IEA AACSB Keynote
Welcome to the IEA AACSB Keynote Landing Page
A Note from Jeff DeGraff
The ideas in my AACSB keynote came from 36 years of working on innovation in environments where the future often arrived early—across business, government, research labs, military units, and civic organizations. Those experiences shaped how I think about learning, curriculum, and adaptive capability in the emerging Age of Intelligence.
This page simply offers a quiet continuation of those ideas. Nothing here assumes a next step. It is only a place to explore themes that may resonate with the direction your school is heading.
The Age Of Answers is Over
Click to watch the full video (AI generated)
About the Intellectual Edge Alliance (IEA)
The Intellectual Edge Alliance began as a practical response to a simple reality: important problems now cross boundaries that institutions were never designed to cross.
It is a not-for-profit federation that connects academic, industry, government, and military communities—groups that often work on the same issues from very different vantage points. Its purpose is to help people and institutions build the creative cultures, competencies, and communities needed for innovation at scale.
Over time, the IEA has used a see-one, do-one, teach-one approach shaped by AIM HI collaborations to support adaptive, paradox-based learning—particularly relevant to the cognitive demands of the AI era.
The work varies widely. Institutions explore ideas and practices in ways that fit their mission, context, and interests. Nothing is predefined.
Themes You May Wish to Explore
If any of these ideas from the keynote or your own context feel relevant, you’re welcome to note them here.
This is not a request for information—just a space for reflection.
Examples of themes:
- Adaptive thinking in the Age of Intelligence
- Ambiguity and paradox as learning conditions
- Small experiments that build new mindsets
- Cross-disciplinary or cross-sector learning environments
- Integrating AI as a collaborator in the learning process
- Redesigning curriculum around sensemaking
- Building cultures that support creative capability
(These examples do not imply expectations—only prompts.)
How Institutions Have Explored These Ideas
The IEA’s work over the years has taken many forms, always shaped by what each institution was curious about.
- Cross-Sector Learning: How universities, industry partners, public agencies, and military innovation groups approach real-world challenges from different angles.
- Faculty & Leadership Conversations: Discussions about adaptive thinking, paradox, creative culture, curriculum renewal, and learning in the AI era.
- Applied Learning Pathways: Engagements where students and faculty have worked in multi-disciplinary or multi-sector settings to understand complex challenges more deeply.
- Evolving Opportunities: Some institutions have discovered new collaborations, research questions, or educational pathways. These emerged naturally—never from a predefined program.
Resources Connected to the Keynote
These materials offer a deeper look at the ideas behind the keynote and how they relate to business education in the current moment.
Key Readings
- Why the real revolution isn’t AI — it’s meaning – Big Think
- Want Deeper Thinking? Let Students Wrestle with Paradox First — Inspiring Minds
- The New Essential Leadership Trait — Psychology Today
- What All Leaders Can Learn from Jazz-Inspired Military Trailblazers — Big Think
- This Michigan Professor Wants To Blow Up The MBA As We Know It — Poets & Quants
- How 1 Email From the Military Started a Global Innovation Network — Inc.
Books
Short Video
A brief reflection on why the Intellectual Edge Alliance was created and how it connects work across sectors.
If You’d Like to Continue Exploring
If you’re curious about any of the ideas from the keynote or the materials above, you’re welcome to reach out. Email Sarah, Jeff’s executive assistant. She’ll make sure it gets to Jeff.
Invitation to Participate in IEA Adaptability Research.
No obligations.
No expectations.
Only a conversation, if helpful.
— Jeff