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As AI changes business roles, what should students look for in an MBA programme?

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MBA college in Karnataka

A finance team that needed six analysts three years ago now runs with four, and the four spend less time building the report and more time arguing about what it means. Something similar is happening in marketing, in HR, and in supply chain. The work has not disappeared. It has moved up a level.

For anyone choosing an MBA programme this year, that shift changes what matters in the decision. The syllabus on a college website will look broadly the same everywhere. What separates one MBA college in Karnataka from another is how seriously the department has taken the last two years

Ask what the tools training covers

Plenty of colleges have added a line about artificial intelligence to their brochure. Fewer have added it to the timetable. The useful question is simple: which tools will you actually work with, for how many hours, and who is teaching them.

The answer should include analytics and visualisation, because most AI in business management sits on top of data that somebody still has to prepare and interpret. It should include Excel at a serious level and a reporting tool such as Power BI. And it should include structured training in how managers use AI day to day, from drafting and summarising to testing assumptions quickly before a meeting.

At SIMS, that training runs as Value Added Programs alongside the four semesters. Students work through business analytics and data visualisation, financial modelling and investment analysis, HR analytics and talent management tools, digital marketing and marketing analytics, and operations and supply chain tools. The certification list includes Advanced MS Excel and Power BI, Business Analytics, Financial Modelling and Analysis, Digital Marketing, Design Thinking and Innovation, and one specifically on AI tools for managers.

Ask what happens to judgement

Tools training on its own creates a graduate who can operate software. Digital transformation in business is failing in plenty of companies right now for exactly that reason. The system was bought, nobody could say what problem it was meant to solve, and the project quietly stalled.

So the second question is about judgement. Does the programme make students defend a recommendation in front of people who will challenge it. Are there live projects with real organisations where the data is messy and the deadline is somebody else’s. Case-based teaching, internships and industry interaction are what build the habit of deciding under pressure, and no software substitutes for it.

This is why design thinking sits on the SIMS certification list next to the analytics work. Knowing how to frame a problem before reaching for a tool is becoming the more valuable half of the job.

Ask what the department expects students to produce

Future skills for MBA students are often described in vague language. A more revealing question is what a student has to write, present or publish before they graduate.

The MBA department at SIMS mentors students on conference presentations and publication, which is unusual at this level and does something specific. Writing a paper forces a student to state a position, support it, and survive review by people who are not obliged to be kind. That is close to what a good analyst does at work, and it is the sort of MBA skills for the future that survive whatever the software does next.

Come and ask us these questions directly

Soundarya Institute of Management and Science runs its MBA across four semesters under Dr. Harsha C Mathad, with the certifications, Value Added Programs, live projects and research mentoring built into the course itself.

If you are shortlisting the best MBA college in Karnataka for the coming year, visit the campus and put these three questions to the department directly. Ask which tools are taught and by whom. Ask what students build with real organisations. Ask what they have to produce before they leave. 

Write to admissions@soundaryainstitutions.in or call +91 6269000092 to arrange a visit, or apply through the portal.

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