By Abhimanyu Saxena
The Illusion of Success
Each year, India’s top B-schools celebrate placement reports boasting near-perfect statistics — 100% placed, average salaries up by 20%, record-breaking international offers. These figures are presented as the ultimate proof of educational excellence and industry alignment.
Yet, beneath the surface lies a troubling disconnect. In an AI-first, rapidly transforming global economy, these short-term wins may no longer guarantee long-term career relevance. What we celebrate today as a “dream job” could be rendered obsolete in just 3–5 years, not decades.
In regular conversations with hiring managers and industry veterans, we’ve seen firsthand how “secure” MBA roles are becoming redundant, sometimes in a matter of months. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that 375 million workers worldwide will need to change occupations by 2030 due to the impact of automation and AI. Against this backdrop, the current definition of placement success feels outdated — even dangerous.
The real imperative for Indian B-schools is clear: move from merely ensuring job placement to cultivating career resilience.
Legacy Models in a Disrupted World
Most MBA programs continue to operate as they did a decade ago — optimising for short-term recruitment outcomes and relying on legacy partnerships with traditional employers. However, the job landscape has undergone a dramatic shift.
Roles like entry-level analysts, generalist consultants, and operational managers — once the bread and butter of MBA careers — are increasingly being automated or restructured. Meanwhile, new-age roles in data science, product strategy, AI ethics, and sustainability leadership remain outside the reach of many graduates, either due to outdated curricula or limited exposure.
According to the 2023 Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) survey, 72% of employers identified a significant mismatch between the skills they require and those MBA graduates currently possess. Despite clear signals from the market, many B-schools still prioritise placement numbers over adaptability and lifelong learning.
Designing Future-Proof Career Pathways
To truly prepare students for the future, B-schools must abandon the “placement season” mindset and instead build long-term career architecture. This involves three critical shifts:
- Curriculum Reimagining: Embed emerging capabilities such as AI literacy, digital transformation, green business, and systems thinking into core coursework.
- Diverse Career Pipelines: Broaden career services to include opportunities beyond traditional corporate roles — from high-growth startups and climate-tech firms to social enterprises and innovation labs.
- Beyond Graduation: Offer structured post-MBA support, including reskilling, mentorship, and coaching. Career paths are no longer linear — institutions must enable students to pivot, adapt, and evolve.
Some new-age institutions — including the Scaler School of Business — are already evolving in this direction, offering future-forward experiences that equip students not just for today’s job market, but tomorrow’s unknowns.
Furthermore, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship must be mainstreamed, rather than treated as fringe options. As industries become more fluid and decentralised, the ability to create opportunities will be as valuable as securing one.
From Metrics to Meaning
India’s $5 trillion economic ambition cannot be realised on the back of short-term placement metrics. We need adaptable leaders who can thrive in a volatile environment, not just graduates who secure jobs.
It’s time for B-schools to redefine success, from merely placing students to enabling lifelong value creation. The real measure of MBA education should be career longevity, not just starting salary. In an age where change is the only constant, the role of education is not to ensure a great start, but to build the stamina for what comes next.
Only by making this shift can we future-proof MBA careers — and, in doing so, create the kind of leadership India needs in the age of AI and automation.
The author is Co-Founder of Scaler & Scaler School of Business
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