Grooming Tomorrow’s Leaders

the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted severely is education. With colleges and schools shut owing to prolonged lockdowns, teaching had to move online to cope with the crisis. However, online education is just one of the interesting trends we see when it comes to management education. brings to you the 2021 edition of the BT-MDRA Best B-schools ranking, the definitive listing of the country’s best business schools, there are quite a few new trends being witnessed. The most visible one is the accent on deep tech, where the best B-schools are focussing on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to arm their students for the future. As data becomes all-pervasive, being proficient in AI and ML has become imperative for management students of today. Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) Director Rishikesha T. Krishnan tells in the opening essay that there is a fair degree of unanimity among senior executives that the three important changes in the business environment today are the advent of digital technology, the pervasive importance of data, and the growing importance of environment, social and governance (ESG) parameters. And the smarter Bschools are ensuring their curricula reflect these changes. Meanwhile, edtech ventures are emerging as eager participants in the management education space, and blended MBAs—a combination of on-campus and distance/online learning—are also gaining popularity.