essential.” Ksenia Yuzhaninova Karadenizli, dean of the Graduate School of Business at Almaty Management University, noted that “not everyone knows how to leverage the benefits of AI”, adding that this is something schools “need to remedy”. Jeffrey Stangl, associate dean of executive education at Massey Business School, referenced the “anxiety around the AI revolution in terms of disrupting teaching methods”, but pointed out that the business world does not share this feeling and is avidly incorporating the technology. He maintained that higher education “must learn from this” and also referenced the importance of the ‘pracademic’, noting that his school is “still reliant on executives adding intellect, critical thinking and creativity.” Abbas pointed out that most business
( Above ) Steef van de Velde, professor of operations management & technology at Rotterdam School of Management, outlined the limitations of traditional case studies and offered new ideas about teaching; ( right ) AMBA & BGA’s Debbie Kemp chaired a pre-conference roundtable sponsored by UBI Business School
in Indonesia is conducted by SMEs, so they collaborate with them to provide students with real-life case studies and workshops. “We identify how to use the knowledge provided”, he said. Karadenizli noted that faculty who hail from the post-Soviet era that began in 1991 can be considered “old school”, whereas the new generation is “digitally literate”. His institution provides for both: “it is an opportunity to co- exist and understand one another”. Stangl touched on the difference between MBA students, who are normally 35-plus, and the younger generations who embrace AI tools to help them enhance their work performance: EMBA cohorts can be “intimidated and slow to adopt technology”. When asked by Torras how the curriculum is changing to meet the needs of future business leaders, Karadenizli cited real-time cases with industry, corporate hackathons and venture labs. He also noted the rising importance of micro-credentials: “Students don’t want to wait too long to get a degree… [they need] an opportunity to sample business school education to decide whether to go down the MBA route”. Stangl agreed that stackable credentials represent the way forward, commenting that Massey is “working on a whole suite of 20 micro-credentials applied towards the MBA and other master’s programmes in collaboration with industry.” The discussion then turned to reskilling, with Abbas explaining that Universitas Indonesia has a strong and very active alumni association:
“Real life is a lot messier than case studies, which often provide straightforward solutions,” commented van de Velde. The evolution of this format has seen the introduction of live cases, where corporate executives come in to present their issues. This, noted the speakers, offers “authentic complexity and ambiguity”, but it is time-consuming and not always easy to get a company on board. The presenters then moved on to consider what happens when generative AI meets case teaching. Drawbacks include the technology’s documented ‘hallucinations’, the risk of homogenisation and the way in which AI might become a crutch, rather than a learning tool. On the other hand, benefits for faculty include an acceleration of the case-writing process and the fact that data collection and synthesis are made easier, plus using AI stimulates instructor creativity, allowing for experimentation with case formats. Conclusions of the session included the point that although AI may “supercharge” case development, it can never replace field depth. It makes drafting faster, but only “real organisational insight” can produce a compelling protagonist and learning experience. What students need from faculty is “sensemaking, judgment, debate and decision quality”. The future of the case method is “more dynamic, conversational and scenario-driven”, declared the Rotterdam professor, noting that “ChatGPT does not kill case teaching, but it does kill weak case teaching”. The future of work is up for debate A panel debate chaired by Luis Torras Arruga, senior adjunct professor at EADA Business School, examined what the workplace of tomorrow will demand from graduates and how management education can best respond. Yulianti Abbas, dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business at Universitas Indonesia, highlighted the need for schools to equip students with fluency in AI, as well as the ethics surrounding it, given that the technology “allows us to do things we’ve never thought about before… so the ability to keep learning is
( Near right ) AMBA & BGA CEO Andrew Main Wilson provided an overview of innovative ideas in the global management education sector; ( far right ) Shikha Taunk, AMBA & BGA’s strategic engagement manager for India, chaired a panel on the country’s demographic dividend and the importance of business schools taking steps to harness its advantage through innovative education, skills development and regional collaboration
20 Ambition • ISSUE 1 • 2026
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