LBS’ Dean predicts rapid advances in AI and a world economy defined by uncertainty

Over the past twelve months, London Business School has delivered a year defined by exceptional momentum and inspired achievement. Across the School, teams hosted landmark events, launched bold new initiatives and earned global recognition where it matters. Highlights include achieving the Financial Times’ first and second place ranking for the Open and Custom Executive Education Programmes, expanding our reach by opening an Executive Education office in Saudi Arabia, unveiling the LBS Corporate 100 initiative, opening our state-of-the-art Plowden building and circumnavigating the world’s toughest oceans, with the Team LBS Clipper Yacht.

This year also marked a significant moment of institutional recognition, as the Dean was admitted to the prestigious Group of Thirty, underscoring LBS’s growing global influence. Together, these accomplishments reflect a community whose ambition, innovation and collaboration continue to elevate LBS on the world stage.

Meanwhile, 2025 saw businesses of all sizes grapple with rising taxes, cost pressures and a cooling labour market, while households felt the pinch due to the cost-of-living squeeze. Simultaneously, generative AI forged ahead at pace and capability, reshaping organisational design, leadership expectations and the skills graduates must adopt, whilst geopolitical tensions and fractured trade alliances unsettled the global markets.

Technology advancement, shifting global power and macroeconomic uncertainty have all contributed to transforming the way businesses operate. The year ahead will reward leaders who thrive at the intersection of transformation, turbulence and technological acceleration.

In addition, institutions must confront AI ethics, rising geopolitical complexity and shifting patterns of growth and productivity. Doing so demands clearer, faster and more intentional investment in developing their people. Those willing to experiment and empower talent will withstand the volatility, but shape the systems that follow. This aligns with LBS’s strategy: equipping business leaders with the judgement, agility and ethical grounding needed to thrive and lead in a multipolar, technology-driven world.

LBS’ Dean, Sergei Guriev shares his vision for 2026, offering insights on the challenges and issues set to shape business education and the broader society.

Business Education Trends in 2026: The Dean’s Perspective

AI will redefine work and learning. By 2026, AI will permeate every business function. This will impact the jobs market for new graduates, but it will also reshape roles and accelerate demand for human skills that AI cannot replicate: judgment, ethics, creativity and stakeholder leadership. We are embedding AI across our curriculum, teaching more on AI, teaching more with AI, and developing our new Data Science and AI Initiative as a destination of choice for AI research and education in business.

Geopolitics and visas will constrain mobility. Tightening visa regimes and geopolitical volatility are making global study routes more fragile; even London’s pull as a global city may not be enough to fully offset these frictions. We are investing in hybrid delivery, expanding to other regions and building new global partnerships, while strengthening employer-backed pathways to employment.

UK economic headwinds demand resilience. Slower growth, fiscal pressures and productivity challenges will continue to test graduates and institutions alike. Our response is to continue to further invest in world-class business education and research. Our goal is to deliver curricula that builds resilience data-driven decision-making, entrepreneurial problem-solving, and purpose-led leadership to help students thrive in uncertain markets.

In addition, six faculty members from across the school provided a trend they believe will define their area of expertise in 2026. LBS faculty include; Anja Lambrecht, Andrew Likierman, Randall Peterson, Ioannis Ioannou, Helen Edwards and Nicos Savva. The 2026 LBS Faculty Trends Review provides a snapshot of these emerging themes, highlighting the pressures and opportunities shaping our changing world.

Readers can explore the full faculty insights in an exclusive THINK article and see how these trends connect across disciplines and industries.