Our exploration into generative AI revealed several key ways that business schools can use the technology to further enhance and achieve their goals. They include the following:

• Leveraging Innovation and Value Creation: Despite potential threats, the landscape of business education is ripe with opportunities, particularly in three pivotal areas: curriculum innovation, enhancing the learner experience, and advancements in operations and decision-making. Many institutions within AACSB’s network are leading the way in these domains, showcasing the broad and impactful possibilities for growth and innovation in business schools.
• Integrating Generative AI Into Talent Strategy: Generative AI has become a focal point in boardroom strategies and talent development initiatives. While expertise in AI and related technologies remains crucial, there is a growing focus on cultivating unique human skills among employees, such as advanced problem-solving, leadership, and emotional intelligence—abilities that machines cannot easily replicate. As generative AI rapidly transforms the workplace, agility and adaptability gain importance.
• Enhancing Student Development: Business schools play a pivotal role in cultivating desirable talent by equipping students with a comprehensive skill set that includes AI literacy, soft and durable skills, and integrative abilities. Additionally, fostering an ethical mindset and a commitment to lifelong learning through practical, cross-disciplinary, and purpose-driven experiences is essential. Success hinges on ensuring that faculty members are fully engaged and supported, as they are instrumental in shaping the leaders of tomorrow.
• Empowering Leadership With Strategic Vision: If business schools are to maximize the benefits of technological advancements while still maintaining academic excellence, their strategic leadership will be vital. We identify four strategic pathways for business school leaders: defining the school’s purpose, adopting a human-centered approach, embracing intentional experimentation, and aligning governance with infrastructure maturity.
• Sparking New and Innovative Educational Models: Generative AI should be viewed not as an end goal but as a means to enhance innovation and the mission of business schools. GenAI paves the way for novel and innovative educational approaches when integrated with other technological advancements. This report outlines five visionary opportunities for reimagining business education, emphasizing flexibility, immersive experiences, ethical stewardship, in-depth learning, and the strategic use of networks. With limitless potential for the use of GenAI, it’s crucial for business school leaders to think creatively about the future possibilities for their institutions.

GenAI is a pervasive topic in boardrooms across industries, and its current and potential impact on business education, in particular, is significant. While not all outcomes of GenAI are controllable or predictable, business schools are uniquely positioned to influence how students—who will become future leaders of organizations—approach and use generative AI.

The Intersection of GenAI and Business Education

Business schools have long adapted to shifting realities and disruptive innovations to more effectively prepare students to solve top-priority problems and become bold, competent leaders. When considering the adoption of any new tool, business school leaders need to understand both the pros and cons. Integrating generative AI is no different.

Read more about potential threats and opportunities in our recent briefing.

Essential Focus Areas for Business Schools

Our research has uncovered three overarching areas where GenAI can create value in business schools: what they teach, how they deliver education, and how they operationalize. While these areas represent the biggest opportunities, keep in mind that there are several other ways business schools can leverage this technology—some of which we are not yet aware. 

The most successful examples of GenAI implementation in business schools start with clear intentions and internal alignment. As business school leaders consider different ways AI can support their institution’s goals, they should assess their school’s preparedness by clarifying goals and identifying necessary resources and support.

 
Business schools around the world have started adopting generative AI and implementing innovative practices in these three key areas:

Additional Areas of Opportunity

While curriculum, teaching methods, and business school operationalization are poised to experience the greatest impact, the following areas are also top of mind for business school deans and are already evolving through the adoption of GenAI:

• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: The MBAi Program for Business & Artificial Intelligence, a joint degree program between Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering, weaves together business strategy with analytical technologies, fostering a deep understanding of their interdependent relationship. Students apply their knowledge through internships at leading tech and business firms.
• Professional Development: A three-day executive learning program at Rotman School of Management prepares executives and senior managers with the skills needed to leverage generative AI in their organizations—from developing strategic roadmaps to nurturing an innovative culture.
• Research Focus: In the Netherlands, Nijmegen School of Management faculty member Vera Blazevic is using her research to help organizations, educators, and policymakers understand the responsible integration of GenAI in creative tasks and work contexts, as well as to shape the school’s AI-specific strategies and policies.
• Career Services: Villanova Business School’s O’Donnell Center for Professional Development equips students with AI best practices and tools to help identify career paths, align skills and experiences in the job search, and write resumes and cover letters that maintain the student’s authentic voice.
• Industry Partnerships: SKEMA’s AI School for Business provides students with hands-on AI learning experiences by engaging a network of global business partners, multidisciplinary experts, and leaders in generative AI.
• Innovation Creation: Students in the Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School’s Data Science: Artificial Intelligence MBA course learn to craft AI applications for different sectors. One group of students developed the idea for a “smart tampon” that would collect relevant screening data when worn. An AI-integrated software would then analyze the data to understand the patient’s cervical health.

A New Era of Business Requirements

While 62 percent of business and technology leaders report excitement about GenAI, only 22 percent feel highly or very highly prepared to address talent concerns related to the adoption of the technology, according to a 2023 Deloitte survey of business and technology leaders. Further, most respondents also say they are not adequately educating employees on GenAI.

Industry reports cite a lack of technical talent and skills as a barrier to wider GenAI adoption, which will likely prompt accelerated changes to talent strategies. Organizations are increasingly emphasizing the need for specific skills in their employees, and certain skills like complex problem-solving, leadership, and emotional intelligence are hard for machines to match. Other skills, like adaptability, will also be key—for employees and organizations—as work continues to shift quickly in response to generative AI.

