became the foundation of machine learning for me.”
Following graduation, Shah began his career with M&M Mars.
“I was on the plant floor, rolling up my sleeves, understanding workflows and bottlenecks and outcomes,” Shah reminisces. “I learned a hard work ethic. I worked with people who are still friends of mine today. And I got to understand machine learning. I had so much fun, and it built a solid foundation as I started my career.”
Consulting work followed, then Shah created his first entrepreneurial venture. That’s when he decided to pursue an MBA.
Professor Shah lectured MBA students at IPADE Business School in Mexico
“That was a real catalyst, it’s where I learned how to become an entrepreneur,” Shah says of his time at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was also introduced to teaching. “I helped teach MIT and Harvard students with a skill set I developed early in my career: how to build and launch products that solve a problem or a need.”
He went on to hold roles at companies including Uber, where he led AI initiatives focused on safety and logistics. He also continued to innovate, founding an agriculture venture that was eventually acquired by the former global agricultural company Monsanto.
Giving Back, Building Foundations
In 2017, Shah returned to Northwestern as a professor in the Kellogg School of Management.
“It was about giving back to my alma mater, where I built my foundation,” he says.
Today, he teaches artificial intelligence and product management to students across the university’s undergraduate, MBA, law and medical programs. He also serves as the academic director for executive education programs centered around using AI.
In the 2024-25 academic year, Shah was recognized with a Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award, which recognizes faculty excellence in preparing the next generation of business leaders.
“It’s voted on by students, which makes it feel different from most recognition,” Shah said of the honor, which is based on student evaluations and course demand. “These are executives and MBA students making real bets on where to invest their time.”
Shah uses AI at scale with the companies that he has built and the companies he advises. This work tackles real-world challenges such as global supply chain decisions and connecting farmland to farmers.
“I see life in data layers,” he explains. “Understanding what exists, connecting it, and finding a better outcome.”
Making Sense of the AI Moment
As AI accelerates, Shah is often asked about its risks – which he does not dismiss. From rising energy demands to job displacement, he sees the challenges as real and immediate.
“AI is resource-intensive, and jobs will change,” he says. “As humans, we have no shortage of creativity or problems to solve. The next decade will see a great transfer in what people work on and large problems that we are able to solve.”
To deepen his understanding of these issues, Shah recently completed a fellowship with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, focusing on the intersection of AI, global policy, and society.
Finding Home in Elmhurst
For all his work at the cutting edge of technology, Shah’s home life is grounded in community.
The Shah family moved to Elmhurst in 2021. As his teaching at Kellogg ramped up, Shah was flying back and forth weekly between Northwestern and California, where he lived with his family – wife Nicole and then-infant son Sai. Their move was fueled by a desire to be closer to family, the impending arrival of their second child, Violet, and a connection to community.
Birju and Nicole Shah enjoy the beach and a Northwestern football game with their children Sai (5) and Violet (4).
Their family time is filled with the rhythms of Elmhurst life: bike rides, walks with their dog Scrambles, and Saturday breakfasts at favorites like Rainbow Cafe, Stray Hen Cafe, Egg Harbor Cafe, and Prairie Cafe.
This fall, their son Sai, age 5, will add a new activity to the family’s weekend itinerary.
“We’re excited for Sai to suit up and take the field with the Elmhurst Eagles flag football team,” Nicole says. “It feels like a true marker of putting down roots here.”
And Violet, age 4, has her happy place. “She is a superfan of the Gold Star Library, which is such a gem in the community and we feel lucky to have it right in our backyard,” adds Nicole.
The whole family enjoys participating in Elmhurst’s various community events.
Locally, Shah is also connecting his professional work to civic life in Chicagoland. And as AI continues to evolve, he is at the forefront of shaping its role.
“The inches matter now in terms of how we as a society, a community, an individual, and enterprise decide on how to implement it and use it,” Shah adds.
