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The 2026 IACBE Asian Regional Conference and GCUT 3rd Academia-Industry Collaborative Education Forum (hereinafter referred to as “the conference”) were held in the Meeting Room 703 of the Administration Building of Guangzhou City University of Technology (GCUT) on the afternoon of October 29. Themed onReimagining the Future of Business Education in the AI Era, the conference was hosted by GCUT, organized by GCUT’s International Business School and Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, and co-held by GCUT’ School of Management, School of Economics, and School of Foreign Languages, which was held both online and offline, gathering scholars from Chinese mainland, Taiwan Province of China, the United States, Portugal, Philippines, Indonesia, India, and Lebanon. They discussed over the deep integration between AI and business education.

The opening ceremony was hosted by Vice President of GCUT, Liu Jianbo. Professor Su Cheng, President of GCUT, President Leopoldo N.Valdes of Holy Angel University, and Chairman of IACBE, Dr. Emmett Tracy delivered their speeches respectively.

Looking back to GCUT’s cooperation with IACBE, President Su Cheng pointed out that 9 business majors of GCUT have been accredited by IACBE while GCUT has played an active part in the Assembly of the IACBE Asian Region since it is the first university that passed IACBE’s accreditation in China. He put forward that the theme of the conference stayed consistent with the tides of the times as GCUT endeavors to create a learning atmosphere with AI through approaches such as establishing 10 industrial colleges including the Industrial College of International Digital Business and Innovation and implementing GCUT’s “AI+” Student Fostering Plan. He emphasized that the goal of education, fostering students with contemplation and responsibility, would not change even when technologies keep changing in the era of AI.

Mr. Leopoldo N.Valdes, Dr. Emmett Tracy, Professor Su Cheng from left to right

Mr. Leopoldo N.Valdes extended congratulations to the holding of the conference. He proposed that AI is inevitable for global enterprises sooner or later, therefore, it requires not only protection and restrictions, but the attention to AI ethics and intentions of its users. Furthermore, universities that provide business studies should adopt AI with purpose based on facts and research instead of blindly following others. He reviewed the cooperation between the two universities at IACBE’s Asian Regional Conference 2023, hoping that participants could re-picture the future of business education in the era of AI together.

Centering around “value, quality and achievements”, Dr. Emmett Tracy pointed out higher education must put abundant resources to enhance value and quality regarding strategies and operations within the context of rapid technological upgrading, pressure of supply chains, and fierce global competitions. He analyzed the emerging trend of internal and external quality guaranteeing institutions especially the IACBE community, and explored how colleges and universities could improve the interaction of accreditation, efficiency, and allocation of strategic resources.

The awarding ceremony of outstanding paper and outstanding workshop was also held at the opening ceremony. The conference collected 81 papers, among which 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, 3 third prizes, and several outstanding prizes. The paper of Professor Lin Teng and Dr. Huang Minping won the first prize. As for the workshop that concentrates on students’ growth and teaching practice, five “Prize of Outstanding Workshop” was awarded. These achievements mirror the exploration of academic research and teaching practice, laying the foundation of the conference.

Awarding of first and second prizes of outstanding papers

Four thematic speeches were delivered after the opening ceremony, including “Accounting students’ perceptions of the impact of artificial intelligence on their educational and professional development” by Professor Lin Teng, “The Silent Economy: AI as the Invisible Infrastructure of the Intelligent Economy” by Professor João Guerreiro, “Beyond Knowledge: The Human Premium in an Age of Artificial Intelligence” by Dr. Martina Peng, and “Reimagining Business Education in the AI Era” by Professor Lin Jingyi.

Four guests delivered thematic speeches respectively

Faculties and students took an active part in the discussion part after every thematic speech, exploring topics such as influential factors of AI training demand, fostering and assessing students’ independent thinking, and fairness and governance of AI usage.

The conference set 7 parallel sessions on the afternoon of October 29, which concentrate on AI learning experience and ethics, AI agent and digital literacy, AI boosting intercultural business communications, and integration between industry and education and fostering of application-oriented talents. Additionally, the workshop that mainly provides opportunities for students was held on October 30.

The conference provides a stage for high quality international exchange on business education in Asia, fully showing participants’ solid professional foundation and international vision, which is of great significance of promoting reform and innovation of business education in the era of AI.