SKEMA presents “Unveil”, its 2025–2030 strategic plan to reveal talents and transform societies

Autumn 2025 marks a pivotal moment for SKEMA Business School. The school, with 10 sites across 7 countries, 11,000 students and 63,000 alumni, is launching its new 2025–2030 strategic plan, titled UNVEIL. Behind this name lies a clear ambition: to reveal talents and unleash the potential of new generations, to shape more sustainable organisations, and to build, through SKEMA, a global education platform spanning all continents.

Unveil is SKEMA’s fourth strategic plan.
 

A unique positioning in the business school landscape

Since its creation in 2009, SKEMA has embraced bold moves: a pioneering and successful merger, an unprecedented multi-campus model across five continents, growth and independence within a non-profit structure (French law 1901 association), the creation of SKEMA Entrepreneurs — a global startup incubation and acceleration unit, hybridisation of programmes, the pioneering launch of an AI innovation centre in Montreal, Canada, the establishment of thematic schools in AI, Law, Geopolitics, and Design, and the worldwide consultation of youth through “Youth Talks”.

As a result, this year the school ranks among the leaders both in France (Top 5) and globally, with steady progress in the Financial Times league tables: its Master in Finance ranked 2nd worldwide, its Executive MBA in the global Top 15, a remarkable breakthrough to 18th position for the Master in Management, and 26th place among European business schools.

“Unveil is a plan of transformation. It embodies our deep conviction that education must go far beyond the transmission of knowledge. We want to reveal talent, unlock the potential of each individual, and equip our communities to invent sustainable futures.” — Alice Guilhon, Dean and Executive President of SKEMA Business School

Stakeholder engagement

To design this fourth strategic plan, SKEMA listened to all its stakeholders (students, faculty and staff, alumni, businesses, and institutional partners).

Alongside Alice Guilhon, Dean and Executive President of SKEMA, and the school’s governance, a strategic committee has been set up with a select team of prominent alumni from leading consulting firms.

A new Strategy and Scientific Impact department, headed by Mrs Frédérique Vidal, former Minister of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation, will be responsible for coordinating internal and external stakeholders to ensure the implementation of this new strategic plan.

A virtuous circle structured around four key axes

Four interconnected pillars form a dynamic loop within UNVEIL: SEEK, COMMIT, BUILD, and GROW. Together, they redefine SKEMA’s student experience, societal engagement, and global ambition.

1. SEEK (Defining oneself, enabling everyone to find their best place)

With ’SEEK’, SKEMA is undertaking a profound transformation of its pedagogies and reinventing learning in the age of AI.

The school is adopting a pioneering doctrine: “Learn, Teach, Search, and Work in the age of AI”, which integrates artificial intelligence into all the structuring dimensions of the institution.

• Among the flagship innovations: the development of AI-enhanced CVs, which will allow recruiters, via a dedicated platform, to identify the distinctive talents of SKEMA students and match them with employment opportunities (internships, jobs, work-study, and apprenticeship offers, etc.).
   
• An interdisciplinary academic and scientific framework will be established to analyse societal challenges and provide solutions to businesses and institutions when faced with the imperatives of transformation.
   
• Professors and staff will be provided with “KOMPASS”, a tool designed to guide their trajectory and support their development within the school, helping them to showcase their strengths, contributions, and areas of impact. This compass will become a tool for self-revelation and performance management.

Targets set for 2030: 100% of students equipped with an AI-enhanced CV — Training 100% of students, professors, and staff in the strategic uses of AI, in line with SKEMA’s doctrine Learn, Teach, Search, and Work in the age of AI, and recruitment of 50 professors committed to interdisciplinarity.

2. COMMIT (Engaging, for sustainable and desirable futures)

This second pillar reflects SKEMA’s dual commitment. First, to help young people find their path and understand why it is important to commit. Second, to respond to the major environmental, social, and technological challenges of our time.