Businesses are not seeking to hire technical AI experts for non-technical roles, but across roles, AI literacy is important. This includes a foundational understanding of generative AI, knowledge of how to use it effectively, and the ability to spot challenges or pitfalls.

How Business Schools Can Address Talent Needs

Preparing students to meet businesses’ talent needs is about more than equipping them with AI-specific knowledge. A work-ready professional will be proficient in soft skills, mindsets that promote openness and growth, and hands-on experience.

The Role of Faculty

The evolving landscape of opportunities and expectations for future talent suggests necessary changes to the faculty role. AACSB’s 2023 survey revealed that 71 percent of AACSB faculty perceive a significant shift in their roles and expectations due to digital transformation. New digital approaches, including use of GenAI, are not limited to teaching methodologies but also extend to research practices, emphasizing the need for new areas of focus, innovative methods, and rapid, data-driven dissemination. To effectively incorporate generative AI into educational frameworks, the active participation and support of faculty is essential.

After delving into the fundamental areas for business schools to extract value from GenAI, the inevitable question arises, What's the next step? The allure of GenAI lies in its universal accessibility, transcending skill levels, geographical boundaries, and professional status or rank. Yet, this very accessibility presents complex challenges in harnessing its potential while safeguarding an organization’s strategic trajectory and operational excellence. Effectively navigating these challenges demands concerted and human-centric efforts, spearheaded by strategic and visionary leaders capable of aligning all stakeholders impacted by the transformative technology. Our research has revealed the following four strategic directions for business school leaders to consider.

4 Strategic Pathways for Leveraging GenAI

Define Your Purpose

In the same way that educators are tasked with providing students the necessary skills to become purpose-driven leaders in a GenAI business world, business schools must also examine ways they can fulfill their unique value proposition to their stakeholders. Before integrating GenAI into their operations, it is crucial for institutions to clarify the objectives behind the technology’s use. Generative AI should be seen not as the end goal but instead as a tool to enhance the effectiveness and value of the business school, furthering its mission and purpose. Identify which stakeholders the school aims to reach and understand their specific needs and expectations. This understanding will guide how a school can apply GenAI across different activities to uniquely address these needs, positioning the institution to effectively deliver on its purpose.

Adopt a Human-Centered Approach

Although the technology’s allure is what captures the spotlight, “generative AI’s future success will hinge on a renewed focus on humans,” reports Deloitte’s AI Institute. A human-centered approach is key for schools to successfully incorporate and ethically deploy the technology and, as a result, creatively distinguish themselves in the market. This effort begins with a clear vision that resonates with all stakeholders.

Business school leaders should expect initial resistance and anxiety among faculty and address these attitudes with empathy, recognizing that they typically stem from a lack of understanding. Faculty play a pivotal role as ambassadors for the technology, and deans can help embolden them by inspiring them to participate instead of commanding them to engage.

Highlighting GenAI’s capacity to unlock, rather than undermine, human potential and promoting faculty-led learning communities can mitigate tension and empower peers to discover new, effective ways of working. Central to this human-centric strategy is visionary leadership. Deans should strive not only to position their schools for success but also develop their own AI-savviness to identify new partnerships and innovate human-resource solutions that add value.

Embrace (Intentional) Experimentation

Achieving internal support for GenAI can be significantly enhanced by cultivating an environment that values education, idea sharing, and the freedom to experiment. This approach, coupled with a culture that embraces learning from failures, is key to sparking innovative thinking.

However, schools must maintain strategic discipline to ensure that experimentation leads to meaningful advancements and benefits the school comprehensively. A McKinsey guide for CEOs outlines drawbacks of piecemeal experimentation with GenAI, advising leaders instead to develop a cohesive strategy due to the technology’s unique challenges and wide-ranging applications within an organization.

Reinforcing the importance of a human-centric approach, business school leaders will need to involve a diverse team of cross-functional players—combining faculty and staff from various disciplines—to discover and prioritize GenAI applications that offer the most value, while not jeopardizing stakeholder safety, e.g., data privacy and security issues. This collaboration can help ensure not only a targeted and efficient rollout but also safe and coordinated integration throughout the institution.

Align Governance With Infrastructure Maturity

The responsibility of a business school leader extends beyond merely creating a vision; they must also ensure that the school’s engagement with GenAI is productive, yet controlled, and supported by a comprehensive governance framework.

Beyond an innovation-driven organizational culture, achieving transformative organizational success at scale requires sophisticated technology and data systems, technical expertise, robust risk management, and effective operational frameworks—areas that many institutions are just not ready for. Ideally, GenAI hinges on seamless access to and the strategic use of data tailored to specific organizational needs. Institutions with underdeveloped data integration and management may struggle to unlock the full potential of GenAI applications.

With the rapid evolution of technology, jumping into large-scale investments in hardware or expertise prematurely is not advisable. Regardless of a school’s level of data management maturity, establishing a clear governance structure to navigate risks and evaluate the institution’s unique GenAI applications can guide the development of a strategic roadmap, identifying priority areas for future investment in this journey.

At their February 2024 meeting, Innovation Committee members engaged in a design-thinking workshop to envision future business school concepts within the context of GenAI. This exercise compelled members to identify critical areas where business schools could optimize their stakeholder value. It also helped delineate the essential priorities that business schools can begin addressing now to stay ahead in the evolving educational landscape.

The scenarios presented here, which are neither exhaustive nor exclusive of one another, are intended to spark creative and innovative thinking and new approaches to education among business school leaders. What other future possibilities do you see for business education with GenAI?

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