A new Graduate Management Admission Council report shows 71% of business schools now teach AI. While many institutions focus on strategy and simulations, only 37% cover everyday AI skills like prompt-writing. This gap highlights that students need more practical training to handle daily tasks in their future professional workplaces.
Artificial intelligence is changing how companies hire, manage teams, analyse data, and make business decisions. As employers increasingly expect professionals to understand and work with AI tools, business schools are also rethinking what students need to learn before entering the workforce.
A new report by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), however, reveals an interesting shift. AI is becoming a regular part of business school classrooms, with institutions moving beyond theoretical lessons to practical applications, business simulations and decision-making exercises.
According to the GMAC 2026 Application Trends Survey, only 8% of graduate management education programmes worldwide reported having no mechanism to incorporate AI into their curricula. The findings suggest that business education is increasingly adapting to a workplace where AI literacy is becoming an important professional skill.
BUSINESS SCHOOLS MOVE AI BEYOND CLASSROOM THEORY
The report found that 71% of graduate management programmes integrated AI into their curricula through hands-on experiences, including business simulations and practical applications.
Meanwhile, 66% offered courses focusing on AI in business decision-making processes, while an equal share explored how AI contributes to business strategy development.
Another 58% of programmes incorporated discussions about AI's role in society and business ethics.
However, the adoption of AI tools for everyday work remains relatively limited. Only 37% of programmes reported offering training in prompt-writing and using AI for day-to-day tasks. Further, just 21% used AI to personalise learning paths and allow students to progress at their own pace.
This raises an important question for management education: are students learning to understand AI's role in business, or are they also developing the practical skills needed to use it in their future workplaces?
WHAT DO STUDENTS ACTUALLY WANT TO LEARN?
The report also compared business schools' AI integration with what prospective graduate management students consider important in the classroom.
Hands-on AI experience emerged as the leading priority for both groups. While 71% of programmes incorporated practical AI applications, 66% of candidates considered this important.
However, there were gaps in other areas. For instance, 46% of candidates considered prompt-writing and using AI for everyday tasks important, compared with 37% of programmes offering such training.
Similarly, 62% of candidates valued AI-related business strategy learning, against 66% of programmes offering it.
The comparison suggests that while business schools are responding to student expectations, there is still room to expand practical AI training.
ARE FUTURE MANAGERS READY FOR AI-DRIVEN WORKPLACE?
The findings indicate that AI is no longer a peripheral subject in global management education. Business schools are increasingly incorporating it into decision-making, strategy, and practical learning.
However, classroom adoption alone does not establish whether graduates are adequately prepared for AI-driven jobs. Students also need opportunities to apply these skills to real business problems, understand the limitations of AI tools and make responsible decisions.
The survey, which covered 1,162 graduate management programmes across 314 business schools in 39 countries, highlights a growing shift in business education.
For students preparing to enter management, consulting, finance, marketing, and other business roles, understanding AI may increasingly become part of the professional skill set rather than an optional classroom advantage.