The new initiative connects business leaders, students and researchers to promote technological fluency, all while focusing on human potential.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As emerging technologies such as AI change the way businesses operate and grow, the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has launched the Institute for the Future of Business, an effort designed to align business education with the evolving needs of industry.

The institute will convene corporate leaders, researchers, educators and students to explore the immediate and long-term implications of groundbreaking technologies, promoting smart and effective human-centered use.

Stephen L. Mangum, Haslam dean and Stokely Foundation Leadership Chair, says the institute was created alongside the college’s inaugural AInnovation Summit, two days of focused collaboration around the business ramifications of AI. The institute, however, takes a broader approach, establishing an ongoing structure for collaboration and action.

“While AI was the catalyst, the Institute for the Future of Business is not centered on a single technology,” says Mangum. “Our mission is to promote understanding of the innovations that are shifting business models and upending workforce expectations, providing industry and education with technological knowledge paired with distinctly human skills such as creative problem solving and ethical decision-making.”

Mangum says Haslam’s deep industry relationships and breadth of business expertise and interdisciplinary approach to problem solving uniquely position the college to lead this work. As companies navigate questions around investment, productivity, workforce readiness and organizational change, the institute will connect those needs with Haslam faculty, researchers and students.

To accomplish its mission, the Institute for the Future of Business will serve a range of groups. The stakeholders include:

• Business leaders deciding where to invest and how to prepare both today’s employees and the next generation’s workforce
• Researchers connecting emerging business challenges and opportunities with relevant scholarship and new research questions
• Students gaining hands-on experience solving consequential, real-world business problems before graduation, building a strong base for future careers
• Educators exploring how changes in business should inform the future of business education, especially at the intersection of emerging technology and workforce preparation

By bringing together these groups, the institute will create opportunities for collaboration and applied research. Students will further benefit by participating in industry-based projects, while businesses will gain access to thought leadership and a deep talent pool.

The institute is distinct from AI Tennessee, UT’s interdisciplinary AI research group, but complements the university’s broader work and advances calls from both the university and the State of Tennessee to lead in AI and other emerging technologies.

Lindsay Mahony, Haslam’s assistant dean for entrepreneurship and strategic initiatives, notes that while the institute will discuss new ideas, it also will convert them into action.

“The Institute for the Future of Business is future-focused and highly practical,” Mahony says. “Our industry partners will bring real business challenges to Haslam, and those challenges will become launchpads for research questions, classroom projects and new opportunities for collaboration. By building on existing models for industry-based learning, we’ll create unique opportunities for business leaders to engage with our faculty experts, as well as our students.”

For more information about, or to partner with, the Institute for the Future of Business, visit the institute’s webpage.

About the Haslam College of Business

The Haslam College of Business, founded in 1914, sets the standard in developing future business leaders whose work positively impacts the world. More than 11,100 undergraduate, graduate and executive education students are taught by 291 faculty with dedicated staff members facilitating their needs. Haslam programs consist of seven departments and nine undergraduate majors. Its eight centers, institutes and forums, as well as its myriad graduate and executive education programs, reach across the for profit, not-for-profit and governmental sectors of business, with a heavy emphasis on practical research. UT was founded in 1794 and was designated as Tennessee’s land-grant institution in 1879.

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SOURCE University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s Haslam College of Business