At 13:30 on May 24, 2026, Beijing Normal University Business School (BNUBS) held the forum themed Promoting business and culture, Integrating Digital Intelligence with Human Insights together with the launch ceremony of the 2027 "π Program". School leaders, academic experts, MBA faculty and students, plus prospective applicants for the 2027 intake gathered at the event to explore new approaches for business talent cultivation and officially kick off the π Program tailored to nurture interdisciplinary compound talents. Rooted in BNUBS’s School motto “Promoting business and culture to serve the nation and the world by creating knowledge and developing talents.”, the launch marks a tangible practice of the School’s educational mission as well as a vital exploration into innovative business education amid the digital and intelligent era.

I. Dean’s Address: Forging Ahead with the Times and Honoring the Mission of Business Education

Figure 1: Dean Qi Yudong delivering an opening address

Opening the ceremony, Professor Qi Yudong, Dean of BNUBS, extended sincere gratitude and warm welcome to all long-standing supporters, distinguished guests, MBA faculty, alumni and prospective 2027 applicants on behalf of the School.

Dean Qi introduced that Beijing Normal University boasts a century-long educational legacy. Since BNUBS was founded in 1979, its disciplinary strength has consistently ranked among China’s top-tier institutions. Theoretical Economics was rated Class A in the national disciplinary assessment organized by the Ministry of Education, while Economics and Business disciplines have secured a spot among the top 1% of global disciplines in the ESI rankings. The School has also obtained the highest five-year EQUIS accreditation, earning worldwide recognition for its internationalized education quality. Against the sweeping digital and intelligent transformation, BNUBS has restructured its MBA training framework centered on the acronym DUTY, developing an interdisciplinary management talent development system covering four dimensions: specialized concentrations, humanistic & psychological literacy, digital-intelligent empowerment and practical training to meet contemporary market demands.

He explained that the core educational philosophy Integrating Digital Technology with Humanistic Insights prioritizes both technological proficiency and humanistic grounding, equipping learners with cutting-edge digital literacy, solid business ethics and acute human insight. The newly unveiled 2027 π Program establishes four learning platforms, improves the dual-mentor system, and comes with exclusive internship benefits and special scholarships to build an open, collaborative and co-creative university-enterprise talent incubation ecosystem.

In closing, Dean Qi encouraged participating students to grow under the π Program and become catalysts driving industrial upgrading, as BNUBS strives to serve as a fertile cradle for future business leaders.

Figure 2: Associate Dean Zhou Jianghua presiding over the forum

II. Keynote Speeches: Cross-industry Dialogues Spark Innovative Ideas of Digital-humanistic Integration

The forum proceeded to keynote presentations, where four industrial experts shared in-depth insights on how digital technologies reshape business logics, delivering an intellectually inspiring feast centered on digital-humanistic integration.

1. Xu Gao: Digital Codes in Securities Investment – Aligning Long-term Value with Industrial Trends

As Chief Economist and Managing Director of BOC International Securities, Xu Gao presented the speech Secrets of Investment. From the linkage between macroeconomics and capital markets, he unpacked the fundamental investment logic under the digital economy. Long-term value investment must keep pace with industrial digitalization by combining data-driven insights with value judgment and balancing technical rationality and business sensibility. He stressed that digital technology functions not merely as an investment tool but a lens to decode business realities; investors can only spot undervalued assets by understanding the digital narratives of respective industries. He also put forward core investment principles including Sound Investment = Rational Methodology + Sustained Input and Successful Investment = Positive Expected Returns + Effective Risk Control, alongside practical methodologies such as the 0.1 Rule and habit management to form a complete investment framework integrating theory and practice.

