Earlier this month, more than 450 deans and senior leaders in management education gathered at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business for the 2026 EFMD Deans Conference under the theme “New Realities, Bold Choices: Reinventing the Business School.”

Across two days, discussions moved from diagnosis to execution, examining how business schools respond to geopolitical strain, financial constraints, technological acceleration and mounting sustainability pressures while safeguarding academic freedom and public purpose.

The conference opened with a joint welcome from Eric Cornuel, President of EFMD Global; Rupert Sausgruber, Rector of WU Vienna University of Economics and Business; and Andrew Crisp, Co-founder and Director of CarringtonCrisp, chaired by Julia Bennell, Executive Dean of Leeds University Business School.

Eric framed the moment with clarity. Volatility is no longer episodic. It is structural. Yet he rejected resignation.

“We do have an extraordinary tool that gives us much agency in this context – education. Education strengthens the most remarkable instrument available to societal development, the human mind. When we educate people, we expand their ability to understand the world, navigate complexity, and act with purpose.”

Throughout the conference, participants were reminded that expertise and higher education face growing political contestation. The politicisation of knowledge and interventions into university governance have altered assumptions about institutional autonomy. The defence of academic freedom was treated as an active responsibility rather than a settled condition.

During the opening plenary, Eric announced a new strategic partnership between EFMD and the Financial Times to amplify the impact of business school research. Leading research from across the network will be curated and translated into practice-oriented articles and media content on FT.com.

Andrew Jack, representing the Financial Times, described the rationale for the collaboration:

“Business schools around the world provide insights on business and training current and future leaders, managers and entrepreneurs. But often the best work is yet to emerge and hidden in academic journals led by too few. So, the FT is delighted to partner with EFMD on its scientific projects to showcase the best current thinking and new ideas from business schools in a timely, compelling way.”

WU Vienna’s leadership highlighted the university’s public mission, its more than 22,000 students, and its emphasis on openness, integrity and appreciation. Investment in higher education, they argued, generates sustained public returns across graduates’ lifetimes.

Julia Bennell then formalised the theme. The “new realities” included changing stakeholder expectations, financial pressure, geopolitical instability shaping mobility and partnerships, and rapid digitalisation. “Bold choices” referred to strategic decisions about purpose, portfolio, faculty models, technology and values.

“A unified thread across these challenges is that incrementalism will not be enough. Hence, the theme of this year’s conference is an invitation to think and act boldly.”

AI and sustainability: From experimentation to strategy

Andrew Crisp presented findings from the “See the Future” study, which examined how schools and stakeholders are responding to artificial intelligence. A large majority of schools are experimenting with AI tools across teaching, research, student support and operations. Yet strategic integration remains uneven, and faculty anxiety persists.

On sustainability, the survey data underscored employer expectations.

“The vast majority of employers say it’s essential that students get an exposure to sustainability during their studies, because it’s key to the success of their organisations. 77% said it’s really important to my career.”

The message was clear. AI and sustainability are not peripheral topics. They are structural drivers of institutional repositioning.

Universities in times of crisis

In a session chaired by Julia Bennell, Shalini Randeria, President and Rector Emerita of Central European University, reflected on the responsibilities of universities during war, pandemics and democratic backsliding. She warned that institutional autonomy can be fragile when legal protections are insufficient.

She described contemporary authoritarianism as operating through “intended legal uncertainty,” constraining institutions through legislation and courts without overt repression.

Randeria was explicit about priorities. Academic freedom must be protected, including the right “to decide on our own curriculum… the recruitment of our faculty… the recruitment of our students,” and to uphold “curiosity-driven knowledge production… even if the truths that we uncover are more convenient for those in power.”

She also advocated principled restraint in issuing political statements, focusing instead on concrete support for affected students and scholars. Universities, she concluded, are arenas of disciplined disagreement, ensuring “that the force of argument prevails over the argument of force.”

Breakout sessions: leadership under pressure

The first breakout series reflected the breadth of strategic concern.

