Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institute for Advances in Optimization, or AI4OPT, aims at delivering a paradigm shift in automated decision making at massive scales by fusing AI and Mathematical Optimization (MO), to achieve breakthroughs that neither field can achieve independently. The Institute is driven by societal challenges in energy, logistics and supply chains, resilience and sustainability, and circuit design and control. To address the widening gap in job opportunities, the Institute delivers an innovative longitudinal education and workforce development program.