AMBA & BGA EXCELLENCE AWARD WINNERS
labs at any one time. As the UCL MBA grows, we would love to see this proportion increase, but the numbers look set to continue expanding regardless.” Lab projects are said to have led to the release of research co-authored by students and industry practitioners. Can consultancy firm Capgemini was carried out by the Analytics Lab in 2023. It argued that while the use of AI can enable and accelerate the implementation of sustainability within organisations, a rigorous and comprehensive transformation is required to enable both AI and sustainability to work together. A second report on generative AI and the skills required by business was released earlier this year.” Are there plans to add labs in different subject areas and broaden the initiative? “An Entrepreneurship Lab has been proposed by current students and would be designed to expand on UCL’s broader engagement with entrepreneurship, leveraging the experience of UCL MBA alumni. Linked to the labs, several students and alumni have also begun the process of establishing a start-up fund and investment group to support a range of UCL School of Management initiatives. “Additionally, we have recently established a you give a brief example of this? “A report authored by UCL students and mentorship programme where UCL MBA students and alumni can mentor and coach undergraduates and other postgraduates with an interest in mentors’ industries of expertise and geographic markets.” What would be your advice to other business school leaders who are reviewing their approach to alumni relations and lifelong learning? “Many universities approach alumni for funding. While this is important, there is more value to be gained by creating lifelong relationships with students and alumni. Our advice to other schools is to engage with your alumni, not just for fundraising, but also because they are part of your organisation’s community and ambassadors for the university. “The UCL MBA programme stands on the continued success of our current students and alumni. It is a mutually beneficial relationship. As such, the School of Management will continue to invest in the career growth of our alumni and actively seeks to engage them in classroom interactions and extracurricular activities that celebrate our broader School of Management community.”
medicine and the humanities, leads to diverse teams and opportunities for our MBA students to lead through that diversity. “We want our graduates to get a great job, but also build careers that have meaningful impact for their industries and societies. They are not just joining a degree programme; they are joining a university community that will support them throughout their lives.” Do the labs offer a pathway for students at the wider UCL to consider and apply to the UCL MBA or related programmes at the School of Management? “The labs offer the wider UCL community unique access to the resources being offered and developed through the UCL School of Management and its industry contacts. In this way, the labs have increased awareness of the School of Management to the remaining 60,000 student and staff members of the UCL community. And yes, several UCL MBA applicants have mentioned the labs as part of the reason for their interest in our programme.” How do the labs enable alumni to re‑engage with their business school and acquire new skills? “As the labs tackle current critical issues in their respective focal areas, alumni can engage with current students and faculty to continue to develop their skills in a new context. For example, making AI’s potential applications the theme of this year’s DigitalHack allowed alumni who graduated before the AI boom to re-engage and access new skills. In addition, our alumni bring meaningful projects to the labs to solve complex problems.” How many students and alumni have been involved since the first MBA lab launched in 2021 and do you expect these numbers to rise in the years ahead? “Students from across UCL can participate in the Sustainability Lab and the Analytics Lab. Over 200 students have attended project launch events since November 2022. Over the past three years, the DigitalHack has engaged nearly 100 participants, including current UCL MBA students and alumni, high-performing graduates from other UCL faculties, industry experts and senior business leaders. “Approximately one third of our UCL MBA students and alumni are now actively engaged in the
BIOGRAPHY
Paolo Taticchi is professor of strategy & sustainability and deputy director (MBA, global engagement & executive education) at UCL School of Management, University College London. Taticchi also serves as co‑director of the UCL Centre for Sustainable Business; earlier this year he received the Stefan A Riesenfeld Memorial Award from Berkeley Law in recognition of his contributions to sustainable business practices
Ambition | DECEMBER 2024 | 31
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