Senior leadership teams are lifting their eyes from the spreadsheets to look at the map. At the start of 2026, commercial and political tensions are reshaping strategy through rising costs, shifting timelines and, above all, a growing loss of predictability in the economic and regulatory frameworks that underpin healthy trade relationships. US tariff policy has returned to centre stage, with measures affecting critical technology components, including AI-linked semiconductors, directly impacting supply chains and investment decisions.

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), accelerating digitalisation, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising demands for accountability are reshaping what society expects from business leaders and from the institutions that educate them. Reputation and curriculum breadth alone are no longer sufficient. Students, employers, accreditors, and ranking bodies are increasingly focused on a more demanding question: what measurable outcomes does an MBA deliver, and how effectively does it prepare graduates for an AI-driven world?

In Peering into the Immediate Future of MBAs, Prof. Alon Rozen examines how generative AI is fundamentally reshaping MBA education, not simply as a tool or a discrete subject, but as an ever-present force influencing how business schools teach, assess and define leadership. Now, in 2026, AI has moved beyond being an optional addition to curricula and has become embedded across MBA programmes, shaping classroom practices, faculty roles, accreditation requirements and broader societal expectations.

When Faith Ann Norman left her job at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, few would have guessed that she was headed to Barcelona, not for vacation but to earn an MBA and transform her professional identity. A registered nurse with five years of surgical experience, Norman had built a solid career specializing in neurosurgery and otolaryngology...