Our learning isn’t a black box: students know in advance that it will be useful.

It’s an exciting time in executive education as learning pathways become less linear. People make career transitions; they take career breaks. There is disruption from AI and technology, and other transitions happening in the world, such as the energy transition. There are new industries developing and there will be jobs in five years that don’t even exist yet.

How we think about learning is changing, too. It has traditionally been somewhat transactional. You come to university, you learn, you leave, and you come to events as a graduate. But for me, engagement means mutual benefit. That’s why I’m excited by the many opportunities opened up by moving from straightforward ‘alumni relations’ towards becoming a learning community – a partnership, with RSM accompanying your progress through your professional life.

It’s not so much lifelong learning – which feels like you don’t know if it’ll be useful or not – as need-driven learning. It will be flexible – in location and time. It will be personalized, as we know people have different starting points in terms of family, knowledge and previous education. And it will be relevant. Rather than a black box, our students will know in advance how it will be useful.

I’m looking forward to delving into co-creation of this learning with students, staff, alumni and industry. We are talking with employers, for example, to make sure we’re training people for skills that businesses need. The aim is to create industry-certified courses, so a company would accept that certificate as a qualification. We welcome companies that are interested in hiring. Rotterdam is historically a trading city, and we are replicating that, developing our local relationships for global impact. Our Living Management MBA module, where companies come onto campus and co-design projects with students, is one example.

Academically, our focus is on action research and design-based learning, where we create novel insights because we do research with people, not about them. Of course, we constantly invest in technology. But we are also investing in human connections, whether that’s online or in-person. It’s about becoming a more entrepreneurial, agile organization, so engagement isn’t one person’s role: everyone is engaged.

There will always be value in bringing people back together who have shared experiences, but getting together won’t be a goal in itself. Rather than just free drinks and food at networking events, there will be clear relevance to the individual.

And I want to see RSM become even more diverse and accessible. I want to see more of us bringing our values to people where they are – which could include people who didn’t do their first degree with RSM, or even a degree at all. I don’t want people’s lives to be determined by choices they made when they were 20. Amid all this uncertainty, RSM should be an anchor. We are the calm waters that professionals need to navigate their career.

» Do you have expertise to offer? Email alumni@rsm.nl