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MBAs are becoming less relevant in today’s rapidly changing business world. Practical experience, entrepreneurship, and developing in-demand skills are more valuable for companies and they are no longer interested in whether you have an MBA. Companies want to know what you can do.

Last year, Vionix Biosciences hired a bright intern from a college in Delhi. For her, this was a rare opportunity — she was learning advanced AI research and applying cutting-edge technologies in ways that could have had a profound impact on the world. She would have worked with some of the top tech leaders in the United States and engineers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. She was on track to become a hotshot developer, earning far more than any MBA graduate.

Yet, at the end of her internship, she turned down a full-time job offer to study management. We wished her well. After months preparing for the entrance exams, she didn’t get into the business school of her choice. Now, she will spend two years of her life and her family’s savings, only to earn less than the starting salary we had offered her.

This is the tragedy of the MBA dream. Students believe that an expensive degree will catapult them into corporate success. But in today’s world of accelerating technological change, an MBA is an overpriced badge that adds little real value. Even those who manage to secure coveted spots at the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) are struggling to justify their investment.

There was a time when MBAs mattered. My own MBA from NYU Stern was one of my best investments. It helped me transition from being a programmer to a project leader and then to a vice-president at Credit Suisse First Boston. I learned essential skills — management, marketing, law, accounting — that helped me climb the corporate ladder and eventually, become an entrepreneur.

But times have changed. The corporate world that once relied on MBA graduates to fill its ranks is being reshaped by technology. The era of slow, predictable career progression is over. Today, breakthroughs happen at lightning speed, and companies are built overnight. Companies don’t need managers trained in outdated case studies; they need builders, technologists, and problem solvers. The rigid frameworks and financial modeling drilled into MBA students are useless in a world where business models change faster than university syllabuses can keep up.

And let’s talk about cost – the opportunity cost. If these students had instead joined a startup or built their own ventures, they could have earned, learned, and built something valuable. But instead, they spend years studying PowerPoint presentations, only to re-enter the workforce at salaries that rarely justify the investment.

Even the IIM graduates, the supposed cream of the crop, are finding it harder to land high-paying jobs. Job reports tell only half the story. What they don’t reveal is that many students are placed in roles that don’t require an MBA at all. They could have got the same jobs without spending a fortune on a degree. And for those who do land well-paying roles, many quickly find themselves stuck in bureaucratic, uninspiring jobs, far removed from the excitement and impact they once aspired to have.

Meanwhile, startups and tech companies are creating new wealth and changing the world. The biggest success stories today are being written by innovators, designers, and domain experts — not by MBAs. The skills that matter in today’s world — AI, software development, biotech, data science — are not taught in many business schools. Those who master these fields are the ones shaping the future. And they are the ones who will be in highest demand, earning far beyond an MBA graduate.

And what exactly are business schools churning out these days? Investment bankers and management consultants — an elite club of spreadsheet warriors who make fortunes moving numbers around and telling actual builders how to run their companies. They create complex financial models that rarely reflect reality and write PowerPoint decks that could put an insomniac to sleep. Meanwhile, the real innovation is happening elsewhere.

The world is shifting from degree-based credentials to skill-based hiring. The best way to learn is by doing. Working at a startup, launching a project, solving real-world problems — these experiences teach more than any business school ever can.

If you are considering an MBA, ask yourself: What do you really hope to gain? If it’s prestige, understand that prestige does not pay the bills. If it’s knowledge, recognize that everything an MBA teaches is available online for free. If it’s a network, consider that the best networks today are built by working on ambitious projects with brilliant people, not by sitting in a classroom.

So, here’s my advice — skip the MBA. Learn real skills. Join a start-up. Build something that matters. The world is changing, and the MBAs are being left behind.

 

Images from Adobe Stock