We speak with Sankar Sivarajah, the Head of Kingston Business School, about his leadership role, how business education is adapting, and more.

What is your favourite part of your role as Head?

The opportunity to challenge the status quo and bring fresh ideas to life. Whether it’s coming up with new initiatives with colleagues or students or building partnerships that drive meaningful change, I find real energy in turning vision into reality.

For me, it is not just about doing more. It is about doing better, with clarity and purpose.

How is business education adapting to the changes in the education and business landscapes?

Business education must remain relevant in an unpredictable, complex and fast-changing world. Today’s learners, especially from Generation Z and Alpha, are digital natives with access to vast content. Our role is to go beyond delivering information by fostering human-centred skills such as critical thinking and empathy, enabling meaningful dialogue, and linking learning to evolving business and societal challenges.

As AI reshapes both education and work, students must understand not just how to use technology but why. Its application must be grounded in sound reasoning and human judgment.

Our curricula must also reflect the realities of modern business, from geopolitical uncertainty to sustainability and resource constraints. The challenge is to stay academically rigorous while staying closely aligned with evolving industry needs.

What hopes do you have for your business graduates?

We want our business graduates to be sought-after for their human-centred, future-ready skills. Our ambition is to nurture enterprising, forward-looking individuals who can confidently navigate uncertainty with confidence and drive positive, lasting change.

I want Kingston Business School to be recognised for its strong human-centred ethos and its commitment to meaningful impact. Our goal is for our graduates to be the first choice, not the fallback, for employers. This requires us to offer high-quality learning experiences, strong professional networks, and a deep sense of connection to both business and community.

Business schools must serve not only as centres of learning but also as civic institutions that contribute to the social, economic, and cultural fabric of society.

How do you see business education evolving in the future?

Geopolitical shifts and technological disruption are increasingly shaping the business education landscape. These changes affect not only what we teach, but also how we collaborate and engage on a global scale.

This brings a new level of complexity. Our role is to help students develop the diplomacy, empathy, and cultural intelligence needed to thrive in diverse, interconnected environments. Just as importantly, we must support them in staying true to their values—learning how to build bridges and engage constructively, even with those they may disagree with.

Additionally, rapid advancements in AI and data analytics are transforming business practices, requiring graduates to be tech-savvy and ethically grounded in their decision-making. Meanwhile, the urgent need for sustainable business models means education must integrate environmental and social responsibility, preparing students to lead with a long-term, impact-focused mindset.

It’s about preparing them for the world as it is, not just as we wish it were.

What distinguishes Kingston’s approach to teaching from its competitors?

One of Kingston’s standout initiatives is how we are delivering a transformative model of education founded on our sector-leading Future Skills framework. This approach is supported by our own robust research conducted by YouGov to survey 5,000 stakeholders and identify nine core life skills that employers and businesses value, such as curiosity, critical thinking, and adaptability.

These skills are embedded into every undergraduate course through a structured, three-phase model: Navigate, Explore, Apply. This model provides students with a clear pathway for personal and career development path, while enabling us to articulate the distinctiveness of our programmes.

Our vision is to be a human-centred, forward-looking business school that is driven by people and purpose, advancing education and research at the intersections of business, behaviour, and policy.

We embed future skills development deeply within our business curriculum and are now aligning our research and knowledge exchange activities to reflect the same ethos through our recently launched Behaviour, Business and Policy Knowledge Exchange and Research Institute (BBP KERI). Whether generating behavioural insights for businesses and organisations or exploring the human side of economics and marketing through facilities such as the BRAINS Lab, we consistently ask: How can human insight, behaviour, and judgment drive better business and societal outcomes?

This is the identity we are building—a school that equips learners with both business acumen and human-centred skills, fostering a critical, knowledge-driven mindset to lead with integrity.

For additional insights, announcements, and perspectives on business school leadership, visit the conversation here.