Like most industries, business schools are racing to keep pace with artificial intelligence — not just by teaching it but also integrating it into their curricula. As AI becomes central to business strategy, executive education programmes need to evolve to help leaders understand its promises and pitfalls. From generative AI tools to artistic approaches that foster creativity, schools are keeping an open mind on how best to prepare executives for the AI age.

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), nearly 80 per cent of business schools have now incorporated AI into their teaching and learning in one form or another. But the emphasis tends not to be on training coders. Rather, as Harris Kyriakou of Essec Business School, near Paris, explains, the focus is on producing "strategically fluent leaders". Essec’s programmes, for example, aim to demystify AI’s opaque "black box" so that executives can make informed, responsible decisions instead of blindly delegating strategic choices to machines, he says.

Similarly, at Trinity Business School in Dublin, Michael Flynn, director of executive education, says its executive programmes try to combine digital fluency with a "human-centric perspective", helping leaders foster the cultural change needed to successfully integrate AI across organisations. Damien Walsh, new programme development director at ON Semiconductor, recently completed Trinity’s Driving Performance with AI and Analytics programme. "The growth in AI is a huge opportunity for the cloud power solutions developed by our Limerick team," he says. "But AI is also having a huge impact on how we do new product development — from how we determine which projects to invest in, to how we verify our designs for completeness. The course showed me how understanding the requirements of data sets for training AI algorithms is important in helping to decide where AI can effectively be used for new product development." 

AI is woven into the design and delivery of education itself at Insead, says Phanish Puranam, who leads the AI for Business programme at the business school in Fontainebleau, south of Paris. He stresses the transformative potential of modern AI but notes that the school’s goal is to teach leaders to use AI to "think with many minds", rather than simply offloading thinking to algorithms. Insead’s executive education portfolio includes courses that help leaders develop ethical frameworks and understand EU AI regulations as well as prototype AI solutions. Tools such as VSTRAT and Qinect allow participants to simulate strategic decision-making and AI-supported negotiations.

Imperial Business School in London is adopting an all-in approach, requiring all executive education staff to complete its AI for Business Innovation programme. Russell Miller, director of learning solutions and innovation, says this is about embedding AI expertise across all facets of the school. A new programme, Responsible Leadership in a Complex World, teaches participants to uphold ethical values amid AI-driven pressures.

A partnership with OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, is helping ESCP Business School embed similar generative tools into learning. Anne-Laure Augeard, AI deployment project manager at the school, which has six campuses across Europe, says initiatives range from giving students AI-driven feedback to the creation of course content. One programme, the Executive Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership, encourages learners to use AI tools for productivity and reflection.

Her colleague at ESCP, Sylvain Bureau, is taking a more creative tack. His new executive programme, launching this summer, explores how AI and art can come together to break rigid thinking patterns. He warns that while AI may improve efficiency, it risks "making companies less creative" because it relies on patterns, while innovation thrives on breaking them. Prof Bureau’s course ends with participants producing original works of art, bringing artistic disruption into corporate strategy.

Other business schools pushing the boundaries include Iese in Barcelona, where Kandarp Mehta’s AI-powered negotiation platform helps participants refine their emotional intelligence using dynamic avatars. At Audencia in France, executives in the AI + Sales programme actually build AI agents. Olga Batrak, head of open-enrolment and custom executive programmes, describes this as part of a broader Métiers + AI series, an approach that tailors AI application to specific professions, such as communications and sales.

Case study: From concept to customer
As digital innovation manager at German insurer and warranty provider Wertgarantie, Fynn Wolken used his time on ESCP’s Executive Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership to turn theory into practical impact. For an innovation project, he created a generative AI chatbot to enhance customer service for the company’s 8mn clients. "I was very aware of AI before the programme, but the experience at ESCP has helped me understand what works, what AI is good for, what it isn’t, and dispelled some of the myths and hype around it," Wolken says, particularly welcoming the "scientific approach" to how AI works. "We were able to look under the bonnet of the technology and analyse how large language models operate.

"The OpenAI initiative at the school was great as we able to use the licence to experiment — we did everything from actual coding to marketing and branding, developing apps in one day." A trip is planned to OpenAI in Silicon Valley, to help embed what his classmates learned and to use it at work.

Business schools race to keep abreast of developments in AI

Business schools worldwide are integrating artificial intelligence into their curricula to prepare executives for the AI-driven era. Programs focus on strategic leadership, ethical frameworks, and practical applications of AI, with institutions like Essec, Trinity, Insead, and ESCP emphasizing human-centric approaches, ethical AI use, and AI-driven innovation. Case studies highlight real-world applications, such as developing AI chatbots for customer service.