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AI Ventures: Empowering Your Life Transition

As you leave your professional life behind...

If you're in your fifties, sixties or beyond, you’ve probably heard it before: “What will you do with your next chapter?”

Whether still active or recently stepped back from demanding careers, our participants shared one thing in common: they weren’t done yet.

AI Ventures is for accomplished INSEAD alumni who are entering a life stage where personal fulfilment, impactful projects, and staying relevant matter most. We bring together a select group of alumni to explore how generative AI can spark bold ideas and accelerate your transition into independent ventures.

Since its launch in early 2024, AI Ventures has run four highly successful editions — all fully booked. In June 2025, it was named INSEAD Lifelong Learning’s most popular programme. This latest edition comes with updated content, a slightly extended schedule, and the same world-class faculty.

Led by INSEAD Professor Hellmut Schütte, IEP’79, Emeritus Professor of International Management, and Takeshi Yoshida MBA’02J, Founder of Agile OD, AI Ventures is a Pop Up programme exclusively available to INSEAD alumni. 

This programme forms part of INSEAD's commitment to Lifelong Learning.

Why we are offering this Programme?

Mountain climber

Today, AI dominates political, social, academic and business conversations. While organisations invest heavily in upskilling their workforce, many senior executives, recent retirees and independent professionals feel left behind, unsure how to engage with this rapid shift. 

Insight is everywhere, but meaningful, hands-on application at the individual level remains rare.

We provide a safe, supportive learning environment, where you can explore AI as a practical enabler, not a barrier. A space to experiment, build confidence, and open new possibilities aligned with your ambitions, passions and next chapter.
 

Programme Experience

AI Ventures is practical, collaborative, and highly personal. 

Alumni at INSEAD

   You will:

  • Reflect deeply on your life stage and future ambitions
  • Learn and experiment with AI tools like ChatGPT
  • Develop and refine your own Dream Project
  • Collaborate with a peer group of like-minded INSEAD alumni
  • Receive guided, hands-on technical support throughout

The programme is delivered online over five x two-hour sessions, combining expert input, peer collaboration, and individual project work. Homework and active participation are essential for maximum benefit.

Who should attend?

Our participants typically share the following profile:

  • Experienced INSEAD alumni, average age 62
  • Still active in business or professional activities
  • Financially comfortable and eager for new challenges
  • Determined to stay technologically relevant
  • Ready to use AI for starting new ventures or revitalising existing initiatives

Your new venture could be commercial or mission-driven — from social enterprises and charities to policy advocacy, public service, or innovative start-ups. Previous project ideas have included:

  • Consultancy in small nuclear power plants
  • Boutique hotels for retired expatriates
  • AI-powered platforms for women’s fashion retail
  • Non-profit advocacy groups

Programme Overview and Content

AI Ventures brings you together with fellow INSEAD alumni from a diversity of backgrounds. The programme is delivered online over five x two-hour sessions, combining expert input, peer collaboration, and individual project work. Homework and active participation are essential for maximum benefit.

Session 1a: Re-creation, not recreation 

Reflect on your past and present to envision what’s next. Discover the new longevity and its opportunities, and share perspectives with peers.

– Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

Session 1b: Getting started with generative AI 

Hands-on introduction to tools like ChatGPT, with guided support and a short case study to demonstrate practical applications.

– Takeshi Yoshida

Session 2a: AI as a personal game-changer

How individuals can use AI to stay relevant, even surpassing those in more traditional or closed environments.

– Phanish Puranam

Session 2b: From idea to value 

Begin developing your Dream Project using the Value Proposition Canvas. Homework briefing.

– Takeshi Yoshida & Hellmut Schütte

Session 3: From value to business model 

Refine your project’s value proposition, then explore the Business Model Canvas in a generative AI–assisted group exercise.

Session 3b: From concept to pitch 

Peer review, validation, and iteration of proposals, with cross-group feedback on similar ideas.

– Takeshi Yoshida & Hellmut Schütte

Session 4: From vision to action 

Share lessons learned, celebrate progress, address challenges, and explore your roadmap forward.

– Takeshi Yoshida & Hellmut Schütte

Dates and Fees

Schedule and Fees

Coming soon

Faculty

Hellmut Schütte
Hellmut Schütte is a Professor Emeritus of International Management at INSEAD whose faculty he joined in Fontainebleau, France, in 1981 after a career in the areas of marketing and investment banking. Within the faculty, he was strongly engaged in INSEAD’s activities in Asia. Until the fall of 2006, Professor Schütte served as the Dean of INSEAD’s fast growing Asia Campus located in Singapore. From 2009-2015 he was also a Distinguished Professor and Dean of CEIBS, the leading business school in China, before returning to INSEAD. He studied economics and business administration in Germany and earned his doctorate from the University of St.Gallen, Switzerland. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo, Visiting Professor at Boston University, and Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. IEDC Bled School of Management in Slovenia, the leading business school in Central and Eastern Europe, awarded an Honorary Professorship to him. He is also a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the National University of Singapore. Professor Schütte has lived and worked in ten countries in Europe, the States and Asia and has taught in seminars in another 40 countries worldwide. He is a renowned speaker and moderator in conferences, and business meetings such as the World Economic Forum. Among others, he is an advisor to IMAAsia, a network of CEOs in Asia, and a business angel investing in digital start-ups. He is the author of numerous articles, case studies and nine books. Prof. Schütte is a permanent resident of Singapore. His interest in Lifelong Learning has recently led him to launch a series of AI Venture programmes for senior executives in transition.
Hellmut Schütte

