For Wharton’s newest MBA students, the first days of business school are about much more than getting oriented to a new campus and community. They are an opportunity to begin building the foundation for the two years ahead.

That foundation now includes artificial intelligence.

Wharton’s comprehensive Pre-Term orientation for incoming MBA students introduces AI from the start alongside leadership, teamwork, ethics, career planning, and the resources students will draw on throughout the program. Students receive access to school-supported AI tools, including ChatGPT and Claude, and participate in a required session exploring how generative AI works, what it can do, and where it can go wrong.

The goal is not simply to give students another technology to add to their toolkit. It prepares them to exercise the judgment and leadership that will become increasingly important as AI transforms business.

“AI is changing how business gets done, so it has to change how we teach. My job is to support the faculty already doing that work and to help it spread,” says Michael Roberts, Vice Dean of the MBA Program.

Starting With Critical Thinking

Wharton’s approach reflects a broader belief that students need to understand both the power and the limitations of AI before they can use it effectively.

“Faculty here started building AI into their courses years ago. That head start is real,” says Roberts. “The work now is making sure it benefits every MBA student regardless of their chosen path.”

Chris Callison-Burch, faculty director for Penn Engineering’s Online Master of Engineering in AI, leads the Pre-Term session introducing students to the technology behind generative AI and its real-world applications. Drawing on the breakthroughs that have shaped the field, he demonstrates how tools such as ChatGPT and Claude work. The session also addresses AI hallucinations, misinformation, and the professional consequences of accepting AI-generated information without verification.

“The North Star for me is that these tools should help students engage with critical thinking with the subject and not act as a substitute,” Callison-Burch says.

Learning to Lead Alongside AI

That emphasis on judgment extends beyond a single Pre-Term session.

AI is woven into discussions of classroom expectations, ethics, and career preparation, giving students an early understanding that becoming proficient in AI also means understanding when — and when not — to use it.

Anthony Landry, deputy vice dean of academic affairs for the MBA Program, says the technology makes the core purpose of an MBA education even more important.

Students will increasingly work with AI throughout their careers, he says, but they will still need to understand a problem well enough to assess an AI-generated answer, recognize when it is wrong, and make the final decision themselves.

“AI isn’t replacing learning,” Landry says. “It is a tool that can add value to what students are doing now and what they will do after graduation.”

That philosophy is reflected in the broader MBA curriculum, where students can pursue an AI major, take electives, and engage with AI-focused student organizations and initiatives.

Building a Foundation for Leadership

But AI is only one piece of what students encounter during Pre-Term.

The program is intentionally designed to help students begin making the transition from professionals to MBA students and future leaders through a combination of reflection, frameworks, and practice.

Gwendolyn McDay, WG’13, senior director of Innovation & Integration for the McNulty Leadership Program, explains that students participate in a two-day leadership retreat away from campus, where they meet their learning team members, tackle leadership challenges, and work with second-year students (Leadership Fellows) serving as facilitators.

“Those sessions give them an opportunity to observe different leadership styles while also examining their own,” she says.

Students then start Management 6100, the Foundations of Leadership and Teamwork course, which outlines research on best practices for working in teams while helping students become more aware of group dynamics, their own assumptions, and the ways their behavior affects others.

For McDay, who remembers feeling overwhelmed when she first arrived as an MBA student at Wharton, the leadership lessons from Pre-Term and that course are essential.

“Students enter as accomplished professionals and suddenly find themselves in a new environment where they are absorbing enormous amounts of information, building new relationships, and adjusting to a rigorous academic environment,” she says. “Pre-Term and then Management 6100 create space for students to become more comfortable with acknowledging opportunities to improve and supporting one another through the learning process.”

The result is not simply a stronger foundation for teamwork. It is an early opportunity for students to begin developing the self-awareness, adaptability, and perspective they will need to lead throughout the MBA program and beyond.

“By the end of Pre-Term, students have been introduced to the people and resources that will support them academically, professionally, and personally,” says Kacey Barnes, senior director of strategic initiatives and communications of the MBA Program. “They have begun building their learning teams and broader Wharton networks. And they have started to understand that the MBA is not simply about acquiring knowledge. It’s about learning how to apply that knowledge with judgment, collaborate with others, and lead.”

For a generation entering a business world increasingly shaped by AI, that may be one of the most important lessons to learn early on in the process.