The Divided Demands of AI Literacy

• GMAC survey data shows that, on average, students tend to value practical AI skills more than employers, while employers value soft (human) skills more than students.
• Business schools can train students in both areas, boosting their employability today while preparing them for the future.
• It is our responsibility as business educators to teach students to see digital aptitude, creative problem-solving, and emotional intelligence not as contrasting skills but as vital, complementary talents that will set future leaders apart.

 
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the latest technological development to send shockwaves across multiple industries. As with previous disruptive technologies, businesses initially responded to AI in largely reactive ways, testing different products and experimenting with new ways of working.

Now, however, attitudes about AI are changing. McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI survey found that 78 percent of the organizations surveyed use AI in at least one business function, up from 72 percent in 2024 and 55 percent in 2023. The survey also finds that AI is shifting the skills businesses need, with most respondents noting that their companies have hired people in AI-related roles in the past year.

“We are seeing increasing demand for AI skills,” says Lareina Yee, director of the McKinsey Global Institute. “Typically, this is about incorporating AI into existing roles or workflows.”

These findings suggest that organizations are entering a more strategic phase of AI adoption. That means that business schools need to explore bigger questions around how the technology fits with other tools and skills. Do we fully pivot our teaching to prepare students for a future where both human and AI ways of working are given equal status? Or do we focus on established fundamentals while steadily integrating AI-supported solutions?

While there are no easy answers to these questions, it is imperative for business schools to reflect on them as they shape their courses and determine how to integrate the technical and human aspects of AI into curricula in meaningful ways. This is especially true given that the role of graduate management education is not just to prepare students to jump straight into today’s demanding, high-profile roles after graduation. It’s also to equip the next generation of leaders with future-proof skills they can use to shape the industries of tomorrow.

Differing Priorities and Perspectives

Recent surveys from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) add nuance here. GMAC’s Prospective Students Survey asked graduate management students what they value most about business education, while its Corporate Recruiters Survey explored the skills that employers value most during their recruitment and hiring processes.

According to GMAC’s data, both employers and students place a high value on strategic thinking, problem-solving abilities, and communication skills. Moreover, the Corporate Recruiters Survey underscores that “the integration of AI and technology into how those skills are developed is becoming more urgent to employers.”

Similarly, students’ prioritization of practical skills extends to AI. Overall, 46 percent of students said AI was essential to their ideal business school curriculum in 2024, compared to 40 percent in 2023 and 29 percent in 2022. This pattern holds true across genders, races, and ethnicities.

However, the two groups expressed different opinions in key areas. For example, students placed a higher value than employers on skills they feel can boost career progression, such as leadership, network building, and human capital management. This may reflect a shift in generational priorities, employer experience to date, or changes in how companies are redefining their skill requirements and restructuring their workforces to complement their increased emphasis on AI.

In the AI age, employers are particularly focused on socioemotional skills such as teamwork, adaptability, emotional intelligence, initiative, coachability, and grit.

Responses to GMAC’s surveys also show that when it comes to AI, students show greater interest in hands-on learning than employers—particularly in simulations and experiences designed to improve their decision-making and business strategy skills. Specifically, 35 percent listed “skills in using AI tools” as one of the top skills they wanted to learn in business school, compared to 26 percent of employers that sought out such training for their staff.

While employers are clearly not opposed to these approaches, they place a greater priority on soft skills than students do. Employers are particularly focused on socioemotional skills such as teamwork, adaptability, emotional intelligence, initiative, coachability, and grit.

Overall, 34 percent of employers listed “grit” as one of the most important skills for today’s business environments, compared to 26 percent of students. Forty-two percent of employers emphasized the importance of “emotional intelligence,” compared to 33 percent of students; and 45 percent of employers cited “initiative,” compared to 30 percent of students.

There’s a subtle but significant difference in the skills that today’s students and employers view as most important, and schools need to find ways to balance this reality. On the one hand, practical AI skills are likely to be as vital as computer literacy in a few years’ time; on the other, soft skills may come to define and differentiate human leaders in an AI-driven business world.

The Role of Business Education

Rather than view the implications of these survey results as a dilemma, business schools should see them as an opportunity—both to better appeal to prospective students and to better prepare them for employment. This is important, given that some research suggests that AI skills command a 28 percent salary premium in the U.S., while other studies find that businesses are willing to pay a premium for executives with generalist skills.

It’s likely that both findings are true. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, the workplace of the future will require a mix of technical and human skills.

Now that we see the likely direction of the job market, how can business schools respond? As a first step, schools should incorporate into their curricula practical AI-based work simulations, case studies, and the input from industry partnerships. Doing so could prove a key selling point of business education for prospective students as organizations continue to implement AI at more strategic levels. Such educational opportunities also could strengthen students’ employability by emphasizing the importance of critical thinking and ethical decision-making as key skills for leaders.

Students also need to learn how to solve complex problems through interdisciplinary collaboration and relevant specialization. They will need to harness both to lead and motivate diverse teams, ask the right questions, and communicate complex concepts to ensure business alignment.

Students will need to move beyond seeing AI purely as a content-generation tool and instead think about how they can apply it in sophisticated ways that add value to their organizations.

As employers increasingly adopt AI and embrace co-intelligence, they will be looking for graduates who not only can use the technology but also can harness it as part of a corporate mix of tools and strategies that are designed to drive business results. For that, business school graduates will need to know how to generate human connection and build trust—traditional soft skills that remain relevant and important in the AI era.

To get to this point, students will need to move beyond seeing AI purely as a content-generation tool and instead think about how they can apply it in sophisticated ways that add value to their organizations. Imperial Business School, my institution, encourages this mindset by focusing on future-ready leadership and equipping future managers and business leaders with the strategic and operational skills needed to deploy AI effectively in organizations.

For example, students in our MSc in Management program analyze AI-driven business models, study adoption in organizations, and explore competitive dynamics shaped by AI. Meanwhile, students in our MSc in Artificial Intelligence Applications and Innovation program study topics ranging from machine learning and Python to design thinking, robotics, and health data; they then apply their learning to real-world challenges via an industry project. We involve our industry partners to help us keep our curriculum current and tailor educational opportunities to emerging industry needs.

Business schools can train students to use AI and other digital tools; develop their socioemotional sensitivity and skills; and, most crucially, help them bridge the gap between these two areas of competency. Graduates who see digital tools through the lens of creative lateral thinking, and who understand how to apply technology ethically to support and get the best out of human workforces, will be well-prepared for whatever the future brings.