AMBA & BGA EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
BIOGRAPHY
“Rather than prescribing a rigid, one-size-fits-all model, the school worked collaboratively with professors to determine which learning activities were best suited for physical sessions and which could be delivered effectively in a synchronous digital format. Faculty were also given dedicated spaces to exchange practical experiences and effective practices with colleagues across the programme. Crucially, training centred less on the mechanics of technology and more on how to create engaging, interactive and academically rigorous learning experiences across both formats.” How has the new programme benefited the school’s relationship with employer partners? “While the redesigned format offers practical advantages for corporate sponsors, the programme is fundamentally centred on the students’ personal development and career growth rather than serving employer partners directly. The core objective is empowering participants to navigate their individual leadership journeys and advance their professional trajectories. That said, employer partners benefit organically from this focus because the blended format reduces travel requirements and limits disruption to daily work schedules, enabling participants to remain actively connected to ongoing projects and responsibilities while studying. For employers, the primary hurdle in executive education is often the heavy time commitment, so a model prioritising flexible, sustained personal growth aligns naturally with organisational realities. In addition, the innovation behind the redesign has fostered valuable dialogue with corporate partners regarding modern leadership development needs.” How has the new EMBA model impacted the design of other programmes offered at the school? “The EMBA redesign has served as a major catalyst for broader conversations about programme design across the school. Rather than treating curriculum planning as a binary choice between physical and digital delivery, teams now ask which combination of learning environments best supports the educational objectives of a specific programme. More broadly, the initiative reinforced an overarching principle: digital transformation should not be viewed merely as a technical project, but as an opportunity to fundamentally rethink programme architecture, participant experience and educational impact.” Which single aspect of the programme are you most proud of and why? “We are most proud that our team delivered flexibility without compromising quality, refusing to reduce contact hours or rely on recorded content. Instead, we redesigned the EMBA to fit executives’ lives while strengthening the educational experience. This was not a tech initiative, but a collaborative transformation of design, pedagogy and mindset across faculty, staff, students and alumni. Winning the AMBA award reinforces our shared belief at BI: digital transformation isn’t about using more technology; it’s about using it intelligently to create superior education.”
Lars Erling Olsen is a professor of marketing and the academic director for executive programmes at BI Norwegian Business School. He drives the strategic direction, pedagogical innovation and academic quality of BI’s executive education portfolio, overseeing the executive MBA alongside other domestic and international executive offerings
Ambition • ISSUE 5 • 2026 43
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