I FOR INNOVATION

At SPJIMR, the focus over the last year has been on innovation, an area that the institute aims to link with societal impact

- BY KRISHNA GOPALAN

IT HAS BEEN a season of travel for Varun Nagaraj, and he managed to squeeze in time for this interaction. For someone who has spent time studying and working overseas, the last four years as Dean of S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research (SPJIMR) have been hugely exciting, and he readily admits to that.

For most academics, a pressing concern right now would easily be the widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI). There are several nuances to this as the world attempts to grasp what it means. A few weeks ago, Nagaraj was in Toronto for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) Deans Conference. There were 700 peers from across the world.

"A good part of my discussions with them was around AI," he says with a smile. SPJIMR has been ranked fourth in the BTMDRA Best B-Schools Survey.

A NEW AGE

From a business school perspective, there are many opinions on how AI has changed the landscape. Nagaraj chooses the advent of the internet and social media to drive home the point.