Mumbai: Indian business schools are facing growing pressure to reassess their traditional MBA programmes as employer expectations, graduate roles and demand for conventional management degrees evolve, according to a survey of 22 Indian business school deans and academic leaders released by BITS School of Management (BITSoM) and global management education network EFMD.
The EFMD x BITSoM Global Perspectives Survey Report, unveiled at BITSoM’s inaugural All-India Deans Conference in Mumbai, found that 59.1% of respondents identified changing employer expectations and graduate roles as a major concern, while 54.5% cited changing demand for traditional degrees and MBA programmes. Half of those surveyed pointed to changing faculty roles and workforce expectations.
The findings point to a broader challenge for management institutions: adapting programmes to a changing business environment while preserving the analytical, ethical and leadership capabilities expected of management graduates.
Artificial intelligence is adding to this pressure. About 73% of respondents expect AI to bring substantial or fundamental change to management education. However, institutional responses remain uneven, with six of the 16 respondents anticipating major change still at the stage of watching developments or experimenting with the technology.
The report suggests that the challenge extends beyond introducing AI tools into classrooms to reconsidering what students learn, how their capabilities are assessed and how business schools engage with employers.
“AI is going to be the next growth engine for MBA career paths. Integrating AI into business education is an opportunity to elevate how we cultivate human reasoning,” said Prof Vishal Gaur, dean of Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business.
“Our goal is to ensure that as computational tools become ubiquitous, our students double down on critical analysis, ethical decision-making, and original thought rather than surrendering strategic judgment to automated systems,” he added.
Rethinking the MBA proposition
The conference discussions highlighted the need to move beyond conventional lecture-based teaching towards project-based learning, interdisciplinary work and live industry problem-solving. As AI makes information and routine analysis more readily accessible, the report argues that business schools need to place greater emphasis on judgement, originality, empathy and ethical reasoning.
The discussions also questioned whether traditional measures of educational value, including placement statistics, rankings and return on investment, have encouraged students to view the MBA primarily as a transaction.
The report notes that the value students derive from management education extends beyond immediate salary outcomes to professional networks, confidence, personal development, learning and long-term career resilience. It also flags placement anxiety and student mental health as concerns for institutions.
For business schools, this raises questions about how they communicate the value of their programmes and whether their curricula adequately prepare graduates for changing roles and uncertain career paths.
The survey found that curriculum, teaching and assessment redesign was among the key challenges in navigating AI, cited by 36% of respondents. Another 32% identified building faculty capabilities and adoption, while 41% pointed to governance, privacy and responsible use of AI.
The conference report called for AI to be integrated across management disciplines rather than treated solely as a technology elective. It also highlighted the need for practical assessments, classroom discussions and real-world data analysis to ensure students can demonstrate independent understanding rather than rely on AI-generated answers.
Closer industry engagement and flexible programmes
The discussions also pointed to a need for business schools to work more closely with employers in shaping curricula, developing research and preparing students for emerging roles. Institutions were urged to review their programme portfolios rather than continue offering courses simply because they have traditionally existed.
The report identified flexible formats, shorter-duration and skill-based programmes, and interdisciplinary learning linked to fields such as technology, engineering, healthcare and sustainability as areas for consideration.
Prof Jun Yang, dean of Nanyang Business School at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, said management education must extend beyond the delivery of transactional skills.
“Our responsibility is to develop leaders with the capability to navigate complex business challenges, the intellectual courage to question status-quo practices, and the determination to lead responsible, long-term transformation with cultural dexterity,” he said.
The conference also called for business schools to strengthen their research capabilities and develop management frameworks rooted in Indian business and institutional contexts that can inform global thinking.
Prof Kieran Fernandes, executive dean of Durham University Business School, said excellence in research and teaching should reinforce each other, with high-impact research informing classroom learning. Global partnerships, he added, would be important in jointly developing knowledge that advances academic rigour and real-world learning.
The survey further found that 91% of Indian respondents favoured international partnerships spanning multiple strategic areas rather than arrangements focused primarily on student mobility. Research and faculty collaboration, student engagement, joint programmes and industry-linked initiatives featured among the areas for collaboration.
The findings are based on responses from 22 Indian business school deans and academic leaders and reflect their assessments of the shifts confronting management education. They do not measure employer preferences directly, but highlight the institutional concerns that business school leaders believe will shape the future of MBA programmes.
