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Welcome

Information Systems — In the Age of AI

Hi, I'm Iris.

Iris the hummingbird waving hello Welcome. Over the next 25 chapters we are going to take you from "what is data?" all the way to "what is an Enterprise Nervous System?" — and along the way you will learn to run a help desk, design a data warehouse, ship a RAG prototype, and explain to a CFO why any of that matters. Let's go.

What This Book Is

An ABET CAC-aligned, AI-forward intelligent textbook on Information Systems for college sophomores and juniors — 580 concepts, 25 chapters, seven parts, one hummingbird. It covers the full IS curriculum: application development, data management, networks, security, IS project management, and the parts most textbooks skip — Enterprise Knowledge Graphs, GraphRAG, agentic AI, and what an Enterprise Nervous System looks like when it works.

The thesis we keep coming back to:

IS can be fun. Managing IS can become your superpower.

Who This Book Is For

  • Undergraduates in Information Systems, Information Technology, Business Analytics, Computer Information Systems, or related computing-and-business programs
  • Programs pursuing ABET Computing Accreditation Commission (CAC) accreditation under the IS program criteria
  • Working professionals who want a current, AI-aware refresh of the field
  • Curious readers who suspect the database is more interesting than their intro course made it look

Prerequisite: one introductory programming course in any modern language. That's it.

What Makes This Book Different

  • AI is core curriculum, not a side exhibit. Roughly half the book is about how AI changes the practice of IS — prompt engineering, RAG, Enterprise Knowledge Graphs, agentic systems, AI-assisted software development.
  • Systems thinking is taught throughout. Every chapter looks for tradeoffs, feedback loops, leverage points, and unintended consequences. By the end you will reflexively ask, "What else does this touch?"
  • Interactive everything. MicroSims let you play with concepts. The Learning Graph lets you see how all 580 concepts connect. Quizzes, glossary, and FAQs are wired in.
  • Iris hangs around. The book has a mascot — a hummingbird with wire-rim glasses — who shows up to point at the parts that matter.

How to Use This Book

Use the side navigation to explore:

  • Chapters — the main reading path, organized into seven parts
  • Learning Graph — interactive view of all 580 concepts and their dependencies
  • MicroSims — small interactive simulations you can poke at
  • Glossary — every key term with a precise, non-circular definition
  • FAQ — common questions and the answers we wish someone had given us
  • References — curated further reading per chapter

Getting Started

Start with Chapter 1: Foundations — or, if you want the map first, take a look at the Learning Graph and pick a topic that catches your eye.

License

This book is published under a Creative Commons license. You are encouraged to use it in your courses, fork it, remix it, and share it — see About for details.