AI Is Automating Entry-Level Work. How Should Business Students Prepare?

At the 16th Indian Management Conclave, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said management education needs to rethink how students are prepared as AI takes over more routine and analytical work. He also raised concerns about the traditional apprenticeship model, where junior employees built professional judgement through routine tasks.

That raises an important question for students preparing to enter business careers. If AI can now handle some of the work that once helped graduates gain experience, where will they develop those skills?

The answer is not simply to learn a few AI tools. Students need to understand how AI is changing the way businesses research, analyse information, automate processes and make decisions. More importantly, they need opportunities to apply that knowledge to real business problems before they enter the workplace.

Knowing AI Is Different From Applying It

Knowing how to use ChatGPT, Claude or an AI tool does not necessarily mean knowing how to apply AI to business.

The difference lies in understanding the business problem, deciding where AI can add value and evaluating what it produces. AI can analyse competitors, organise customer reviews, summarise research and identify recurring product claims. A business student still needs to determine which information is relevant, assess whether the output is reliable and decide what the findings mean for the business.

AI can make research faster. It does not remove the need for business understanding, critical thinking or judgement.

AI Is Moving Into Every Part of Business

AI is becoming part of how core business functions operate. According to Deloitte’s 2026 State of AI in the Enterprise report, Indian enterprises reported at-scale AI deployment in product development at 62%, strategy and operations at 56%, marketing and sales at 55%, and supply chain at 48%.

This has implications for business education. AI cannot be treated as a standalone technical skill when businesses are already using it across functions such as marketing, finance, operations, sales and strategy.

Students can use AI for customer research and campaign development in marketing, financial analysis and forecasting in finance, workflow automation in operations, customer and conversion analysis in sales, and market research and growth planning in strategy.

The important skill is understanding where AI fits into a business process and how it changes the way the work gets done.

The Entry-Level Career Ladder Is Changing

According to PwC’s 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer, jobs requiring specific AI skills are growing 69% faster than the overall jobs market. The report also found that AI-exposed entry-level roles in the US were seven times more likely to require traditionally senior-level skills such as judgement, leadership and creativity.

This matters because some routine tasks that once gave junior employees exposure to research, analysis and reporting can now be performed or assisted by AI.

The traditional career ladder may therefore look different. Graduates may have fewer opportunities to spend their first years doing repetitive work before moving into more complex responsibilities.

That makes practical experience during college more important. Students need opportunities to analyse real problems, interpret information, question assumptions and develop recommendations before entering the workplace.

Business Students Need to Learn With AI

AI should not be taught as a separate subject alongside marketing, finance and operations. Students should use AI while learning these disciplines.

A marketing project could involve AI-assisted customer research and competitor analysis. A finance project could involve financial analysis and scenario planning. An operations project could identify bottlenecks and explore automation. A strategy project could use AI for market research and growth planning.

This approach helps students understand AI within the context where it will actually be used. They learn what can be automated, what can be accelerated through AI and what still requires human judgement.

Practical Experience Needs to Start in College

Students also need experience applying it to real business workflows.

Live projects, internships and entrepreneurship challenges can provide that experience. A student might use AI for research, competitor analysis, opportunity identification or workflow automation, then verify the output, identify the important findings and develop a recommendation.

The focus shifts from knowing individual AI tools to understanding how AI can improve the way business work gets done.

Learning AI Through Business at Stride School of Business

At Stride School of Business, students pursue a three-year business programme with AI integrated into business learning rather than taught separately.

The six-semester curriculum moves through Discover, Execute and Emerge, taking students from applying AI to business analysis to building and deploying AI systems.

In Year 1, students build business fundamentals while learning financial analysis, market sizing, unit economics, business writing, prompt engineering and AI evaluation. They apply these skills through company analysis and market strategy projects.

Year 2 focuses on execution through cost analytics, growth, product thinking, AI agents and human-AI decision-making. Students build AI-powered growth systems, develop financial models, take part in the Entrepreneurship Challenge and complete an industry internship.

Year 3 moves into strategy and deployment, covering business analytics, AI strategy, multi-agent systems, AI reliability and operations. Students build AI systems and analytics dashboards and complete an AI audit and deployed AI solution.

The progression moves from using AI to understand business problems to using it to build solutions, while developing the business knowledge needed to apply it effectively.

Preparing for an AI-Enabled Workplace

AI is changing what entry-level business work looks like. As routine research, analysis and reporting become easier to automate, graduates may need to take on problem-solving and decision-making earlier in their careers.

That makes business fundamentals, analytical skills, judgement and practical experience more important. Students need to understand business problems, work with AI to analyse them and know when its output needs to be questioned.

The goal is not simply to graduate students who know how to use AI. It is to prepare them to understand where AI can improve business work, where automation makes sense and where human judgement remains essential.

Study for the workplace you’re entering, not the one that existed yesterday.

Explore Stride School of Business →

Frequently Asked Questions

Will AI replace entry-level business jobs?

AI is automating many routine tasks, but entry-level roles are also evolving. Graduates need to take on analysis, problem-solving and decision-making earlier.

What AI skills should business students learn?

Students should learn how to use AI for research, analysis, automation and decision-making across business functions, rather than focusing only on individual tools.

Why do business students need practical experience?

Projects and internships help students apply AI to real problems, evaluate outputs and turn information into business recommendations.

Should AI be taught separately in business education?

No. AI should be integrated into subjects such as marketing, finance, operations and strategy so students learn how it applies to real business work.

How should business students prepare for an AI-enabled workplace?

They should build strong business fundamentals, analytical skills and judgement while gaining practical experience using AI to solve business problems.