SP Jain founder Nitish Jain: “Countries that once tried to limit international students — like the UK and Australia — have had to reverse course. They simply can’t afford to shut their doors”
Artificial intelligence reshaping industries and disrupting traditional job markets has put business schools on notice: They must evolve, quickly, to stay relevant. And to stay alive.
Nitish Jain, founder of SP Jain School of Global Management, believes AI is not just an addition to education but a fundamental shift in how students learn and prepare for the workforce. And he believes it can be a a savior for B-schools — if they meet the moment.
With personalized AI tutors, adaptive learning models, and a focus on real-world skills, SP Jain is among the vanguard of global B-schools that are working to reimagine business education in an era where adaptability and innovation are essential to success, for schools as much as the students they graduate.
“AI cannot replace humans today, but it can replace 50% of what humans do — and do it 100 times better,” Jain says, quoting NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang. As he explains in a recent conversation with Poets&Quants, this has direct implications for the workforce: Automation and AI are taking over tasks previously done by humans, and job availability is shrinking. “If there were 100 jobs earlier and now only 70 remain, our students need to be in that 70,” Jain says.
SP JAIN’S AI TUTOR: PERSONALIZED LEARNING AT SCALE
Personalized education is the key, Jain says — a shift from traditional, one-size-fits-all classroom models to an adaptive, AI-enhanced learning experience.
SP Jain, which Nitish Jain founded in 2004, is tackling the challenge head-on with an array of approaches. Perhaps the most exciting: an AI tutor that functions like a human instructor — an interactive system capable of seeing, conversing, and tailoring lessons to each student’s unique learning needs. Jain describes how the AI tutor engages with students dynamically by assessing their knowledge levels through dialogue, customizing learning materials based on individual strengths and weaknesses, and allowing for role-playing exercises to develop critical business skills, such as negotiations and sales.
“This AI tutor isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about deep learning,” Jain says. Traditional classroom settings often leave students disengaged when lessons move too fast or too slow, he says — the AI tutor ensures that every student progresses at an optimal pace, maximizing retention and skill development.
AI is not just transforming student learning at SP Jain, which has campuses in Mumbai, Dubai, Singapore, Sydney, and London. It’s also reshaping how faculty members research and teach. Jain says that the school uses AI to predict student questions, preparing faculty with likely queries before class, craft question papers that are appropriately challenging, and audit grading, ensuring assessments are fair and accurate.
“We use AI in almost every aspect of education,” he says, “and the result is a higher quality of learning for everyone involved.”
SP Jain’s Dubai campus
THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION: HYBRID, ADAPTIVE & ENTREPRENEURIAL
SP Jain’s approach isn’t limited to AI-driven learning, however. Nitish Jain believes that hybrid education models are the future.
Jain’s vision for business education is personalized, hybrid, and skill-focused. For students who embrace this new era of adaptive education, he says, the opportunities are limitless.
“Going to campus is fun and social, but do you need to be there every day? Maybe one week a month is enough,” he says. Such a model would reduce costs without compromising quality.
Jain also agrees that there is a growing entrepreneurial mindset among MBA students, though it does not manifest in the early post-graduate years. Only 5% of SP Jain graduates launch businesses immediately — but nearly 30% become entrepreneurs within three to four years of graduation, once they’ve gained experience and repaid student loans.
GLOBAL SHIFTS IN STUDENT MOBILITY
Any conversation about global trends in international studentry inevitably turns to geopolitics. As visa policies in Western nations fluctuate, and harsh rhetoric predominates in the United States, students are reconsidering their plans.
Jain believes that while the U.S. remains a top choice, restrictive visa policies and declining job placement rates for international students are causing many to explore alternatives like Canada, the UK, and Australia.
“The Ivy Leagues have seen a 30% drop in placements, and students investing $200,000 in their MBA are questioning whether it’s worth it,” he notes. “Countries that once tried to limit international students — like the UK and Australia — have had to reverse course. They simply can’t afford to shut their doors.”
RANKINGS & THE TRUE MEASURE OF SUCCESS
Despite SP Jain’s impressive rankings — including a top 25 global ranking for executive MBAs by QS, and ranking among top 10 business schools in the Asia-Pacific region for the second consecutive year by Bloomberg Businessweek in 2024-2025 — Nitish Jain is clear that rankings are not the ultimate goal.
“We don’t chase rankings. We focus on transforming lives through education,” he says. That philosophy drives the school’s focus on human skill-building, he adds, ensuring that graduates are equipped not just with technical knowledge but also with critical soft skills.
THE FINAL WORD: MASTERING META-LEARNING
For aspiring MBA students, Jain offers a final piece of advice: Master meta-learning — the ability to learn quickly and adapt.
“The world isn’t waiting for you. If you’re too slow, you’ll get left behind,” he says.
At SP Jain, this philosophy is captured in a simple mantra: Adapt, Innovate, Run — AIR.
“You must be quick to adapt, constantly innovate, and run fast enough to stay ahead,” he says.
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