Artificial intelligence is changing how work gets done, but employers around the world are increasingly clear about what they expect from future business talent: technical capability alone is not enough.

GMAC’s latest annual survey of 621 corporate recruiters across 39 countries—most representing Global Fortune 500 companies—offers an important signal for graduate management education. While technology, AI, and data analysis skills showed the largest year-over-year increase in importance, employers continue to place significant value on communication, problem-solving, and adaptability when hiring business school graduates.

The key takeaway for business schools is that employers increasingly expect graduates to demonstrate both human and technical skills. And that expectation may create one of the biggest opportunities for graduate management education in the years ahead.

Since 2002, the Corporate Recruiters Survey has provided the world’s graduate business schools and employers with data and insights to understand current trends in skill demand, hiring, compensation, and perceptions of MBA and business master’s graduates. GMAC conducted this year’s survey, together with survey partners CSEA and EFMD, from January to May 2026.

Employers are looking beyond technical fluency

As AI becomes more integrated into daily work, employers appear to be redefining what differentiates top talent. GMAC research found that communication skills remain among the most important capabilities employers consider when evaluating business graduates today.

This is true across regions, including in Western Europe (see table below). Looking ahead five years, global employers—including those in Western Europe—anticipate AI tool proficiency and strategic thinking will become even more valuable. This reflects a broader shift: employers are not simply looking for graduates who understand technology—they want graduates who can apply technology in ways that improve decision-making, influence stakeholders, and drive outcomes.

Nearly two-thirds of employers concerned about AI say they want graduate business talent to use AI tools to automate routine tasks. Rather than reducing the need for human contribution, AI may be increasing demand for professionals who can interpret information, collaborate across teams, communicate effectively, and lead through change.

For business schools, this creates an opportunity to reinforce what graduate management education has long done well while evolving curricula to reflect new realities.

A readiness gap schools cannot ignore

Employer confidence in business education remains strong. Every employer surveyed expressed some level of confidence in graduate management education and in the value business school graduates bring to organizations. For example, when asked if they agree with the statement: “the skills gained through a graduate business degree are more important than before because businesses are adopting new technologies (e.g., AI, new software, etc.) that require business acumen, more than half of employers around the world agreed or strongly agreed, with nearly two in three of Western European recruiters responding so (see chart below).

At the same time, employers identified areas where graduates may need additional preparation. While most employers say candidates are adequately or very well prepared across many workplace skills, they continue to report shortages in AI capabilities, grit, emotional intelligence, and managing human capital.

These findings suggest that readiness is becoming more multidimensional. Preparing graduates for success increasingly means developing not only analytical and technical capabilities, but also resilience, sound judgment, people leadership, and the ability to navigate complexity.

That raises important questions for institutions. Are students learning how to work alongside AI, not simply understand it? Where can they actively practice communication and influence in real-world settings? How are programs helping students build adaptability and leadership capacity? And what opportunities exist to strengthen experiential and interdisciplinary learning? These are not entirely new questions, but the pace of workplace change may make them more urgent.

Global career pathways continue to evolve

As indicated in GMAC’s global survey of more than 4,000 respondents released earlier this year, international business school candidates have demonstrated declining interest in GME in North America and growing consideration of programs in Western Europe and Asia. Around the world, business school programs attribute this re-routing of international candidates to macro factors such as economic changes, new visa policies, and geopolitics.

Employer demand is also shifting geographically in response to the new talent flow. The recruiters survey shows growing openness among employers in Western Europe to internationally mobile talent, meeting its influx of international students with expanded hiring plans while employer sponsorship in the United States has softened in recent years. Specifically, four-of-five employers in Western Europe and Asia were willing to hire GME graduates who require additional legal documentation—a 17-point increase among Western European employers compared to 2025. Meanwhile, just under one-third of U.S. employers were open to hiring international talent in 2026—roughly the same as last year, but 26 percentage points shy of 2022 (see chart below).

For business schools, these changing patterns reinforce the importance of preparing students for a broader set of global career outcomes and helping them navigate an increasingly distributed talent market.

The opportunity ahead

Business schools have always prepared leaders to navigate periods of economic and technological change. The rise of AI represents another inflexion point, but not necessarily a departure from that mission.

If anything, employer feedback suggests the value proposition of graduate management education is becoming more relevant. The institutions best positioned for the future may be those that help graduates combine technological fluency with the capabilities that remain distinctly human: communication, judgment, adaptability, strategic thinking, and the ability to lead others.

As employers redefine what readiness looks like, business schools have an outstanding opportunity to shape what comes next.

Read the full GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey report on gmac.com.

Andrew Walker is the director of industry communications at GMAC.

For additional insights, trends and announcements on past Corporate Recruiters Surveys, visit the conversation on GMAC.