Frerick Dean Marion DeBruyne: “Every business school needs to learn. Why can’t we learn together?” Photo courtesy
For Marion De Bruyne, there have been few quiet moments during this turbulent decade.
When she became dean of Vrelik Business School 10 years ago, digital learning was still an emerging topic. Since then, De Bruyne has guided the school in Brussels, Belgium, through the pandemic, the acceleration of online and hybrid formats, geopolitical instability in Europe, and now the AI revolution that is reshaping business and management education.
“There’s never a dull moment in the dean’s office,” she says. poet and poetry recently from her office on the B-school campus in Brussels. “The pace of change in our industry is accelerating.”
AI Literacy, AI Opportunities
But while some deans have become defensive about the future of business education, DeBruyn seems buoyant. The conversation inevitably turns to artificial intelligence. She admits it’s “what everyone is talking about.” However, at Frerich, this response is not a manual process. It’s an experiment.
Debruyne believes business schools have a clear responsibility to make their students AI literate. This is much more than teaching you how to prompt large language models.
“It means becoming a skilled user of AI in a responsible way,” she says. “It also means not taking what you get out of it at face value. Being able to judge and use it as an enhancement to your thinking, rather than replacing it.”
Academic integrity is part of that equation. So is strategic imagination.
For Vlerick’s Full-Time MBA, the school introduced an AI track that blends required and elective learning experiences. Recently, the group participated in an overnight AI hackathon and built a new AI-based venture in a matter of hours. “Students thought it was really cool,” De Bruyne said.
The goal is not just to learn the tools, but to recognize the opportunities. “What new possibilities will AI unlock? What kinds of businesses can it create?” she asks. She compares AI to electricity. While the infrastructure itself is transformational, the real disruption lies in the applications built on top of it.
At the same time, Vlerick is pushing for the introduction of AI into executive education. The school launched a program titled “Take the Lead in AI -” and De Bruyne signed up as a participant. “We eat dog food that we make ourselves,” she says. “I learned a lot. Everyone should keep doing it, no matter their age.”
Ultra Human, Ultra Digital
Marion De Bruyne said: “The role of a dean is not just about custodialism; it is about stability and continuity.”
If AI is one pillar of De Bruyne’s strategy, humanity is the other.
Although she doesn’t claim a crystal ball, she sees the future of management education as two movements: “hyper-human” and “hyper-digital.” The digital aspect is obvious. The human thing may be even more important.
critical thinking. Judgment in the midst of ambiguity. The ability to lead paradoxically.
“Leaders today face a very complex situation,” she says. “You don’t have to try to solve the paradox; you just have to accept it and guide it.”
In that context, business schools become more than just content providers. They are a refuge, a structured space for reflection on an unstable world. That belief aligns with De Bruyne’s own intellectual roots.
She trained as an engineer and moved into the field of marketing and strategy, building her academic career around disruptive innovation and new business models. During her doctoral studies, she spent time at the Wharton School and then joined the faculty at Emory University. Returning to Belgium to attend her alma mater was not an obvious choice.
“At the time, I told the dean that I wanted to focus solely on research and teaching,” she recalls. The administration showed no interest in her. “Famous Last Words”
The deanship was never a long-planned ambition. It appeared. This non-linear path later inspired her writings. make your own waychallenges the myth of linear career success. She argues that behind every “picture-perfect moment” lies a complexity that cannot be seen from the outside.
Brussels as a strategic location
If AI is reshaping the curriculum, geopolitics is reshaping the flow of students.
De Bruyne says interest in Europe is increasing, with anecdotal evidence that the number of applicants from North America is increasing. Brussels offers a unique value proposition. It is one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities, home to EU institutions and a dense network of multinational organizations. The Vrelik campus is home to students from over 60 nationalities.
Geography helps. Amsterdam, Paris and London are all within 90 minutes by train. The MBA students added a European strategic tour to their traditional global study trip, visiting Germany and the Netherlands to explore the region’s ecosystem. “Students see value in that,” she says.
The partnership amplifies its European experience. Master’s students can combine their time at Vlerik with other European schools to expand their studies beyond a single country.
For De Bruyne, collaboration is not a side project. It’s a strategy.
Located in Brussels, Belgium, Vlerick is part of the Future of Management Education network, a consortium of schools focused on learning innovation.
Alliance beyond empire
In times of geopolitical uncertainty, she questions whether large-scale international expansion is always the most resilient model. “Few schools have the size and resources to say, “We can do it all on our own,”” she says.
In return, Vrerik strengthened his alliance. It is part of the Future of Management Education network, a consortium of schools including ESMT Berlin and IE Business School, with a focus on learning innovation. Together they experiment with tools like virtual reality and share best practices.
“Every business school requires you to study,” De Bruyne said. “Why can’t we study together?”
That collaboration is strengthened by Vrelic’s strong executive education portfolio, which she believes creates a market-driven instinct within the organization. Teachers don’t resist change, she says. they aspire to it. She realized this during the transition to online learning. She looked at it again on the AI.
However, agility is not purely internal. Accreditation and regulatory processes may delay the launch of new programs. The tension between speed and surveillance is real. But De Bruyne says schools need to encourage as much flexibility as possible.
Recent launches reflect that urgency. The school has introduced a Master’s degree in Business Analytics and AI designed to bridge the gap between technology professionals and business leaders. We are also launching a new Executive MBA in partnership with IIM Ghaziabad with modules in Delhi, Dubai and Brussels.
At the same time, Vlerick restructured its unique Executive MBA architecture to allow students to customize their learning through strategies, entrepreneurship, and digital transformation tracks.
The underlying themes are stackability, micro-credentials, and lifelong learning, blurring the traditional lines between degree programs and executive education.
“The role of a dean is more than just custody; it’s about stability and continuity,” De Bruyne says.
Optimism as a moral obligation
Asked to look beyond 2026, De Bruyne resists apocalyptic narratives about AI and higher education.
She acknowledges the risks. But she refuses to be destroyed.
“I’m an optimist by nature,” she says. “And I think optimism is a moral obligation.”
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