While artificial intelligence (AI), geopolitical disruption and other forces are reshaping businesses across the globe, they are having a no less profound impact on business education. “The pace of change in the world of business education has been such that we have probably seen as much change in the last five years as we saw in the previous 30,” says Prof Anthony Brabazon, college principal and dean of UCD College of Business.
And the rate of change is only likely to accelerate in the coming years. “It’s a really exciting time and it presents real opportunities for business education over the next decade,” he says.
He believes business education in Ireland is well placed to take advantage of those opportunities. “As a country we are stable with a very strong reputation for education which is not politicised. We have an open economy in terms of people coming here to contribute to it. That positions us really well in a world of immense uncertainty.”
With AI moving from concept to reality in businesses, it is also having an impact on business schools. “I think about AI daily,” says Brabazon. “I think about it in three key areas – education, thought leadership research, and our operational activities.”
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A lot of routine administrative tasks at the UCD Smurfit School are already being moved to AI platforms, he notes. “We are also using AI for careers development and support and matching students with alumni mentors. Those things can be done to a very high quality.”
In education, AI is now being integrated in curriculums and programmes, Brabazon explains: “We are embedding the technology in what we teach and how we teach. I’ve seen an incredible level of interest and enthusiasm across the whole faculty for embedding the technology. It can’t be led from the top down. You need a strong organic change process from the ground up.”
Practical examples of the technology in use include the simulation of negotiations. “AI can interact with students and act out different scenarios. It allows us to strengthen experiential learning opportunities for students. It can also help with strategy formulation and industry analysis. We are also seeing it used in financial models.”
There is also a wider dimension. “We are not just educating people for their first job. We have a deep responsibility to educate future business leaders who will still be around in 2060 or 2070. We are very keen to embed in the curriculum awareness of the potential impact of the technology on society, its ethical use and the whole issue of trust.”
The use of generative AI (GenAI) is also creating efficiencies in the research process, Brabazon adds: “A literature review that might have taken months can be undertaken by a skilled researcher in days or less. It can be used as a research partner or assistant, but you need to be aware of the quality of outputs.”
It will also lead to a democratisation of the research space, he believes. “Smaller business schools will be able to use the technology to amplify their research efforts and bridge the gap between them and larger, better resourced schools.”
The geopolitical environment is creating challenges for universities around the world. “The polarisation of societal debate and what should be taught in universities is very concerning. We are facing real challenges about what universities should be about and what topics they should address,” says Brabazon.
But he reiterates that this environment creates opportunities for universities and business schools in Ireland. “We have a very open economy and very strong global perspective. UCD considers itself to be Ireland’s global business school. Our curriculum reflects that. We have a very international faculty and student cohort, and this allows people to get comfortable with different perspectives.
“When thinking about future careers of graduates, they are likely to be global for many of them. You need people capable of working across multiple geographies and we are very good at that in UCD and Ireland generally. UCD College of Business has 100,000 alumni, half of them overseas. That’s a very rich international network for students and graduates to plug into.”
To avail of those opportunities, business schools need to ensure they remain relevant, he adds. “Our most important impact is the education of our students. It’s taken for granted that graduates will have technical skills but employers are placing more and more emphasis on softer skills. They want people to be resilient, adaptable and not discomforted by change. Businesses need future leaders capable of adapting to change and that has implications for the way we approach education.”
That means willingness to change. “Business schools need to constantly update their programmes. We used to update our programmes every three to five years; now we can do it almost in real time thanks to AI and other technologies.”
That brings him to the question of university funding. “Funding per undergraduate student has hardly changed over the last 10 years,” he says. “This is not just an issue for Ireland. Universities everywhere are faced with the same challenges. But the university system is being asked to do so much during a time of dynamic change, is it really time to cut back?”
He points to the value to society and the economy of business schools like Smurfit. “Approximately 5 per cent of Ireland’s population graduated from UCD. One-third of Ireland’s business graduates are from UCD. Consider the impact that group of alumni has had on the Irish economy down through the decades. Support for Ireland’s economic development is embedded in the DNA of the school. It’s an incredibly volatile time at present and the funding mechanism for the Irish university system needs to be addressed.”
Looking ahead, Brabazon is “genuinely excited” about the future. “All of my colleagues are curious people. They respond well to change and like to be challenged. New possibilities for the delivery of education and undertaking research excite them.”
