The next frontier – the intersection of sustainability and AI

AI is here to stay; that’s a given. However, the task of ensuring that AI is responsibly managed presents huge challenges for business, and for schools like LBS whose role is to equip business leaders for a future that’s almost impossible to comprehend. AI could be the Holy Grail of sustainability, encompassing both organisational efficiencies and ethical responsibility, but if so, what sort of leaders are best placed to face the challenges that AI presents head-on? How do we make sure LBS graduates are adequately prepared and AI-ready?

Dr John Mullins is Associate Professor of Management Practice in Marketing and Entrepreneurship at LBS, and a globally respected expert on entrepreneurship. He believes “the School’s future lies in preparing students to use AI as a decision-making tool through case-based learning”. His 4.5 million-times-viewed TEDx talk and his newest book, ‘Break the Rules‘ reveal six convention-breaking mindsets that characterise many successful entrepreneurs.

John uses these same mindsets in his teaching, encouraging students to explore and debate real-life case studies, with the protagonist often hidden in the classroom before revealing him/herself (to an audible gasp!) in order to debrief the decisions that were made. Unsurprisingly, John has won several LBS awards for his teaching, alongside having been named by The Case Centre as the Outstanding Case Teacher 2026¹.  He has authored or co-authored more than 50 case studies, many of them supported by LBS donors’ funding for research assistants, case writers, travel expenses and video production.

It is this entrepreneurial spirit that will most likely be needed to manage the exponential growth of AI in terms of its capability to solve business problems in a way that benefits rather than harms society.  Take Belong, for example. Co-founded by LBS alumna Samantha Rosenberg MBA2021, it was launched in response to a problem – young people are not investing – by incentivising them to invest on a regular basis and top up their investment with a Boost loan, which maximises their returns. The company has already raised one round of venture capital and is now raising its second.

Sam and co-founder Avion Gray approached John for advice: “John’s reputation precedes him, so it is a privilege to be on the receiving end of his guidance and support as we build Belong. He has a rare ability to cut through to whether a business is solving a real problem rather than an interesting one, and he pushed us to stay anchored to that. For us, AI runs through everything: how we build the platform, how we make loan decisions, and the features we’re creating to help people easily understand both what’s happening in the market today and what their financial future could look like.”

Belong may well feature in John’s next set of cases. But for now, it is case studies on companies like TeamLease (an Indian start-up that has provided employment for 3 million Indians) and Celtel (an African cell phone company responsible for creating more than 100 African millionaires through its employee stock option scheme) that are teaching his students the critical thinking skills they need to use AI comprehensively and responsibly as they venture forth into tomorrow’s brave new business world. Fundraising campaigns like Forever Forward ensure that LBS can continue to offer these more bespoke teaching methods, and create the sort of ground-breaking, socially responsible future leaders that society needs.

¹https://www.thecasecentre.org/AwardsComps/winners/OutstandingCaseTeacher/2026