As providers of the qualification, business schools have certainly not ignored the growing pressures they face. Most now offer sustainability or ESG modules and many advertise their commitment to responsible leadership. Yet the dominant response has been incremental: adding elective courses while leaving the core architecture of management education intact. Too often, sustainability sits alongside core subjects instead of transforming them. I believe this approach misses the point. The problem is not a lack of ESG content, but the assumption that sustainability can sit at the margins of management education without distorting the entire model. If future executives are still trained primarily to optimise growth, shareholder returns and competitive advantage, ethical considerations will inevitably become secondary. Going beyond the technical ESG is frequently framed as a technical issue – a set of metrics, compliance requirements or reporting standards. But climate risk and inequality are not technical problems. In addition, while artificial intelligence (AI) is often framed as a question of tools and efficiency, the revolution it represents is far from being a technical issue alone because it alters how organisations allocate authority, assess risk and define accountability. Like climate change, AI is a systemic force that reshapes incentives and power structures across markets and institutions. Teaching ESG and AI as bolt-on topics risks reinforcing the very mindset that contributed to these challenges in the first place. At Trinity Business School, we have chosen redesign over addition. ESG principles are embedded across the core MBA curriculum. Our integration also recognises that emerging technologies, particularly AI and advanced analytics, must be governed as carefully as they are deployed. Responsible leadership today requires understanding not only how to use these tools, but also how they interact with climate risk, labour markets, regulation and social trust. Just as importantly, we apply core theories from finance, strategy, operations and analytics to organisations with explicit social and environmental missions, including social enterprises, public institutions and nonprofits. The goal is not simply to teach students about sustainability as a topic, but also to develop leaders who can collaborate in diverse teams, make ethical, sustainable decisions and recognise the social and environmental consequences of business choices. Traditional MBA models are built around the assumption that managers face discrete problems, such as how to increase efficiency, grow market share or maximise profitability. By contrast, the challenges
Refresh Adding elective courses is no longer adequate, declares Trinity Business School dean Laurent Muzellec . Here, he outlines the imperative for embedding sustainability, ESG and AI at the core of MBA programmes to reflect the realities of modern business and help redefine the notions of leadership and success FOR success
F or decades, the MBA has been treated as the gold standard of leadership education. It promises strategic thinking, commercial acumen and the skills needed to run complex organisations. Yet at a time when businesses face existential challenges from climate breakdown, social inequality, technological upheaval and declining public trust, a more uncomfortable question is emerging: “Is the MBA, in its current form, still fit for purpose?”
40 Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2026
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