EFMD Vice-President says business schools need to transform their systems to fit in an AI world

Helke Carvalho, Vice-President of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), has called on business schools to look ahead and transform their systems to fit in a world in which artificial intelligence (AI) is a part.

She was speaking at the AI in Higher Education Summit hosted by ESCP Business School (France) on 17-18/03/2026.

Carvalho explained that the EFMD's 980 institutional members are divided into three categories.
• "Early architects" of the introduction of AI, i.e. institutions that have moved beyond experimentation, and are already implementing AI, thinking about their strategy and embedding its rules in the classroom, in the way they manage the school and in their governance.
• "Big custom" - schools that are still in the pilot phase, are experimenting and have not yet set a strategy on how to integrate AI.
• "Supporters" - the institutions lagging behind and who are still thinking about how to support AI in the assignments of students.

Carvalho said geography and regulations played a big part in the implementation of AI in institutions: "In Europe, schools are…