AMBA's Ambition magazine: Issue 2 2025, Volume 80

In a world in thrall to the seemingly boundary‑defying development of artificial intelligence (AI), what part will soft skills play in managing the effective use of this technology? Bruno van Pottelsberghe: “We are a university with a strong background in analytical skills, digital and information systems, so it’s an absolute necessity for us to do a deep dive on this. We have appointed a dean for AI – they have an interdisciplinary role across programme research and operations. They can challenge our operational and academic heads, come up with new ideas and look into what is being done at other universities. At the moment, we are working on a summer school fully oriented around AI and we are looking at the interdisciplinary skills that we want to integrate into all our master’s degrees. “We have colleagues with the technical capability to work on AI projects, so it will definitely be part of the curriculum, we just need to finalise the details. We are already using Copilot [Microsoft’s AI assistant] and ChatGPT; it’s still a little bit unstructured, but we’re rapidly gearing up to make a formal assessment of how AI works and what we can do to prepare our students for the way it will affect the workplace.” Federica Pazzaglia: “We are making an effort to harness the latest developments in AI and try to put a structure around them as much as possible – [although it seems] they are proceeding as fast as we can keep track of them. We’ve implemented a number of initiatives: our faculty convened to discuss what can be done in terms of gaining a greater understanding of how to use AI in the curriculum, how to use the [tools at our disposal] to assess assignments and inspire our students. “What I’m getting from talking to people in academia is that AI will make soft skills all the more central, as it’s going to simplify and accelerate a lot of tasks that at the moment are very much at the forefront, like gathering information or analysing particular scenarios. The difference will be made by people who ask the right questions, or who have the experience to make a [judgement] call. There are lots of AI tools that can be used, but at the same time, it is going to be about adaptability, decision‑making, courage and the ability to work with people. In the end, the implementation of what AI provides is going to be down to what humans can do with it.” Munish Thakur: “Prompt engineering and critical thinking are very important [aspects of AI implementation]. One of our faculty started teaching with GPT and a student engaged with it, deepening the conversation; they came to a very interesting insight after about 15 prompts, demonstrating that this is a brand new way of studying. For students who are introverts and find it difficult to learn in groups, AI is a great way of learning. “Another thing that is very critical is the ability to connect communication skills with data analysis and technology. That ability [to move between language-based and mathematical

of making students feel that their own individual personality and uniqueness is embedded throughout the programme; then it’s a case of reinforcing that through their coach. “For me, it’s not about having one particular ‘sparkly’ thing in a programme – it’s about a variety of things. I think VR is great, but some students struggle to connect with it; some students thrive in a teamwork setting, others prefer individual assignments. It’s about taking a really varied approach across the curriculum, where you personalise the support offered through a coach. “I think students benefit when they’re pushed out of their comfort zone; when they are [propelled] into a space where they feel the most uncomfortable, that’s where they learn the most. That breadth of opportunities not only means people can thrive in [different scenarios], but they can also learn from things that they don’t particularly find enjoyable and grow in those spaces.” Munish Thakur: “We offer two interesting experiments when it comes to getting our students out of their comfort zone. One is where students go and stay in villages, some of which don’t even have basic amenities; our cohorts come from relatively well-off backgrounds, so for them to get exposed to those villages is a real learning experience. “The second thing is a market research project supplied by external organisations, which provides a platform for students to learn in a realistic setting – once they’ve completed it, they then feed back the results to our industry contacts. “I’ve found that the approach depends on what you’re aiming to achieve. If you’re trying to develop a cognitively complex skill, such as analysing business with a multi-dimensional approach, then a simulation works well, but if you’re trying to develop a skill around empathy, then the ethnographic approach works better. If you’re talking about ‘embodied’ skills, then you’ll probably consider real-life projects, immersive experiences or case studies. It’s all personal and comes down to the learning style of each individual student.”

22 Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2025

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