If AI can solve business problems, why pursue an MBA? IIM Ahmedabad director explains

The Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM Ahmedabad) is allowing students and faculty members to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in academic work while emphasizing independent judgment, critical thinking and decision-making under uncertain conditions.

While talking to a leading news agency, Director Professor Bharat Bhaskar said that management education must prepare students to make decisions when information is incomplete, business conditions change and established assumptions no longer hold.

The institute's approach focuses on integrating AI into learning rather than restricting access to the technology.

“We have taken already a decision where we allow them to use AI rather than restricting them to use AI because AI is a fact of life. It's like saying that internet should be banned for studying,” Bhaskar says.

IIM Ahmedabad has provided official AI licenses to students, faculty members and academic associates.

Bhaskar said learning to use AI is essential because organizations will expect future managers to apply the technology to improve productivity and workplace performance.

“The organisation will encourage me to use AI in order to produce more and be more productive for the organisation. So, why should we be banning that at this stage? After all, our objective is to prepare these managers who are going to be industry ready,” the director says.

However, the institute's approach does not mean students can use AI in every assessment. Faculty members can determine whether examinations and other assessments will be conducted under closed-book, closed-internet or closed-AI conditions.

“Whatever you have acquired, if you have not learned enough, you use it as a tool of learning and then come back to the class,” Prof Bhaskar says.

IIM Ahmedabad's case-study method in the age of AI

The integration of AI presents a particular challenge for IIM Ahmedabad's case-study teaching method. Students are expected to examine real business problems from a manager's perspective, assess available information and determine how to respond to complex situations.

AI tools can generate recommendations and possible strategies before classroom discussions begin.

Faculty members must therefore encourage students to examine those answers critically and develop their own reasoning rather than simply accept readily available solutions.

Bhaskar raised a fundamental question about the purpose of management education in an environment where AI can perform many analytical tasks.

“If I can learn everything in AI, why should I even do an MBA programme?”

He said the purpose of an MBA program is to develop professional managers and decision-makers, rather than train students to apply fixed formulas to routine business problems.

“We are teaching them to become the professional managers, decision-makers,” he says.

According to Bhaskar, leadership requires the ability to make decisions when information is incomplete, uncertain or based on probabilities.

Managers must assess the available evidence and choose a course of action even when they cannot predict the outcome with certainty.

“Leaders deal always with the uncertain environment where information is not available at times, information is probabilistic at the time... and under those situations, imperfect information available to you, you have to make best of the decisions,” the director adds.

How changing assumptions can test management decisions

AI-generated recommendations often depend on the information and assumptions provided to the system. When those conditions change, a strategy that initially appears suitable may no longer work.

Bhaskar said faculty members can challenge students by modifying the assumptions in a case study, introducing new developments and asking them to reassess their decisions. This approach requires students to consider how changing circumstances affect their original conclusions.

“I change the assumptions which are not in the case. I change the scenarios and now I ask you, given that, now this has happened or this is likely to happen, the probability is 50%, these are the new developments which are going to happen. How do you go about thinking about the decision process?” he explains.

The exercise is intended to develop students' ability to assess uncertainty, reconsider their reasoning and make decisions when circumstances do not match their initial expectations.

“We are actually conditioning a brain or training a mind which will make them a decision-maker which is capable to fathom that complete uncertainty,” Prof Bhaskar says.

The approach also changes the role of faculty members in the classroom. With AI capable of generating preliminary answers and supporting analysis, instructors can use classroom discussions to examine more complex questions and explore alternative scenarios.

Bhaskar said the availability of AI-generated material can help faculty members take discussions further, making the learning process more demanding and productive.

“The discussion is even more richer because lots of things which you had to take them forward in building the platform for the further discussion, they are already there. So the training is of a higher quality,” he says.

Why AI access does not replace independent judgment

IIM Ahmedabad's approach reflects the view that management education should prepare students to work with AI while retaining the ability to evaluate its recommendations.

Rather than competing with the technology in generating answers, the emphasis is on examining the reasoning behind those answers and identifying the conditions under which they may fail.

Students must be able to question the assumptions supporting a recommendation, assess whether the available evidence justifies a decision and adapt their strategy when new information emerges.

The distinction is particularly important in management, where decisions can involve incomplete market information, changing business conditions and outcomes that cannot be predicted with certainty.

By combining AI-assisted learning with case-based discussions and assessments that can restrict AI access, the institute aims to prepare students for workplaces where technological proficiency and independent decision-making are both necessary.

The central challenge is no longer simply whether AI can solve a business case. It is whether future managers can explain and defend a decision, recognize its limitations and change course when the underlying circumstances shift.