AI fluency has become a baseline expectation for MBA graduates. But what does that actually look like in practice for MBA programs and students?
Recently, we met with Thomas Gilbert, who leads the AI Task Force at University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and works as an Amazon Scholar. After serving on the university-wide provost AI Task Force in 2024, Gilbert came back to Foster with a clear message for the Dean: we need to do this here.
"We decided that it's not enough to simply get an enterprise license to ChatGPT and then say, well, we have ChatGPT for everyone, so we're good to go," Gilbert explains. "This is not deep. This is not meaningful. This is not thoughtful."
Instead, Gilbert spent six months listening. He set up town halls with faculty, meetings with computer science, information systems, and other UW schools, and sent internal surveys that revealed professors were already doing AI work.
After extensive thought and consideration, he concluded that AI belongs everywhere… but differently.
"There is not a single class at Foster that is not affected by AI from a content perspective," Gilbert says. "Every discipline, every job, every career is impacted. However, in different amounts, at different levels, and in different ways."
That means faculty have discretion over how they integrate AI – whether it’s through case studies, prompting exercises, building applications, or reading model cards. The approach varies by discipline, but the expectation that every class addresses AI is universal.
What Foster Built
Here's what Foster’s AI initiative looks like in practice. It includes:
A mandatory AI bootcamp for all incoming MBA students that covers tools, productivity applications, and how to study with AI effectively.
An AI specialization with three electives: machine learning, building AI applications, and leading AI solutions (which Gilbert teaches, adapted from his Amazon curriculum). Take two of three for the credential.
AI integration across every MBA course. Faculty have discretion on approach, but there's an expectation. The school does not allow professors to say "you cannot use AI" in syllabi.
Weekly lunch-and-learns where faculty share how they're using AI in teaching and research.
AI ambassadors (funded research faculty) surface new tools and insights.
Beyond Prompting
The fundamental thinking here isn't about making every MBA student a prompt engineer. Instead, it's about developing critical thinking skills.
Gilbert emphasizes that "It's about thinking carefully about which business problem, with which tool, with which system, is needed in order to achieve success."
Foster developed six learning objectives that go beyond learning the tools:
Explaining core AI concepts
Applying tools for productivity
Designing AI-enabled solutions
Evaluating strategic impact
Assessing ethics
Cultivating a mindset for continuous learning.
Important note: mastering ChatGPT isn’t on this list!
"If you don't understand accounting, how are you going to be able to read the output of GPT discussing accruals reconciliation?" Gilbert asks. "How are you going to ever be able to catch a hallucination if you don't know what accruals are?"
The fundamentals still matter… and AI amplifies your ability to apply them. Also, AI doesn't replace the need to understand them.
Why this matters for candidates
When you're evaluating MBA programs, you must understand how your target programs have thoughtfully integrated AI into the curriculum.
Here are a few questions to ask:
Does AI show up across the curriculum, or just in designated "AI courses"?
Are faculty learning alongside students?
Is there a mandatory baseline for AI competency? What does “good” look like?
What's the philosophy for integrating AI beyond providing access to the tools?
How are students applying what they learn to solve real business problems?
Foster's approach – decentralized integration, faculty development, critical thinking over prompting – offers one model. The school’s full implementation target is September 2026, which includes strong donor support funding hackathons, speaker events, and partnerships with UW's College of Engineering.
"This is the difference between a Google certificate and a degree from a university," Gilbert says. "There is more depth, there is more thoughtfulness. We are a university. We want MBA students to learn to think and have the space to think critically."
As you shortlist programs and make decisions, do your homework and think carefully about what you need from an MBA program and its curriculum. Ultimately, that thinking is what will differentiate you when everyone has access to the same AI tools.
Thomas Gilbert leads the AI Task Force at UW Foster School of Business and an Amazon Scholar at Amazon's Machine Learning University.