In the ‘AI in Education’ track, Leila Guerra of The London School of Economics and Political Science, Aleksandra Przegalinska of Kozminski University, and Vincenzo Vinzi of ESSEC Business School, moderated by Horacio Arredondo Villalba of EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, explored how AI augments personalisation and feedback without replacing face-to-face learning. Transparency, ethical governance and academic integrity emerged as recurring themes.

In ‘Tough Times, Tough Choices’, Jenny George of Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne; Aukje Hassoldt of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University; and José Securato of Saint Paul Business School, in conversation with Yolande Chan of McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management, addressed mergers, portfolio redesign and recalibrated international recruitment in the face of structural financial constraints.

The ‘Stakeholder Engagement’ session, with Melchior Bussink of the University of Amsterdam and Rachel Maguer of INSEAD, moderated by Thomas Bieger of the University of St Gallen, turned to alumni relations and philanthropy as strategic capabilities rather than auxiliary functions.

A dedicated session on ‘Integrating Refugee Students’ brought together Yaryna Boychuk of UCU Business School at Ukrainian Catholic University, Maciej Pietrzykowski of Poznań University of Economics and Business, and Kestutis Duoba of Kaunas University of Technology, moderated by Christophe Terrasse of EFMD Global. The discussion treated inclusion as an institutional responsibility during a crisis, not as a charitable add-on.

A productive first day concluded with a lovely walk to “Luftburg” Prater Restaurant Wien for a welcome dinner.

Geopolitics, economics and democratic capitalism

Day two opened with Martin Wolf, Chief Economics Commentator at the Financial Times, in conversation with Filipe Santos, Dean of Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics.

Santos framed the discussion as a strategic question for leaders:

“What is our strategy, individually, for our school, collectively as a sector, in this new reality?”

Wolf outlined structural “certainties” shaping the coming decades: demographic shifts, technological transformation, the rise of Asia, the long post-war growth surge and climate change. He illustrated the scale of technological change starkly:

“There is now a single wafer-scale chip made for AI, which has upon it 4 trillion transistors. That explains everything.”

He then turned to fragilities: democratic backsliding, geopolitical rivalry and a crisis-prone financial structure. Artificial intelligence, he argued, may substitute for highly skilled labour.

“This is the first technological revolution that looks like it will fundamentally substitute for the peak of skilled labour, the people you educate… The fundamental question is, will the core achievements of humans generated by universities, business schools, and educated at that time remain important? If they’re not redundant, then we must use them.”

The implication for business schools was not retreat but clarity about what remains irreducibly human: judgement, ethics and critical reasoning.

AI as operational infrastructure

In subsequent breakout sessions, attention shifted from principle to implementation.

Alain Goudey of NEOMA Business School and Pinnaree Tea Makorn of Sasin School of Management, moderated by Delphine Manceau of NEOMA Business School, treated AI as operational infrastructure across admissions, marketing and student engagement. Predictive modelling, personalised communication and workflow automation were presented as tools for precision and cost discipline.

Cecilia Roos of EF Hello, moderated by Martin Boehm of Hult International Business School, demonstrated a live AI-enabled workflow without slides. Tasks once requiring distributed teams were compressed into minutes. The institutional lesson was not technological spectacle but reallocation of human attention to higher-value activities.

Agency, research and faculty resilience

Caroline Roussel of IÉSEG School of Management and Alison Wolf of King’s College London, moderated by Morris Mthombeni of Gordon Institute of Business Science, addressed institutional agency under structural constraint. Mergers, franchising, partnership discipline and reconsideration of scale were treated as strategic levers within leadership control.

A future scanning panel featuring Flora Hamilton of Chartered Association of Business Schools, Joy Jones of Graduate Management Admission Council, Eloïc Peyrache of HEC Paris and Arvind Sahay of Management Development Institute Gurgaon, moderated by Nalisha Patel of Graduate Management Admission Council, interrogated assumptions about degrees, mobility and faculty roles by 2030. The tone was unsentimental. Strategic discontinuation may be as necessary as innovation.

