AMBA & BGA GLOBAL CONFERENCE 2025
T he challenges associated with younger employees no longer being able to learn from a human manager, as that function is gradually being replaced by AI, was one of the key points made by the conference’s first speaker, Kevin Ellis. The trend nowadays is “to reduce the training budget and redirect it to technology”, according to Ellis, who is a former senior partner with responsibility for EMEA at professional services firm PwC in the UK. He emphasised the importance of attending the office, where younger members of staff can “learn from watching others and building relationships with them”. He cautioned that “flexibility is required on both sides”, hailing the solution of the hybrid model of working, with employees having two days a week at home. Ellis said he believed that business schools should offer a greater number of executive education courses, along the lines of an advanced management programme. In his opinion, the growth spurt in the Middle East has led to a demand for consulting and financial services, with those taking part in an exec ed programme likely to “move faster up the career ladder”. The former PwC executive advocated for a shift from a linear career to a more flexible and multi-faceted portfolio model, emphasising that a modern MBA should be designed to prepare students for this new reality. “Joint-sponsored degrees are the way to go”, he declared, adding that as “generalists will be squeezed out, graduates need to specialise”. He also warned that since the primary skills needed to succeed at business schools in five years’ time will not be the same as at present, “learning capability” is crucial. He noted that industry must partner with business schools “to attract the best talent”. Moreover, he was at pains to point out that – despite the inexorable rise of new technologies – “human contact [in the workplace] is still essential”. AI coach benefits both students & instructors Olivier Malafronte, a lecturer at the Côte d’Azur University, revealed that students who actively engaged with an AI coach on two courses involving business simulations outperformed those who did not. In an illuminating exploration of data gleaned from a year of using the tool, Malafronte said that the top topic of discussion between 86 students and the AI coach related to soft skills – specifically classmate interactions in the group‑based simulations. However, students also identified gaps in their technical knowledge, allowing Malafronte to tweak his teaching and ensure areas of difficulty were covered. The AI coach, developed by Cesim, has been available to more than 4,000 instructors since its launch last year, of which around 1,300 have made use of the tool. This means that approximately 68 per cent did not use it at all. Cesim CEO Veijo Kyosti said that while this sends “a clear signal that we still have a lot of work to do”, the number of adopters is on the rise:
“We see more and more super users inside business schools who have been using it and creating a followership. They know how the systems work and they are getting good results out of it.” Living in a time of disruption once again ESMT president Jörg Rocholl began his presentation by reminiscing on how he had first come to Berlin as a high school student in 1989, just six months before the fall of the infamous wall that divided Germany into East and West. Rocholl recalled the disruption that Berlin has lived through in terms of German reunification and declared that society is “again living through disruption in these times”. He elaborated on this by adding: “Technological advances and the use of AI have been a real revolution, creating new ways of how humans interact.” The ESMT president urged schools to grasp the opportunity “to equip future leaders with the skills they will need to navigate the challenges of tomorrow”. He noted that they will have to “embrace an entrepreneurial and disruptive way of thinking” to become “change-makers of the future”. Rocholl highlighted the increasing expectation for corporates to play a meaningful role and be involved in societal impact, providing, as an example, ESMT students going out to local communities to take up hands-on challenges, such as reorganising a paper recycling factory in Ethiopia. He called for more “global interaction to benefit the planet” and implored business school leaders to inspire students to become involved in such activities. Rocholl recommended that students be encouraged to engage in debate on current affairs and challenge world leaders at events such as the Berlin Global Dialogue. He remarked on how last year France’s President Macron took part in the conference, interacting with ESMT students and discussing their ideas on topics such as navigating geopolitical fragmentation and accelerating the green transition. He ended by advocating for business schools to take charge of shaping the future of society: “In this period of change, business schools must engage with those who will drive this change – and translate it into actionable items”.
ESMT Berlin president Jörg Rocholl called on business schools to equip their students to be agents of change
Ambition • ISSUE 4 • 2025 19
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