Shanghai, May 20, 2026 — From May 11 to 13, Professor Jia Jin, Vice Dean of the School of Business and Management (SBM) at Shanghai International Studies University (SISU), and Ms. Jie Gao from the Academic Affairs Office of the SISU MBA Center were invited to attend the AMBA & BGA 2026 Global Conference, held in Madrid, Spain. Jointly organized by the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Business Graduates Association (BGA), the conference brought together top business school leaders and education leaders from around the world, focusing on three epoch-defining contexts: the transformation driven by artificial intelligence, the digital transformation of education, and shifts in the global landscape. Under the core theme of Leading Change, Shaping the Future, the event featured keynote speeches, thematic panel discussions, professional workshops, and high-end industry networking sessions. Its discussions centered on four key topics — the ethical application of AI in business education, digital teaching innovation, the evolution of international accreditation standards, and the strategic positioning of business school leaders — closely aligning with the core pain points and development directions of management education reform today.
dedicated exchange session for Chinese institutions was specially organized at the conference, moderated by Professor Ming Wang of Zhejiang University, International Advisor for AMBA & BGA China. Deans from more than ten AMBA & BGA-accredited business schools across China gathered to share their differentiated approaches to institutional development, presenting the distinctive features, development strategies, and disciplinary strengths of Chinese business education, and offering professional insights on localized business education to a global audience.
During the exchange, Professor Jia introduced SISU's tailored management talent development system, which is rooted in China, connected to the world, and focused on cutting-edge trends, in response to the talent demands of the future business leader market. With nearly four decades of commitment to management education, the School of Business and Management operates a comprehensive disciplinary training platform spanning doctoral, master's, bachelor's, and postdoctoral programs, distinguished by two core institutional features — digital intelligence-driven development and global competency — to comprehensively build students' core competitiveness in the workplace. Adhering to the educational philosophy of deepening internationalization, cultivating professionalism, and advancing career readiness, the SISU MBA program has built a modular, dynamic curriculum system that keeps pace with industry trends, and has newly launched two concentration tracks, Business Globalization and Global Commerce and International Culture and Tourism Management, precisely matching the market's strong demand for internationally oriented senior business talent. The program is committed to cultivating elite management professionals with a global mindset who can create value for the world economy. Meanwhile, Professor Jia actively advanced all-level international cooperation and exchange negotiations across the School's bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs, achieving initial results and laying a solid foundation for future joint programs, academic visits, and project collaborations.
During the conference, the SISU delegation participated in multiple parallel forums and seminars for in-depth study. For instance, at the parallel forum Who Leads the Future? Human-Centric Responsible AI Teaching Models in Business Education, industry experts proposed a new human-centric concept for AI-assisted business education, making clear that AI serves as an enabling tool for teaching rather than a replacement, while upholding the development of human critical thinking, independent judgment, and innovative thinking. At the research seminar Frontier Research on AI, Digitalization, Globalization, and Sustainable Management, discussions centered on two fields — the digital transformation of business education and the development of green business schools under sustainable development goals — exploring in depth the practical pathways for integrating MBA education with business research innovation, and offering fresh approaches for research-enabled teaching and research-driven institutional upgrading in the new era.
During this trip to Madrid, the SISU School of Business and Management took an active voice on the international stage, engaging in in-depth dialogue with global peers in business education. It both drew on the advanced experience of leading international business schools and showcased the School's distinctive achievements, further enhancing the global influence of SISU's international business and management discipline, while opening up new space and momentum for the School's continued internationalization.