Executive education was analysed as both a revenue engine and a strategic interface. Irene Rosberg of Copenhagen Business School, Stefano Caselli of SDA Bocconi School of Management and Sonja Wallner of A1 Group Telekom Austria, moderated by Himanshu Rai of Indian Institute of Management Indore, emphasised co-design, measurable impact and alignment with corporate priorities.

Corporate and research partnerships were further explored by Fangruo Chen of Antai College of Economics and Management, Catherine Duggan of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and Christoph Kaserer of TUM School of Management, moderated by Rupert Sausgruber. Governance structures must preserve academic standards while sustaining long-term collaboration.

Policy engagement featured Julia Balogun of the University of Liverpool Management School, Hongbin Cai of HKU Business School and Paul A. Pavlou of Miami Herbert Business School, moderated by Roel Beetsma of the University of Amsterdam. Schools that articulate public value with precision are better positioned to influence regulatory environments.

Faculty resilience was addressed by Marion Debruyne of Vlerick Business School and Emma Sherry of RMIT University, moderated by Filipe Santos. Structured leadership pathways, digital upskilling and incentives aligning teaching innovation with institutional priorities were framed as strategic investments.

Sustainability as practice

The final major session returned to sustainability communication, led by Franzisca Weder of WU Vienna and moderated by Julia Bennell.

“If we only focus on communication as communication of sustainability, in the sense of, oh, let’s do something good and talk about it, then silencing and cutting off your communication, the avoidance of communication can become quite easy,” Weder said.

Weder proposed understanding sustainability not as a reporting exercise aligned to the 17 SDGs but as a guide embedded in everyday interactions and governance.

She emphasised the importance of deliberately designed spaces within institutions where values are debated and agency is distributed.

Participants noted how political backlash in some countries has led organisations to quietly rename or reframe sustainability initiatives without altering substance. The challenge is to ensure commitments remain durable even when terminology becomes contested.

A coherent agenda for deans

In her closing remarks, Julia Bennell returned to responsibility and clarity of purpose. Academic freedom must be protected with principled strength. Artificial intelligence must be governed as a core capability. Sustainability must be embedded in institutional practice. Faculty development must be treated as strategic infrastructure.

“In a world where AI is disrupting even highly skilled work, our task is not to retreat, but to continue to teach our students what humans can contribute: judgment, ethics, imagination and the courage to defend our institutions.”

Across two days in Vienna, the message was disciplined rather than dramatic. Business schools face financial, political and technological strain. Yet the prevailing tone was neither defensive nor speculative. It was operational. Agency resides in choices about portfolio, partnerships, governance and pedagogy.

Reinventing the business school, as framed in Vienna, does not require abandoning core academic values. It requires reaffirming them under pressure, with clarity, rigour and collective resolve.

At the close of the second and final day, the conference concluded with a dinner at Weitsicht Cobenzl, an event location perched on a hilltop overlooking all of Vienna. Nestled within the historic Cobenzl ensemble, the venue allowed delegates to continue conversations in an informal setting while taking in a striking view of the city that hosted the event.

Recognising our partners with gratitude

We extend our deepest gratitude to all who attended, including the speakers and steering committee members, for their contributions to making this event one of the most successful yet. We also express a special thank you to our strategic partner, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), and our gracious host, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, whose support was instrumental.

We are immensely grateful for the exceptionally diverse and engaged EFMD business school leadership community, who once again came together to debate, envision, and chart a roadmap for impactful business education.

Looking ahead

We are delighted to announce that the next EFMD Deans Conference will be hosted by the ZHAW School of Management and Law in Zurich, Switzerland, from 28 to 29 January 2027. We strive to keep the spirit high and eagerly anticipate welcoming you all next year, so please keep an eye on our events page for registration information and further updates.

A throwback of the live reactions from the 2026 Deans Conference is available on our X feed.

For additional insights, announcements and perspectives, visit the conversation Deans and Business School Leadership.