Graduating from business school has always meant understanding the moment and being positioned to make the most of a changing world. For Columbia Business School’s Class of 2026, that task has taken on a new form. AI reshapes entry-level work, climate change remakes entire sectors, and the habits that build careers can be hard to protect in a world obsessed with speed.
So what should new graduates carry with them? We asked Columbia Business School faculty for the advice they most wanted to share with this year’s class. Their responses have been edited for length and clarity.
‘Know enough to recognize when the machine is confidently wrong’
Shivaram Rajgopal
Roy Bernard Kester and T.W. Byrnes Professor of Accounting and Auditing, Accounting Division
You are entering the workforce at the exact moment the entry-level job—the one that was supposed to teach you everything—is disappearing. That is frightening, and it is also, if you are paying attention, an opening.
The practitioners closest to this technology are unanimous on one thing that should reorient how you think about the next five years: AI makes domain expertise more valuable, not less. You can learn to prompt-engineer in a week. You cannot learn to read a balance sheet, understand a credit cycle, or know when a deal smells wrong in a week. The returns to going genuinely deep in something—an industry, a function, a problem—are rising, precisely because AI is commoditizing the surface.
That is your real competitive asset: Not the tools on your resume, but your willingness to interrogate the output, sit with the uncomfortable answer, and know enough to recognize when the machine is confidently wrong.
The career ladder you were promised may not exist in the form you expected. Build the expertise anyway. Go deep. Stay curious. And when the AI gives you an answer, be the person in the room who knows whether to believe it.
Get ready for uncertainty
Gernot Wagner
Senior Lecturer in Discipline of Economics in the Faculty of Business, Economics Division
It's a cliche by now to say we live in unprecedented, uncertain, erratic times. We are. The path is indeed highly uncertain. The end result, meanwhile, may not be.
Take climate: It's clear that all paths essentially lead to an unprecedented—there's that word again—disruption to the current, fossil-fueled economy. The end result: a fully electrified transport sector—yes, EVs are only a question of when, not if—and the building sector and even industry aren't far behind. The path to get there is highly uncertain and could happen in any number of ways.
The career advice, here and elsewhere? Keep that end state in mind—working against it won't, can't, be the basis for a career that spans the next 3, 4, or 5 decades—while also getting ready for any number of uncertainties along the way.
‘What matters is your ability to adapt’
Lori Yue
Associate Professor of Business, Management Division
As you step into a rapidly changing world shaped by technological breakthroughs, you have an exciting future ahead—one in which your capabilities will be amplified by AI and other emerging innovations.
The greatest value of your time at Columbia Business School may not lie in the specific skills you’ve acquired, but in the deeper capacity you’ve developed: the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Stay curious. Question your assumptions. Seek out perspectives that challenge you. Treat every new tool, idea, or disruption not as a threat, but as an opportunity to grow.
You don’t need to have everything figured out. What matters is your ability to adapt, to think critically, and to keep moving forward even when the path is uncertain.
The future belongs to those who remain lifelong learners.
Think more long term: ‘Time compounds not only money’
Wei Cai
Assistant Professor of Business, Accounting Division
In this ever-changing environment, people are always being taught to stay curious, have a learning mindset, and remain open-minded. The world is changing, so people may focus more on the changing part, but thinking long term is also very important.
We teach students about the time value of money, but time compounds not only money and capital, but also many other things that are just as valuable—maybe even more valuable—including habits, judgment, relationships, trust, and character.
‘Don’t put off joy for tomorrow’
Adina Sterling
Katherine W. Phillips Associate Professor of Business, Management Division
Even with everything going on in the world, there's still so much reason for hope, optimism, excitement, and joy. What I wish for all of our students is that they be present for as many moments in life as possible.
What can tend to happen is that we all can look into the future and think, “Once I arrive, or once I achieve this or that, then I will enjoy life.” Don’t put off joy for tomorrow.
There can be so many good moments in a day, and relishing those moments matters.
Focus on ‘key questions’ rather than ‘details’ to stay flexible
Brett House
Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Business, Economics Division
Graduation is a good time to revisit and reflect on your "CBS Why": the reasons you came to CBS, the key insights you've sought to gain, and the values that have underpinned your success so far.
It's a time to consider how these things have changed over the last few years, and how they have remained constant, but with new expressions.
Stay more focused on the key questions you want to pursue than on the details of where you may find yourself. This will allow you to move flexibly with jobs, co-workers, partners, and locations to keep finding meaningful and satisfying ways to have impact.
