AI could challenge management education by replacing entry-level work: CEA Nageswaran

intelligence (AI) could emerge as a major challenge for management education over the next two to three decades by automating the routine and analytical tasks through which young professionals traditionally acquire experience, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said on Friday. Addressing the 16th Indian Management Conclave (IMC 2026) in Noida, Nageswaran said the rapid advancement of AI provides an opportunity to fundamentally rethink the way management education is designed and delivered. He stressed that simply introducing additional AI-related courses would not be sufficient to prepare students for a workplace where machines increasingly handle analytical and routine functions.

“Adding one AI elective will not be enough,” Nageswaran said, emphasising that management institutions need to focus more strongly on developing judgement among students. He said the ability to make sound decisions would become increasingly important as AI takes over a growing share of analytical work. “The manager's core tool is a clear and patient mind. That tool is under attack before the students even reach the campuses. So these are India's real challenges over the next 20 to 30 years,” he said. According to Nageswaran, one of the biggest implications of AI could be the disappearance of entry-level jobs that have traditionally acted as an apprenticeship for young professionals.

Routine and codified tasks are among the first areas being automated, potentially removing the early-career opportunities through which employees learn their profession. “The trouble is AI now precisely does this junior work. The bottom rungs of the ladder are being sawn off. The routine tasks that once taught the young their trade are the first to be automated,” he said. Nageswaran said that for decades, professionals developed judgement gradually through experience and on-the-job learning.

If AI eliminates a significant part of this apprenticeship process, he questioned how the next generation would acquire the ability to make complex decisions. “For a century, we learn judgement on the job, slowly through apprenticeship…and if AI removes the apprenticeship, where will the next generation of judgement be?” he said. He described this as a fundamental challenge for management education, noting that the skills AI cannot easily replicate are often the most difficult ones to teach through conventional classroom methods.

“This is not a small problem for management education, it could be the whole problem,” Nageswaran said. He added that the aspects of management that remain beyond AI's capabilities are precisely those that have traditionally been the hardest to teach in a classroom. Calling for a shift in educational priorities, Nageswaran said management institutions should teach judgement rather than focus solely on techniques. As AI becomes capable of performing analysis, managers would increasingly need to determine what questions should be asked and whether the answers generated by AI can be trusted. “First, teach judgement, not just technique,” he said, adding that judgement can be developed through the use of cases and decision-making exercises.

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