Emeritus Professor of International Management

Hellmut Schütte

Emeritus Professor of International Management

Takeshi Yoshida MBA'02J
Takeshi is the Founder of Agile OD and a long-standing collaborator with INSEAD, where he supports the delivery of executive education programmes. He works closely with professors and programme directors to translate management science into practical, actionable learning for senior executives, with a focus on innovation and leadership in complex environments. His contributions are consistently recognised as original, impactful, and closely aligned with programme learning objectives.Before founding Agile OD, Takeshi built a career as a banker and serial startup entrepreneur, bringing over 25 years of front-line business experience into the classroom. Today, Agile OD is a global collective of more than 30 coaches and consultants who support organisations in driving transformation, innovation, and sustainable change.Takeshi’s expertise spans Agile, Design Thinking, leadership development, behavioural change, and Organisation Development. He contributes to executive programmes through a blend of lecturing, coaching, facilitation, and training. His teaching covers topics such as organisational agility, empowered teams, open innovation, and the adoption of AI and disruptive technologies. In experiential settings such as action learning projects, he coaches participants to apply concepts in real-world contexts, combining structure, reflection, and practical insight.A certified professional coach with the International Coaching Federation and an accredited Agile coach with Scrum.org, Takeshi is also an active thought leader. He writes extensively on change, innovation, and leadership, drawing on patterns and lessons from his work with organisations navigating uncertainty and transformation.
Takeshi Yoshida MBA'02J

Founder, Agile OD

Takeshi Yoshida MBA'02J

Founder, Agile OD

Phanish Puranam, Professor of Strategy, the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organisation Design at INSEAD.
Phanish Puranam is a Professor of Strategy, the Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organisation Design at INSEAD. Phanish’s research in organization science focuses on how organizations work, and how we can make them work better. His current work focuses on different ways in which intelligent algorithms relate to organizations, in their roles as tools (e.g., machine learning applied to organizational data), team-mates (e.g., human-AI collaboration), and as templates for organizing ( e.g. blockchain, metaverse). Besides publishing his research extensively in peer reviewed journals (see link to Personal Website on the left), Phanish has also written several books. The Microstructure of Organizations (Oxford University Press, 2018) offers researchers a new perspective on organization design. Phanish’s books for practitioners include Corporate Strategy: Tools for analysis and decisions (co-authored with Bart Vanneste, Cambridge University Press, 2016) which is used as a reference in MBA programs around the world. India Inside (co-authored with Nirmalya Kumar, Harvard Business Review Press, 2012) won critical acclaim for its balanced look at the prospect of India emerging as a global hub for innovation. He also releases regular updates of the freely available e-book re-Humanize ” is written for a general audience and explores what organizations of the future might look like, in the light of rapid changes in technology and culture. At INSEAD Phanish Puranam founded and co-directs the AI for Business programmes for senior executives. Phanish obtained his PhD at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2001, and was on the faculty of London Business School till 2012. Reflecting his commitment to doctoral training, he has served as the Academic Director for the PhD Program at both London Business School and INSEAD.
Phanish Puranam

Professor of Strategy

Phanish Puranam

Professor of Strategy

The Roland Berger Chaired Professor of Strategy and Organisation Design

Research Director of the INSEAD-Wharton Alliance

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
With over two decades of experience as the CEO of 20-first, Avivah has become a trusted advisor to global CEOs, leadership teams, and executive committees in over 40 countries. Her expertise spans various sectors — from FMCG and financial services to the pharmaceutical and tech sectors.  She’s on the Advisory Boards of the UK National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) and the Chartered Management Institute’s Everyone Economy. She’s an Ambassador for the Stanford Center of Longevity and the Global Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna and an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University in Chicago. In 2023, she was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.A regular contributor to Forbes and the Harvard Business Review, Avivah is host of the longevity focused podcast 4-Quarter Lives, and substack Elderberries. She is a Visiting Lecturer at OXFORD's Said Business School, INSEAD and Catolica Lisbon, where she is Co-Director of their innovative new Longevity Leadership Programme. A three-time TEDx speaker, she regularly captivates audiences in companies and at conferences around the globe, including The Economist Conferences, The Drucker Forum, WIN, The Silver Marketing Summit and The WoMen in Finance Summit.Her books, such as Why Women Mean Business and Seven Steps to Leading Gender-Balanced Businesses, tackle strategic leadership issues, while her graphic series for managers, including 5 Steps to Longevity Leadership and Thriving to 100, offer practical insights for navigating the future of work.
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox MBA'84

Author, Coach and CEO

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox MBA'84

Author, Coach and CEO