• The school is rolling out the “Move for Good” initiatives, derived from the objectives of its Transitions 3D plan (for Diversity, Decarbonisation, and Digital & Data for Good). These initiatives consist of missions carried out by our students, staff, professors, and partners, enabling them to express their potential through meaningful engagement in impact-driven mobility. The aim: to travel, but with meaningful impact, encouraging everyone to reflect on their carbon footprint and the value they can bring when moving around the world.
   
• SKEMA is also launching “AI for Accelerating Impact”, an acceleration programme for startups harnessing AI in support of societal and environmental causes. By 2030, 150 startups will be supported through the AI for Accelerating Impact programme.
   
• In addition, SKEMA is launching a Global Impact Observatory to measure and analyse the tangible results of our community’s impact-driven actions, particularly through Move for Good projects and the impactful work conducted by our faculty across all campuses.
   
• Finally, each campus will establish a business hub, bringing together companies and alumni with the goal of fostering innovation, sustainable partnerships, and collective engagement, while reinforcing SKEMA’s role as a key player in its local locations.

3. BUILD (Building, for collective success)

The third pillar of the strategic plan, ‘BUILD’ aims to make SKEMA campuses exemplary places to live, learn, and work.

• The school is investing €150 million in the renovation and development of its campuses to turn them into genuine “Great Places to Work and Study.”
   
• SKEMA is transforming itself into a global higher education platform to deliver a unique and unified learning experience across all its campuses worldwide. By integrating AI and new technologies, this platform will provide continuous access to training programmes, practice, and refresher companions, and more broadly, to the full range of services. It will thus offer an improved user experience that is consistent, seamless, and of constant quality across every campus. The structuring of this platform is being developed with the support of SKEMA’s AI Innovation Centre in Montreal.

4. GROW (Growing, to shape the future)

This final pillar embodies SKEMA’s global ambition. Following the opening of a campus in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in 2025, the school will open two new campuses, in India and Australia, by 2030. This will expand SKEMA’s global network to twelve locations across nine countries and six continents.
 Long committed to the hybridisation of its programmes, notably through the creation of four thematic schools (AI, Law, Geopolitics, and Design), SKEMA now intends to encompass and accelerate these initiatives within a “School of Professional Studies” (SPS). Inspired by the Schools of Professional Studies at leading American universities (NYU SPS, Columbia SPS, and Northwestern University SPS, among others), this new school will train professionals in the above-mentioned fields, while also addressing the needs of professional sectors seeking specialised skills (healthcare, retail, tourism, etc.). It will also meet the expectations expressed by stakeholders in the regions where SKEMA is established. To this end, a portfolio of degree programmes (Bachelor’s, +3), certification courses, and online training will be developed. Designed to support students aiming for swift and successful entry into the job market, these programmes will also cater to professionals wishing to transform their career paths and explore new prospects.

While SKEMA’s growth is driven by international development and the School of Professional Studies, the business school will continue to make significant investments in its core programmes: the Master in Management (PGE), Global BBA, MS, and MSc, with an even greater focus on selectivity as well as international and social openness.

Measurable ambitions

By 2030:

• SKEMA will welcome 16,000 students
• 250 faculty members will make up the school’s permanent academic staff
• €10 million in scholarships will be awarded, reaffirming the school’s commitment to combining academic excellence with social inclusiveness
• The school’s overall budget will reach €250 million
• €180 million will be invested in the campuses (€150 million) and the technological/AI core of the global platform (€30 million)
• SKEMA will have 12 locations worldwide

With UNVEIL, SKEMA reaffirms its mission: to give new generations the power to reinvent organisations and societies. Grounded in innovative pedagogy and a humanistic vision, this plan aims to consolidate SKEMA’s position among the world’s most influential educational institutions and to create an unparalleled global education platform.

“Companies are now seeking hybrid talents, able to combine technology, creativity, and social commitment. SKEMA prepares its learners to think differently about the world and act with lucidity and responsibility.” — Alice Guilhon