Bayes homepage

Bayes Business School acknowledges the importance for embracing AI and equipping students with the skills and understanding to thrive in ever-changing technological environments.

Having coped relatively well with the digital revolution over the last half-century, humanity is now grappling with the arrival of large scale artificial intelligence (AI).

This piece is not about the more apocalyptic warnings about AI – the end of most jobs and possibly the human race itself. Instead, we are reasserting the on-going role of executives and entrepreneurs when it comes to analysing and deploying the mass of data generated by the robot in the corner of the office. However, we also recognise that the likely ubiquity of AI does mean providers of some of the UK’s leading MBA programmes must react if they are to prepare their students to thrive in the years ahead.

In the Financial Times in 2023, Jonathan Moules set out the undeniable challenge for business schools. "The transformational impact of artificial intelligence is impossible for business schools to ignore…The response of many has been to embrace the AI age for MBA programmes and, in particular, executive MBAs. Executive MBA students are generally from a senior, older demographic and are keen to get to grips with leadership techniques using technology that has appeared later in their careers."

Professor Neil Maiden, Professor of Digital Creativity at Bayes and Director of the School’s National Centre for Creativity enabled by AI (CebAI), says MBA programmes that are adapting to the opportunities and challenges of AI remain a valuable professional investment for both organisations and individuals.

"An MBA education allows professionals to step back, understand AI technologies in their different forms, and be exposed to the theories, frameworks and emerging research findings that describe and explain new relationships between AI, professionals and their organisations."

He says that while executive roles will change, the skills and analysis of the well-qualified leader will still be needed. “Although AI will give managers more data, their role will still be to interpret that data. The presence of AI technologies is already having an impact on many professional sectors, both directly and indirectly. The most obvious impact is where technologies are introduced, because of the changes to work and the roles of professionals.”

He continues: “Managers will need to be even more adept at managing rapid and more substantial change in the workplace, including changes in organisations that result from shifting power relationships. Existing professional roles such as content creators will be threatened, increasing uncertainty in organisations. Managers will need to support employees into training to acquire new skills wherever possible.”

In the consultancy world, where graduates with MBAs are well-represented, AI could remove some of the more mundane and desk-bound elements of the typical consultant’s working life.

Jay Shah, a student on Bayes’ Full-time MBA programme and Co-president of the Bayes Consulting Society, who is planning a career in consultancy, says. “I see AI as a transformative technology that is here to stay. I don't believe it will replace consulting jobs. Instead, it will streamline routine tasks, allowing professionals to focus on delivering higher-quality work and results.”

Professor Maiden says executives will need a good understanding of the implications and opportunities of AI to lead their organisations.

“Make no mistake, AI is moving out of niches to support and empower professionals across organisations, from production lines to boardrooms. For example, AI is becoming an essential tool for designers working in the creative industries, analysts who manipulate data and business leaders needing to understand and direct their businesses better.”

Dr Dimitris Paraskevopoulos, Reader in Operations and Supply Chain Management and Course Director for the Full-time MBA at Bayes, says:

"AI is not and should not be used as a black box. Managers and business leaders need to understand how to interpret the results of an AI algorithm and fine-tune it to help their decision making. AI will give us this extra information that we need to be more confident when we make business decisions but is still people who make the decisions. An MBA will provide you with the knowledge and skills to have a holistic 360 view of how business is done in the era of AI."

Bayes’ MBA programmes are striving to equip students with the skills and reasoning to thrive in the constantly changing world of work. The Full-time MBA, for example, already has a core module on digital technologies and programmes have electives on AI and machine learning.

Professor Maiden says: “Much of what is happening AI-wise at the moment is in larger organisations, so Bayes is among the business schools that are introducing new modules into MBAs that provide SME managers with the knowledge and skills to exploit AI.”

With our perspective from the boundaries of London’s historic finance centre and its world-class tech hub, we’ve embraced the tenets of the third industrial revolution while equipping our MBA students with the skills and approaches to navigate their own way through the inevitable uncertainty and complexities.

Find out more:

Our MBA programmes