Rethinking Business Education: Kristin Skogen Lund, Chair, INSEAD Board of Directors INSEAD Board of Directors Chair Kristin Skogen Lund MBA'92J explains why business education must evolve to equip leaders with the skills to navigate AI-driven change and embed AI into strategic decision-making.

In line with its reputation as "The Business School for the World," INSEAD continuously reassesses its curriculum design and teaching methods to reflect the realities of today's business environment. INSEAD Board of Directors Chair Kristin Skogen Lund, MBA '92J, explains that while grounding students in core disciplines such as accounting, finance, and fundamental business frameworks remains critical, it is no longer sufficient. "To prepare future leaders effectively, business education must also embed a deep understanding of how AI is reshaping industries, strategy, and leadership itself," she says.

INSEAD offers a wide range of MBA electives focusing on digital transformation, AI, data analytics and other emerging technologies. New electives for 2025/2026 include Generative AI Product&Business, Building your Personal and Business AI Strategy, Marketing to Humans, Bots and Beyond, Hands-on Deep Learning, GenAI at Work, Forecasting Beyond Guessing, Creative Thinking with AI and more. These courses help prepare AI-ready leaders who can master new digital skills and adapt quickly as technology reshapes organizations.

"We are also piloting an innovative segment within our core Marketing course that uses AI to help students apply marketing principles to their own career strategy," Lund says. "The new module enables participants to visualize potential career paths, understand the skills and experiences required for target roles, and position themselves more effectively in a competitive global job market."

All these courses are designed to build AI fluency in leaders by combining technical awareness with strong strategic and ethical judgment. "Some of our Executive Education programs such as Transforming Your Business with AI and Strategy in the Age of AI and Digital Disruption are high in demand as they prepare leaders to relook business models and solve real problems with AI," Lund says.

INSEAD is integrating advanced technologies such as extended reality through its INSEAD XR Portal to enhance experiential learning in business education. The platform hosts the world's largest collection of immersive business education cases and is accessible to academic institutions and corporate partners globally. These virtual reality cases are currently used by more than 40 INSEAD faculty members and have reached over 25,000 learners worldwide. As digital learning tools continue to evolve, Lund believes that skill development and upskilling are expected to become increasingly immersive, scalable, and adaptable to local contexts.

She adds, "Beyond that, we aim to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset, teaching leaders how to leverage AI to reinvent industries. We are bringing AI into research by mobilizing its multi-disciplinary strength to explore how AI reshapes business, organizations, markets and society. The upcoming Human and Machine Intelligence Institute (HUMII) will be focused on promoting faculty-led research and thought leadership that explores how AI is transforming business and society."

Focusing on the UAE, INSEAD supports Emirati entrepreneurs by connecting them to global innovation ecosystems while ensuring strong regional relevance. "A key example is the work of Professor Chiara Spina, whose regional engagement spans three pillars: Research, Support and Outreach," Lund says. "Her upcoming evidence-based report on UAE innovation (2026), along with new case studies and pedagogical materials on "doing business in the Middle East," aims to document and strengthen the region's competitive advantages."

Lund adds that Professor Spina is also co-designing programs with UAE universities and innovation hubs to integrate Emirati founders into INSEAD's entrepreneurship ecosystem [to be launched in 2026] and contributing to UAE–Japan innovation bridge initiatives linking entrepreneurs and investors. "Through Outreach, Professor Spina translates academic insights for practitioners, recently speaking at Microsoft for Startups Middle East's AI for Impact and Abu Dhabi Finance Week on scaling, AI adoption and impact investing," Lund says. "These efforts, together with platforms like the AI Venture Lab by Professor Hyunjin Kim, ensure Emirati founders gain access to world-class networks, practical guidance and global perspectives."

In conclusion, Lund highlights the human skills that will become most critical for future leaders and explains how business schools should prioritize developing them. "As AI takes on more analytical and operational tasks, the most critical leadership capabilities will be those that remain uniquely human," she says. "Ethical judgment, responsible decision-making and navigating complex ambiguity are areas where leaders must still lead with judgment and accountability.

"Equally important are empathy, trust-building and the ability to motivate diverse teams – these are qualities that strengthen cohesion in increasingly hybrid and AI-enabled organizations. Entrepreneurial thinking, experimentation, resilience and a growth mindset will also define leaders who can innovate and adapt in environments of constant change."

For business schools, this calls for learning environments that encourage innovation and experimentation while preparing leaders to work alongside AI-driven digital workforces. As curricula become more interactive, immersive, and closely connected to real-world challenges, the focus must remain on developing purpose-driven, compassionate, and human-centered leadership. "Ultimately, human leadership will become the true differentiator in an AI-intensive future," Lund concludes.

How AI Reshapes Leadership
By INSEAD Board of Directors Chair Kristin Skogen Lund MBA'92J

"Leaders today must be fluent in human-machine collaboration and skilled at interpreting, validating, challenging and operationalizing AI-driven insights rather than accept them at face value. The leaders of the next decade will be those who balance these trade-offs thoughtfully and able to integrate AI in ways that enhance, rather than replace, the capabilities of their teams. Above all, they will see AI not merely as a productivity tool but as a catalyst for new ideas, new markets and entirely new ways of organizing work."

Related: INSEAD's Associate Professor Vikas Aggarwal on How Ecosystem Partnerships Shape MENA's Future in AI