This MBA Program Is Using AI to Boost Human Skills
Credit: Wolfgang Kaehler / LightRocket / Getty Images- Tulane University overhauled its MBA program years ago to focus on STEM, and now it’s doubling down on AI.
- Tulane Dean Paolo Goes told BestColleges that AI is among the most important factors in modern business education.
- Recent reports have shown AI to be widespread in business school curriculum, but schools are taking a varied approach to the new tech.
The main focus — and challenge — for MBA programs over the past year can be summed up with two words: artificial intelligence.
Business schools have scrambled to implement AI curriculums amid surging employer and student demands. At the same time, employers have also indicated in previous research that human skills like communication and strategy will continue to be important in the coming years.
One of the schools grappling with how to meet those disparate demands is the Tulane University A. B. Freeman School of Business, which overhauled its MBA program in 2023 to create a STEM focus and is now incorporating AI in student learning.
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Schools across the business education landscape have made AI tools available to students through investments and partnerships with AI providers. That’s also the case at Freeman, where faculty have built a platform that gives students access to a range of large language models, Goes said, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and more.
But the school is attempting to do more than just train students with current models. Freeman School Dean Paulo Goes told BestColleges in an interview that AI and human learning can go hand-in-hand.
“When you teach entrepreneurship and innovation, that’s the perfect environment for creating this partnership between humans and AI,” Goes said.
“Every single step of that process, from ideation to moving something to the market, you can rely on that interaction.”
Using AI to Boost Human Skills
Tulane’s revamped MBA has a heavy emphasis on applied data and experiential learning. The school isn’t just familiarizing students with the models and how to use them. Goes said AI is also being used as a learning tool. In negotiations classes, for instance, AI is being used to emulate different personalities and train students in communication.
That creates “live case studies” that put students on the spot and require them to think on their feet, Goes said.
“I think it really helps with critical thinking, because on the spot, the students are realizing that they have to react in different ways of teamwork, critical thinking, decision making, all these things are part of this experimentation.”
Learning “on the spot,” Goes said, is key in the modern business landscape. AI is only the latest technology to rapidly disrupt business models and force leaders to adapt to a new reality.
“We don’t know the types of jobs that are going to be available in the future, but we have to equip students with dealing with change and learning how to learn on the spot,” Goes said.
Human skills have emerged as top priorities for what employers want in new hires. HR leaders said in a previous survey that communication, willingness to learn, collaboration, and creativity are all key skills for college graduates.
Creative uses of AI are an emerging theme in business education. This academic year, the American University Kogod School of Business launched AI courses throughout its curriculum. Those include both real-world technical training courses and courses that focus on creativity and innovation using AI technology.
Business schools have moved to use their existing expertise in the realm of AI. The University of Virginia Darden, for instance, used its longstanding expertise in ethics to launch an AI-focused ethics institute last year.
For Tulane, Goes said the school’s emphasis on experiential learning lends itself to real-time AI education.
“Experiential learning and working with real projects, real challenges, that can shorten the learning cycle instead of teaching off of a textbook,” Goes said.