ASU’s AI Playbook: New Degrees, New Tools, And A Mandate For Every Professor

Artificial intelligence isn’t something faculty are debating whether to adopt at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business. Soon, it will be something every professor is expected to use.

“We sent an email – you are cordially invited to a mandatory training,” Dean Ohad Kadan tells Poets&Quants with a laugh.

The message went out to W. P. Carey’s more than 350 full-time faculty members, inviting them to choose from dozens of sessions designed to teach how AI tools can be integrated into their courses. The invitation may have sounded polite, but the expectation behind it was clear.

‘CORDIALLY INVITED’ – AND EXPECTED TO USE AI

Starting this fall, Kadan says, the use of AI tools in the classroom will be required.

“If we say that we are innovative, this is what we mean,” he says. “We don’t wait. We don’t create a committee. We just do it.”

The push is part of what Kadan describes as a sweeping, four-part AI strategy reshaping the school’s curriculum, teaching methods, research priorities, and operations – an effort that reflects both Arizona State’s reputation for experimentation and the speed with which business schools are now trying to adapt to AI’s rapid advance.

Kadan spoke to P&Q in a wide-ranging interview following the annual meeting of the Western Association of Collegiate Schools of Business, which was hosted this year by W. P. Carey in Tempe. Deans from across the western United States gathered during an unseasonably warm couple of days to discuss the forces reshaping management education – with artificial intelligence dominating the agenda.

For Kadan, the takeaway from those discussions was simple: move faster.

‘AI NEEDS TO BE EVERYWHERE’

The first pillar of W. P. Carey’s AI strategy is curriculum.

Kadan says the school began by launching one of the first specialized graduate degrees focused specifically on applying AI in business – a Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence in Business. The program moved from idea to approval in roughly eight months, including sign-off at the university and state levels.

“That’s light speed,” he says.

Demand quickly exceeded expectations. Instead of a single cohort, the program launched multiple cohorts and expanded online. On the undergraduate side, the school also created a Bachelor of Science in AI in Business, along with certificates and stackable pathways.

But Kadan insists that specialized programs are only the starting point.

“The reality is that AI needs to be everywhere,” he says. “If I teach finance, I need to teach students how to use AI, because the job of financial analysts is changing. If I teach accounting, if I teach marketing, if I teach supply chain – everything is changing.”

As a result, W. P. Carey has begun a deeper review of its curriculum across MBA, undergraduate, and specialized master’s programs – a process Kadan expects will take about two years.

“We are diving into the curriculum,” he says. “This is not quick.”

TRAINING 350 FACULTY – AND BUILDING AI ‘TAS’

The second pillar is teaching.

ASU has made several AI platforms available free of charge to students, faculty, and staff – including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. Faculty are also experimenting with additional tools such as NotebookLM and AI “agents.”

The school is even developing internal tools that allow professors to upload course materials and create custom chatbots for students.

“You upload your textbook into AI,” Kadan says. “Then students basically have their own teaching assistant that they can ask questions at two in the morning.”

The rollout began with a pilot group of eight professors experimenting with AI tools in their courses. Now the effort has expanded to training the entire faculty.

Some professors arrive with deep technical knowledge; others are encountering AI tools for the first time. But Kadan says resistance has been minimal.

“Why would you resist using AI?” he says. “This is the world right now.”

RESEARCH – AND ‘MINDFUL AI’

The third pillar focuses on research.

AI is opening new questions across every business discipline, Kadan says – from whether machine learning can improve investment portfolios to how AI systems reshape marketing, supply chains, and managerial decision-making.

W. P. Carey is encouraging faculty to explore these questions while also giving them access to AI-powered research tools.

The school has also created a Center for AI in Business and Society focused on responsible applications of the technology.

“Ethical AI – we call it mindful AI,” Kadan says.

AI IN ADMISSIONS & CAREER SERVICES

The fourth pillar involves operations – using AI to improve how the school itself functions.

W. P. Carey is piloting AI chatbots to assist with admissions and recruitment. In career services, AI tools help students refine resumes and practice interviews tailored to their experience.

