EP 68: Why Learning is the Oxygen of the New Economy with Prof. Sanjay Sarma

How will AI disrupt the landscape of work and create job refugees? What does the future of Education look like in this technology-driven evolution?

With a career spanning decades in academia and innovation, we unpack these questions (and more!) with Professor Sanjay Sarma, the Chief Executive Officer, President and Dean of the Asia School of Business. 

Sanjay served as the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT, where he oversaw OpenCourseWare and led the creation of MITx, MicroMasters, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative and the Jameel World Education Lab. Fun fact: He played a part in developing many of the key technologies behind the EPC suite of RFID standards now used as a staple in industries worldwide!

In this wide-ranging discussion, we dive into Sanjay’s journey from MIT to ASB and hear all about:

-     The turning point that led him from Engineering to Academia, and the story behind his move from USA to Asia

-     The failures that have taught Sanjay valuable lessons

-     Why an MBA is still relevant

-     Exploring Agile Continuous Education (ACE) as a more impactful teaching methodology

-     Why Curiosity and a Growth mindset is the most important skills in a post-GPT world

HIGHLIGHTS:

8:05 The pivotal career turning point from Engineering into Academia 

10:54 What led Sanjay to take up the role as CEO, President & Dean at Asia School of Business 

15:07 The most rewarding and challenging parts of the role 

19:02 What Sanjay learnt from a recent Failure

27:17 The power of Reflection 

30:48 How to be a more interesting person 

35:21 How will AI create job refugees? 

37:24 Essential skillsets for young professionals to thrive in the post-GPT world 

38:22 Growth mindset is who we are 

40:10 Is the MBA still relevant? 

42:47 What Agile Continuous Education (ACE) would look like 

48:44 What would the success of ACE look like? 

50:38 The challenges of the ACE model 

53:20 The value proposition of an ASB MBA 

59:30 Impact of Generative AI on public policy-making and design 

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