SHANGHAI, August 16, 2026 — Antai College of Economics and Management (ACEM) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) hosted the AI-Era Industrial Innovation and Management Forum at its Xuhui campus on Sunday. At the event, ACEM—together with the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Association, the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, and the School of Artificial Intelligence—announced the founding of the AI-Era Business Talent Alliance, launched the “100 Industries, 1,000 Enterprises” 10×100 AI Scenario Co-Creation Initiative, and unveiled a series of agile reforms to the Antai MBA “Five-Link Talent” cultivation program.

Confronting Industrial Change, Betting on Talent

Moderated by Associate Dean Zhu Xi, the forum gathered university and college leadership, leading experts in AI, major engineering, and advanced manufacturing, and Antai MBA alumni. SJTU President Ding Kuiling noted that in the university’s 130th anniversary year, SJTU is acting on the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important reply letter, and urged Antai to deepen its MBA reforms and cultivate more versatile leaders who understand technology, manage well, think broadly, and get things done. Dean Chen Fangruo called the “Five-Link Talent” system a significant step in adapting Chinese business education to the AI wave, built around genuine industrial pain points.

President Ding Kuiling giving the opeing speech

In keynote speeches, Chen Yong, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chief Engineer and Chief Scientist of COMAC, traced the innovation journey of China’s commercial aircraft; Ni Jun, Dean of the Global Institute of Future Technology and Chief Manufacturing Officer of CATL, addressed the intelligent transformation of manufacturing; and E Weinan, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chief Advisor to the School of Artificial Intelligence, argued that AI for Science will reshape both research and education—leaders of the AI era, he said, must combine first-principles thinking, engineering capability, and a keen sense of what society needs.

Dean Chen Fangruo giving the speech

At an alumni roundtable moderated by MBA Program Director Lu Lin, six industry leaders—Cheng Jinglei, Gan Pin, Li Huagang, Liu Yao, Qiu Chuqun, and Wang Ningyu—agreed the reform matches the needs of industrial upgrading and pledged to join the co-creation initiative. In closing remarks, Party Secretary Jiang Wenning stressed that business education must be rooted in real industrial settings: the forum’s industry demand list will feed directly into AI scenario collection, jointly built courses, specialized training, and entrepreneurship incubation.

From 100 Industries and 1,000 Enterprises to Real-World AI Deployment

Building on the Antai Manifesto on Business Education in the AI Era, released July 29, the new Alliance pools universities and research institutes, entrepreneurship platforms, leading enterprises, and the SJTU alumni network to co-develop courses, AI training scenarios, industrial practice projects, and talent standards—bringing frontline enterprise needs directly into the classroom.

Under the 10×100 initiative, the Antai MBA will work with partners across industries to develop and deploy 1,000 real-world AI case projects over ten years, feeding its “AI+X” practice courses. Regional co-creation centers across the Yangtze River Delta will host scenario collection, student training, and entrepreneurship incubation, honing three core capabilities: AI for Operations (AI4O), forward-deployed engineering (FDE), and full-stack entrepreneurship (OPC).

The “Five-Link” System: A New Architecture for Business Education

The “Five-Link” System

At the forum, Antai formally released the MBA “Five-Link Talent” cultivation ecosystem—linking students to intelligence, entrepreneurship, industry, the world, and the full resources of SJTU—with the goal of cultivating versatile industry leaders for the intelligent era. Beginning with the class of 2027, the program will roll out a flexible credit system of 40 to 50 credits, a two-year curriculum, and more concentrated teaching formats, with practice-oriented courses accounting for no less than a quarter of total teaching hours.

A globalized IMBA sits at the heart of the reform. The International MBA will expand enrollment and raise the share of international students to more than 50 percent, building a community in which Chinese and international students learn side by side in roughly equal numbers. Cross-cultural collaboration is woven into the fabric of the program: a globalized community of faculty and students, overseas practice projects co-created by Chinese and international classmates around real market-entry and global business challenges, and a concentrated schedule of four to five classroom days per month that leaves room for internships, company projects, and global mobility. For international applicants, the IMBA offers direct access to China’s industrial frontier—from advanced manufacturing and AI deployment to the enterprises now expanding into global markets. For companies going global, it promises managers equally fluent in Chinese industry and international markets.

Learning will extend well beyond the classroom—to factory floors, entrepreneurship parks, AI research facilities, leading laboratories, and global markets—complemented by the “AI+X” incubation camp, an entrepreneurship accelerator, mobile industry classrooms, overseas business practicums, and laboratory research visits: a three-part model of classroom instruction, hands-on training, and industrial validation.

The Engineering Hall

On campus, renovation of the Engineering Hall begins in August. Designed by the celebrated architect László Hudec—distinguished alumni including Qian Xuesen, Zhang Guangdou, and Jiang Zemin once studied there—it will reopen as a venue for MBA teaching, practical training, and interdisciplinary exchange.

Through the Alliance and a thousand real AI scenarios, ACEM at SJTU aims to link the chains of education, talent, industry, and innovation—supplying the real economy with versatile management talent and supporting the development of new quality productive forces.