BRIEFING Fostering future-proof AI proficiency in students, boosting academic engagement using psychological capital and how childhood anxiety can spur a quest for status all feature in this round-up of news and research from BGA schools. Ellen Buchan , Tim Banerjee Dhoul and Colette Doyle report THE LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS BGA’S NETWORK Business
FUTURE-FOCUSED AI COMPETENCY MODEL INTEGRATED INTO DEGREE PROGRAMMES
faster than people can be retrained,” commented Kamal Bhattacharya, vice‑president for research and transfer at IU. “There are often only months between new generations of powerful AI models, while university curricula develop over years. This creates a growing gap between technological development and human competence – we want to close this gap.” According to IU, the need for action is clear: in its latest Future of Jobs Report , the World Economic Forum identified skills gaps as the biggest barrier to corporate transformation (cited by 63 per cent of employers worldwide). At the same time, it predicted that 39 per cent of all core competencies will need to be newly acquired by
2030. Meanwhile, the future skills most frequently referenced by respondents to an IU poll of professionals and recruiters are creative thinking (57 per cent), analytical thinking (54 per cent) and empathy & active listening (47 per cent). Another IU survey suggests that its students and alumni are already better equipped with AI skills than those of other universities in Germany, with the school attributing this to its use of AI‑powered learning companion Syntea. A total of 83 per cent of IU students and graduates agreed that they have learned how to use AI tools effectively, compared to 70 per cent of those at other private universities and 67 per cent of those at public institutions in the country. CD
SCHOOL IU International University Germany
U International University has integrated an AI competency model into its curriculum in a
I
bid to prepare students for the future world of work. The model is based on its Job Readiness Framework, which structures the development of students’ ability to deploy AI at work in five measurable stages. Following an initial pilot phase, the framework will now be added systematically to existing content across all disciplines and degree programmes at IU. “Technology is developing
6 Business Impact • ISSUE 3 • 2026
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