Applied AI Workshop
“From Data to Narrative: Build an AI Agent for Regional Economic Analysis”
Whether you’re new to AI or seeking to deepen your expertise, this workshop will equip you with the tools and confidence to leverage AI for greater productivity and impact in your work.
To attend, add “Workshop” to your conference registration. Fee includes boxed lunch and certificate.
Noon – 12:30 p.m. • Lunch
Big Sky Atrium, Upper Lobby, Holiday Inn Missoula Downtown
Workshop attendees will meet near the front doors of the hotel lobby at 12:30 p.m. and walk together to the workshop location on the University of Montana campus
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. • Pre-Conference Workshop
The DEN, 2nd Floor, Gallagher Business Bldg, University of Montana Campus
This hands-on workshop introduces participants to building a lightweight AI agent that combines public data with generative AI to produce county-level population change narratives and visualizes them on an interactive map.
Designed for economists, policy analysts, and research center staff, this in-person session provides a practical and replicable framework to automate and humanize regional economic insights.
- You’ll learn how to access and process Census population data using APIs, transforming raw data into actionable insights using R.
- Craft structured prompts for generative AI large language models to generate plain-language summaries and headlines for each country displayed as a choropleth map with rich tooltips.
- A pre-workshop survey will be sent after registration to further tailor the session to varying levels of AI experience.
- Whether you’re new to LLMs or already exploring AI workflows, you’ll walk away with working code, new ideas, and a story-driven approach to apply to your data.
Join us and transform your approach to data analysis and visualization with the latest AI-powered techniques!
About the Instructors
Dr. Sarah Quintanar is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Data Analytics and Statistics at the University of North Texas. She earned her masters and PhD in economics from Louisiana State University (Geaux Tigers!). Her research covers a range of microeconomic topics from wine to sports to identifying and measuring discrimination in American court proceedings. All of these topics are reliant on the idea of using data to answer challenging and interesting questions. Dr. Quintanar has taught quantitative and qualitative courses in economics and data analytics for over 10 years. Prior to joining UNT, she worked as a financial consultant in the corporate world. She is also passionate about her work with practical application of data and economics to assist business and government leaders regarding policy impact in economic development.
Dr. Marc Schaffer is Professor of Data Analytics and Economics; Director of the Center for Business & Economic Analysis; Dale and Ruth Michels Endowed Chair; and Program Coordinator for Data Analytics in the Donald J. Schneider School of Business and Economics at St. Norbert College. Marc teaches courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level with an emphasis on macroeconomics.
Marc is very active in the local and regional community in his role as the director of the Center for Business & Economic Analysis (CBEA) at St. Norbert College. Marc works with a team of SNC students to serve as consultants in a project-oriented fashion for local businesses, nonprofits and government agencies. As director of the CBEA, he regularly gives presentations to the regional business community on the state of the economy and frequently appears in local media to provide commentary on current economic events. Marc’s service and efforts in the community led him to receive the Bishop Morneau Community Service Award in 2018 from SNC.