In the rapidly-changing landscape of higher education, few topics spark as much debate as the survival of the MBA in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). But for Saravanan Kesavan, the dean and professor of Operations at BITSoM (BITS School of Management, near Mumbai), the answer is clear – the MBA is not just safe, but more essential than ever.
Even as technical roles face disruption, Kesavan told the Financial Express that management professionals will be the ultimate navigators of the AI revolution.
Automating tasks
While many fear that AI will automate managerial tasks – this was one of the topics of discussion at the recent AI Summit in New Delhi – Kesavan said that the technical side of AI development is the easier part of the equation. “The real challenge, one that dwarfs the technical problems, is organisational adoption,” he said.
It’s argued that engineers and computer scientists cannot solve the human resistance, conflicting incentives, and process reengineering required for a company to truly integrate AI. That burden falls squarely on MBAs, who are trained in organisational behaviour, soft power, and change management. “If there is one programme that is not at risk (due to AI), it is the MBA programme. I am most bullish about it,” Kesavan said.
Human judgement
Kesavan’s bullishness is backed by his own research into how managers interacted with machine learning at a Fortune 100 retailer. While the study showed that managers often hindered profits by overriding machines on old products with deep data history, the opposite was true for innovation.
For brand-new products with no history, human intervention increased profits by 20%. In these cold start scenarios, human judgement remains the gold standard. “The future, therefore, isn’t about humans versus machines, but about managers who know how to use AI to augment their intuition,” he said.
Building an AI B-school
At BITSoM’s new campus in Kalyan, near Mumbai, this philosophy is being put into practice. The B-school moved from Powai to the expansive Kalyan campus a couple of years ago to foster a more immersive student experience and a stronger sense of collegiality among faculty.
Kesavan’s goal is to turn BITSoM into a “completely AI business school.” This doesn’t just mean teaching AI; this means AI being used in every administrative process, from admissions to placements.
The classroom model is also shifting. Kesavan described this shift as “faculty with AI teaching a student with AI.” Giving his own example, he said that while he has won numerous teaching awards, an average teacher who uses AI can teach in a far better way than he has ever done, but if he starts using AI, the equation completely changes.
B-school rankings
BITSoM is too young to meet the criteria for India’s NIRF or global management rankings such as FT – and it’s a factor that students often weigh heavily. “Today, a student who gets admitted to BITSoM and later gets an offer from any of the IIMs will likely choose the latter, but our goal is to build brand value and a course curriculum so compelling that students choose BITSoM purely on its academic strength, even when they have offers from certain IIMs,” Kesavan said. “Yes, we would love to be part of national and international rankings whenever we’re eligible.”
The BITS legacy
Despite being a young institution in its fifth year, BITSoM is leveraging the massive 60-year legacy of the BITS Pilani ecosystem. This gives students access to a global alumni network of hundreds of thousands, including heavyweights like Harvard’s Suraj Srinivasan, who serves as an advisor.
BITSoM is currently focusing on international accreditation (working towards building global standards), faculty quality (it is addressing faculty shortage by bringing in global visiting professors, who form 90% of the teaching staff), and research (ensuring resident faculty are research-oriented, spending up to 42 weeks a year on scholarly pursuits).
BITSoM sees its MBA programme as a reputation builder, with executive education planned to subsidise the programme’s high-cost model of international faculty.
Early results are promising. Last year, the B-school placed nearly its entire class with an average starting salary of Rs 21 lakh.