Figure 3: Keynote Speech by Xu Gao, Chief Economist and Managing Director of BOC International Securities

2. Bai Sensen: Digital Revitalization of Time-honored Brands – Coexistence of Cultural Heritage and Digital Consumer Experience

Bai Sensen, Director, General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary of Beijing Huatian Catering Holding Group, shared practices for brand innovation under the topic Driving Consumer Sentiment via Innovative Development of Time-honored Enterprises. Upholding the principle of inheritance-driven innovation, Huatian preserves traditional craftsmanship while upgrading products and services toward health-focused and fashionable positioning.Through its Rainbow Project, the group optimizes single-store profitability and builds culture-themed restaurants to connect with young consumers pursuing experiential and emotional value. His sharing covered a host of innovative initiatives including biorhythm-oriented marketing, Huatian Art Museum, Dolphin Master Lecture Tour, the 38-point Action Plan and the Gazelle Program AI Team, embodying the development mindset of culture as root and digitalization as core engine.

Figure 4 Keynote Speech delivered by Bai Sensen, Director, General Manager and Deputy Party Secretary of Beijing Huatian Catering Holding Group

3. Tian Yumiao: Digital Evolution of Corporate Organizations – Data Empowerment plus Human-centered Collaboration

Tian Yumiao, Vice President of Shanghai Kenexa Human Resources Technology Co., Ltd., focused on Organizational Capacity and Digital Transformation of Chinese Enterprises. He argued that digital technologies are designed to empower rather than replace human workforce. Drawing on real cases from Pop Mart, NetEase and Luckin Coffee, he analyzed organizational management shifts in the AI age. Enterprises need to build dual-driven organizational capabilities underpinned by data optimization of workflows and humanistic bonding of staff, striking a balance between organizational agility and employee engagement. He showcased research outcomes such as human efficiency calculation formulas and the three-quadrant framework of organizational warmth, citing Baidu’s job grading reform and Xiaohongshu’s dedicated AI department as pioneering practices of AI-native organizational restructuring among leading corporates.

Figure 5: Keynote Speech by Tian Yumiao, Vice President of Shanghai Kenexa Human Resources Technology Co., Ltd.

4. Liu Haibo: New Organizational Ecosystem in the AI Era – Human-machine Collaboration and Innovation Empowerment

Representing the Lark Solution Team at ByteDance, Liu Haibo addressed Organizational Management and Innovation in the AI Age. He defined core criteria for digital employees: compliance with security protocols and measurable business value like regular in-house staff. He elaborated on Lark’s AI landing practices ranging from GTM assistants and intelligent meeting transcription to hyper-automation tools and external organizational brains, illustrating how AI reshapes corporate management modes, middle-management responsibilities and innovation paths. In his conclusion, modern AI-era management focuses on activating intelligent resources instead of headcount control, while organizational innovation centers on workflow restructuring rather than tool development.

Figure 6: Keynote Speech by Liu Haibo from the Lark Solutions Team, ByteDance

III. Specialization Roundtable: Matching Industrial Demands with Program Features

Following the keynote session, a roundtable discussion was held involving BNUBS MBA faculty, industrial specialists and prospective 2027 applicants. Participants had extensive exchanges around each MBA concentration. Centered on industry talent requirements and applicants’ major concerns, the interactive session offered targeted and practical guidance for prospective MBA candidates amid a lively atmosphere.

Figure 7: Scene of the specialization roundtable

The forum and π Program launch mark an in-depth advancement of BNUBS MBA’s industry-education integration strategy and a forward-looking exploration of business talent cultivation for the digital-intelligent era. Built upon the DUTY framework (clear Development paths, humanistic & psychological literacy, digital Technology empowerment and practical Yield-oriented training), the event fully embodied the School’s digital-humanistic integration philosophy and mapped out a clear growth blueprint for current MBA students and future applicants to become digitally savvy, humanistic-minded and innovation-driven management talents.

Moving forward, BNUBS MBA will steadily roll out the π Program via curriculum upgrading, practical platform construction and international exchange programs to cultivate more interdisciplinary managerial elites equipped with technological insights and profound humanistic attainments, contributing to industrial transformation across the digital economy.

Contributed by MBA Education Center

Edited by Wang Lulu

Reviewed by Zhou Jianghua