The Wisconsin School of Business turns 125 in 2025, and the school is bringing the celebration to Business Badgers across the country.
On September 16, Milwaukee-based alumni and friends gathered at the Harley-Davidson Museum for WSB in MKE: 125 Years of Doing Business the Badger Way. Then on September 17, WSB in CHI took place at the University Club of Chicago.
At both events, guests enjoyed camaraderie with WSB staff and fellow alumni, a toast to the school, and plenty of good food. School leaders also delivered a presentation outlining WSB’s strategic priorities and a vision for the future that embraces technology, entrepreneurship, and a reimagining of how the school engages with industry partners.
Redefining how business schools partner with industry
In his introductory remarks, Vallabh “Samba” Sambamurthy, WSB’s Albert O. Nicholas Dean, laid out several examples of the school’s many innovations from its long history, from the first-of-its-kind Applied Security Analysis Program to the unprecedented “no-name naming gift” made possible by the Wisconsin Naming Partnership.
After acknowledging those past successes, Sambamurthy turned eyes to the future, and laid out his vision for the school that builds on previous innovations and scales them to new heights. One of his current areas of focus is a bold reimagining of how the school approaches industry relations.
“Most business schools think about industry relations as just finding jobs for their students,” said Sambamurthy. “That’s important, but we believe that the vision must be more holistic.”
“Be our advisors, be our ambassadors,
—Vallabh “Samba” Sambamurthy, WSB’s Albert O. Nicholas Dean
and be our advocates.”
The goal, according to Sambamurthy, is to make WSB a preferred partner for industry, one that delivers value not just to industry, but with industry. This includes creating real-world projects for student engagement and skill development, connecting companies with WSB student talent through strategic recruiting and partnerships, tailoring programs to advance leadership and organizational success, and conducting applied research to address real-world challenges.
It’s a vision aimed at inspiring the next generation of leaders, powering new business insights, and equipping organizations with the knowledge and tools to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
As the school continues to evolve its approach to industry relations, Sambamurthy noted that the Business Badger community can play an important role in its growth. To that end, he offered this guidance to alumni: “Be our advisors, be our ambassadors, and be our advocates.”
Putting founders at the heart of UW–Madison’s entrepreneurship strategy
In developing her strategic priorities for the university, UW–Madison Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin has placed significant emphasis on entrepreneurship. To boost efforts in this space, the chancellor has enlisted the aid of WSB’s Jon Eckhardt, an expert on entrepreneurship and Pyle Bascom Professor in Business Leadership.
In his remarks, Eckhardt discussed the university’s new Wisconsin Entrepreneurship Hub, and how campus is taking a founder-focused approach to becoming a leading destination for entrepreneurs. It’s a strategy centered around recruiting and developing entrepreneurial talent and launching entrepreneurial careers and companies.
The goal of welcoming entrepreneurs to campus and building concentrated communities of entrepreneurs, notes Eckhardt, is especially advantageous, as entrepreneurs benefit from being around like-minded people.
“We plan on building communities of entrepreneurs like we do for doctors, lawyers, marketing students, and everything else,” Eckhardt said. “And so that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to create a home for entrepreneurs and people that aspire to be founders.”
While WSB currently offers an undergraduate entrepreneurship major, many students from beyond the business school seek entrepreneurship classes and resources to complement their studies. With these resources in higher demand than ever before, Eckhardt stresses the need to build something that serves the entire university—and meets people where they are.
“Entrepreneurship literally lives across our entire campus. It’s in the sociology department, it’s in history, it’s in engineering, it’s everywhere,” said Eckhardt. “For people who aspire to entrepreneurship, we are making it easier for it to be part of their academic career, whether they’re applying to our undergrad programs, our grad programs, med school, law school, or anywhere else.”
Gaining a competitive edge with artificial intelligence
Running shoes and artificial intelligence may not seem like they have much in common. But Matt Seitz, director of WSB’s AI Hub for Business, sees a connection between AI and the carbon-plated shoes that shook up the running world around nearly 20 years ago.
“If you wore those shoes in 2008, you had an advantage that nobody else had,” said Seitz, a triathlete himself. “That’s what these AI tools are for folks now. If you use the tools, not only are you going to be more efficient, but you’re going to be getting a jump on your peers. Then, when the next tool comes along, you’re going to be ready for that, too.”
Much like how runners caught on to the edge provided by the shoes, businesses are now seeing the possibilities of AI—and are starting to invest in it.
“The number of businesses buying AI tools for their teams has roughly doubled in the past six months,” Seitz said. “Our business leaders are saying, ‘Hey, it’s time that I really take this seriously and put a strategic plan in place.’”
While deploying AI across an enterprise can be complicated, and affect every single business function differently, Seitz noted that it can offer advantages across four levels of impact: personal productivity, functional excellence, technical acceleration, and strategic differentiation.
In other words, AI can be used for everything from simple tasks, like boosting employee productivity through the use of chatbots, to more complex, strategic planning, such as identifying new markets or tracking what competitors are up to.
Helping businesses find specific solutions for their unique situations is a key goal of the AI Hub for Business, which unites all of the AI expertise, resources, and research at WSB.
“The goal is to bring everything we do in school together, so that business leaders can engage with us,” said Seitz. “We’re really rising to meet the moment.”
If you liked what you read here, you’ll have an even better time experiencing it in person! There’s still time to register for WSB’s upcoming anniversary events in New York City and Minneapolis. Visit our events hub to learn more and register today.