This year’s EFMD Deans & Directors Conference unfolded against a backdrop of geopolitical tension, economic fragility, rapid technological change, and shifting stakeholder expectations.

Our theme, “New realities, bold choices: Reinventing the Business School,” beautifully captured this moment where many of us are navigating similar pressures. While the contexts differ, the underlying questions are shared.

As Chair, I had the privilege of listening to colleagues from around the world share their experiences of leading through disruption, turning challenges into opportunities, and navigating the tension between pragmatism and purpose. What follows are my personal reflections on five themes that emerged most powerfully.

Reaffirming our purpose in the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainty

The scene was firmly set through the thought-provoking keynote from Shalini Randeria, whose experience leading the Central European University brought home how profoundly political and societal shifts shape the conditions for higher education. Her reflections on soft authoritarianism and the erosion of academic freedom were a sober reminder that universities must remain vigilant guardians of open inquiry. She challenged us to practice “principled restraint” in politically charged moments, strengthening our role as institutions that protect people, uphold truth, and foster critical thinking.

This message resonated strongly throughout the conference. Many attendees shared with me their admiration for the bold messages and reflected on where they see material actions that undermine the independence of their institutions and academic freedom. The emphasis on our responsibility to remain outward-looking was a recurring theme throughout the conference.

Martin Wolf later clearly laid out the fragility of financial structures and future democracy. He reminded us that we are operating in a world shaped by ageing populations, accelerating technology, shifting economic power, and a warming planet, certainties that require universities to equip graduates not only with skills, but with judgement, ethics, imagination, and civic courage.

Through my conversations, I witnessed a shared conviction that in turbulent times, we must lean into our values and purpose. We exist to provide spaces where evidence, dialogue, and human understanding can flourish, and we must come together to defend this critical mission.

Making AI an institutional capability

The second topic that generated widespread discussion was artificial intelligence. Many Deans described the same phenomenon: AI is already everywhere, used daily by students, academics, and professional staff, but institutional strategy has not yet caught up.

The session on the future of the learning experience underscored the leadership challenge of how to move from experimentation to coordinated transformation. Conversations repeatedly returned to governance, integration, capability building, and measuring impact. These sentiments are echoed in [CarringtonCrisp Co-founder] Andrew Crisp’s presentation of the 2026 See the Future survey, reporting that adoption has been overwhelmingly organic. Most people are learning by doing, and few feel they are experts.

Employers, meanwhile, expect graduates to be fluent in AI tools and to understand the human capabilities that complement them. Students report the benefits of AI to their learning but worry about academic integrity and the dumbing down of learning. Academic staff feel pressed to respond but lack time and structured support.

The takeaway for me is that AI can no longer be an individual hobby or a cluster of pilot projects. It must be an institutional capability.

This means investment in training, consistent policy, and a willingness to rethink aspects of curriculum, assessment, and operations. More fundamentally, it means intentionally teaching the academic skills that AI supplants and focusing on what is irreducibly human: empathy, critical reasoning, creativity, and ethical judgment.

Continuing to commit to sustainability

Although AI dominated many conversations, sustainability remains deeply embedded in the expectations of our communities. The See the Future findings across students, faculty, staff, employers, and alumni reinforced a consistent message that sustainability is a core expectation of modern business education.

Through many accreditation visits, I have observed schools’ efforts to embed sustainability across their curriculum, as has my own school. Hence, it is notable that our students are asking for more explicit learning opportunities, foregrounding sustainability through electives and microcredentials. Faculty and employers see value in both; the call to action is to consider how these approaches complement each other.

Franzisca Weder’s plenary challenged us to move past celebratory narratives and embrace the messiness of real transformation. She reminded us that sustainability communication is not a report at the end of a project but should be threaded through our processes to place sustainability in our school’s DNA. She advocated for creating conversational spaces that welcome discomfort and invite dissent. Thus, resonating with the earlier plenaries on the role of higher education to create the conditions for truthful, evidence-based, open dialogue.

A key insight for me was the reminder that evidence alone does not create change. Impact needs a narrative, and students need to have the agency to shape that narrative.

Strategy for resilience under financial uncertainty

Financial sustainability is, for many of us, the most immediate constraint. Rising costs, fluctuating international recruitment, and political pressures on funding models are forcing schools into difficult choices.

Our session on navigating financial pressures were refreshingly honest. Deans spoke candidly about the trade offs they are negotiating around where to invest, where to consolidate, and how to protect faculty wellbeing and student experience. What emerged was not pessimism, but a focus on the opportunities to reassess priorities, reshape activities, and, with careful communication and candour, create tighter, albeit smaller, communities.

Resilience is not just about adequate resources; according to Martin Wolf, it is about focusing on your core competitiveness and being flexible.

Faculty development at the heart of the strategy

One recurring theme across the breakout sessions is that we cannot meet the expectations of students, employers, and society without investing in our faculty. Already, faculty are striving to integrate digital tools, reshape pedagogy, engage externally, and contribute to research that meets both academic and societal needs. Hence, there is an understandable call to support faculty wellbeing and resilience.

Our discussions on empowering faculty emphasised differentiated career pathways that recognise diverse forms of academic contribution and reducing hierarchy to facilitate a collective mindset. Together, these can build and deploy innovation through a collaboration of faculty expertise, while avoiding unsustainable expectations of what individual faculty deliver.

For me, recognition of the critical nature of our people was one of the most inspiring parts of the conference. They are our greatest asset. When we communicate well, equip them appropriately and value their input, this takes us a long way towards a thriving institution.

Closing reflection

As I look back on the conference, I am heartened by our shared sense of purpose and collegiality. Despite operating in a challenging environment, characterised by our different contexts, we are united by our values of academic freedom, evidence-based dialogue, global mindset, and pluralism.

If I were to distil the essence of the two days into a single message of hope, it would be this:

Business Schools have a critical role in developing future leaders who have harnessed technology and knowledge with agency to contribute human attributes such as judgment, ethics, imagination, and the courage to defend the institutions that underpin open societies.

Julia Bennell is Executive Dean of Leeds University Business School.

Photo © Elisabeth Mandl.

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