Students can upload their resume, receive AI-generated feedback, and then participate in simulated interviews based on their background.

“We are a big school,” Kadan says. “This is the best way to make this much more efficient.”

He adds that these efforts are only beginning.

“We are just starting.”

KEEPING THE FULL-TIME MBA

The interview also touched on a question facing many business schools: the future of the full-time MBA.

While several universities have downsized or eliminated traditional MBA programs, Kadan says W. P. Carey plans to keep its flagship program – even if it remains relatively small.

“We are not one of these schools that discontinued their full-time MBA,” he says. “I kept it and I intend to keep it.”

The program is part of a broader portfolio that includes evening, executive, online, and one-year MBA formats. The school’s online MBA, Kadan says, is now its largest MBA program, enrolling about 600 students.

Despite its smaller size, the full-time MBA has remained competitive. In the Financial Times MBA ranking, W. P. Carey recently placed among the top U.S. public programs – a result Kadan says he is proud of.

“Being top 10 among public schools – that’s a good result for us,” he says.

A STRATEGIC PLAN – AND A SCHOOL BUILT AT SCALE

Kadan became dean of W. P. Carey in July 2022 after nearly two decades at Washington University in St. Louis’ Olin Business School, where he served as vice dean.

Soon after arriving, he launched a strategic plan aimed at expanding programs, strengthening research impact, and using technology to reach more learners – a roadmap he says is already about 80% complete even though it runs through 2028.

Artificial intelligence, he says, has since become a far larger part of that strategy than he originally anticipated.

“AI has become much bigger than I expected,” Kadan says.

The biggest adjustment in moving to Arizona State, he adds, was scale.

W. P. Carey now enrolls more than 25,000 students – roughly 50% more than when he arrived – making it larger than many entire universities.

“I’m running a school with more than 25,000 students,” he says. “Between faculty and staff, I have more than 1,000 people.”

That scale shapes everything from hiring decisions to course design. The school employs a mix of research faculty and teaching faculty, allowing scholars to focus on research while instructors manage large undergraduate sections.

Even so, Kadan says the goal is to maintain what he calls a “business is personal” philosophy.

“Our teaching faculty work very hard to make each student feel like they are the only student there,” he says.

FUNDRAISING AS STRATEGY

Major philanthropy has helped fuel the school’s expansion.

In recent years W. P. Carey has secured several large gifts, including a $35 million contribution from the National Association of State Procurement Officials to support supply chain research and education, and a $25 million gift from the W. P. Carey Foundation to expand real estate education.

For Kadan, those donations are tightly connected to the school’s strategic plan.

“My strategic plan is my fundraising plan,” he says.

Major gifts, he explains, often align directly with initiatives outlined in the school’s roadmap – such as building a stronger real estate program in Phoenix or expanding supply chain research.

But fundraising success also brings expectations.

“Once you get the big gift,” Kadan says, “the work just starts.”

‘I REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE CANNIBALIZATION’

Kadan has also taken an aggressive approach to launching new academic programs.

Since arriving at ASU, he says, the school has introduced a long list of degrees and specializations, including new master’s programs in marketing and economics, a real estate and applied finance undergraduate major, and a redesigned Master in Management program set to relaunch next year.

Some critics worry that adding so many programs risks drawing students away from existing ones – particularly the MBA.

Kadan rejects that concern outright.

“They use the term cannibalization,” he says. “I don’t buy the term. I ignore the term. I refuse to recognize the term cannibalization.”

His reasoning is simple: if there is demand for a program, someone will build it.

“If the program is going to exist, it will exist somewhere,” he says. “So I would rather launch it.”

THE BET ON AI

For Kadan, the real question is not whether business schools will adopt AI, but how quickly.

W. P. Carey’s goal, he says, is to lead.

“We created a strategic plan for AI,” he says. “Our goal is to become a leader among business schools in the application of AI.”

But he acknowledges the landscape is evolving at extraordinary speed.

“In six months,” he says, “the landscape may look different.”

Which is why, he adds, schools cannot afford to slow down.

“You just keep running.”

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