Should you get an MBA in the age of AI?

Is an MBA worth it in the AI era? Discover how AI reshapes business education, shifting focus from facts to critical skills. Learn if an MBA still offers value in a tech-driven world.

Those who went to sleep on the evening of November 30, 2022, didn’t just wake up to a new day. They woke up to a new age. ChatGPT, the innocuous “research preview” of the chat interface to GPT-3.5 launched by OpenAI, turned out to be more than just research, and far more than just a preview. It has changed computing, business, and life forever. There is no going back. The age of artificial intelligence has arrived, and like sleeping beachgoers caught by a tsunami, we have no choice but to swim, and swim well, whether we like it or not.

As a prospective applicant, however, you don’t just have AI to worry about. You also have the MBA to contend with, and whether you should even get one now. After all, “digital business” is no longer just an item on the MBA menu. It is the entire menu itself. To what extent has AI already changed the MBA experience, and will it make the MBA less or more relevant when AI is even more advanced?

As an MBA graduate and MBA admissions consultant with years of experience, I’ve witnessed firsthand the evolution of business education in response to technological advancements. As AI continues to transform and reshape the business world, prospective MBA students are left wondering if pursuing an MBA is still a worthwhile investment. In this article, I’ll share my insights on whether an MBA is still worth it in the age of AI and the factors to consider when making this crucial decision.

A Paradigm Shift in Teaching, Learning, and Skills

AI decreases the value of knowledge and increases the value of skills. It is transforming traditional MBA disciplines such as finance, marketing, and supply chain management. Algorithmic trading, AI-driven marketing campaigns, and AI-powered supply chain optimization are just a few examples of how AI is revolutionizing these fields. Pursuing an MBA in the age of AI means not only learning the fundamentals of these disciplines but also understanding how to leverage AI’s potential to drive business growth and efficiency. Are conventional methods of calculating free cash flow or cost of capital relevant when AI can do it faster and more accurately? Recalling facts or even concepts that can be retrieved at the speed of thought by an AI-powered assistant is no longer a competitive advantage.

Instead, the focus of MBA programs is shifting towards developing skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and adaptability—skills that AI cannot yet easily replicate. These soft skills, combined with a solid foundation in business principles and AI technology, will empower graduates to make informed decisions and effectively navigate the challenges presented by an AI-driven business landscape. This is not about outcompeting AI, however, but keeping up with it.

This means that the ability to create a business plan or a financial model at the push of a button is no longer what it was thought to be just a few months ago. While AI will continue to evolve and gain increasingly sophisticated capabilities even in the near future, at least for the foreseeable future, humans will be the ultimate decision-makers in critical business decisions.