What AI-Native Cases Could Mean for Business Education

These days, it’s hard to imagine a classroom where artificial intelligence isn’t present in one way or another. AI quickly entered business education, often as an “add-on” to existing learning materials in the form of chat interfaces, AI avatars representing case protagonists, or tools that summarize complex information.

And while these developments may improve accessibility or engagement, they also raise a question: what happens when cases are designed with AI in mind from the start?

Some educators argue that the difference is not simply in the technology used, but in the actual design and structure of these new cases. In a Substack post, Kyle Maclean, Associate Professor of Management Science at Ivey Business School, compares many of the current approaches to incorporating AI into cases to the earliest days of cinema.

He notes that filmmakers back then often treated film as a way to record theatrical performances. But true cinema emerged only when filmmakers realized that the camera was not just a recording tool, but a new medium with its own language. Techniques such as the close-up, more complex editing, and montages allowed filmmakers to differentiate film from theatre.

“The close-up, the cut, the montage are native to cinema,” Maclean writes, “they are things you literally cannot do on stage.” With this comparison, he suggests that business education, and specifically the case method, now faces a similar challenge: identifying the native grammar of AI-based learning.

Maclean expands on this comparison and its implications for case-based learning in his full article.

From traditional cases to dynamic environments with AI

For decades, cases have been among the most powerful learning tools in management education. At their core is the Socratic method: “the disciplined art of asking the right question.” That principle, according to Euvin Naidoo, Distinguished Professor of Practice for Global Accounting, Risk and Agility at Thunderbird School of Global Management and Director of the Thunderbird Case Series, should never change, even as AI rewrites how cases are developed.

“If we are serious about developing AI-native cases, the starting point cannot be the technology, it has to begin with the right question,” he says. “Every AI-native case must start with a sharp, consequential question that places students in the role of decision-maker.”

From there, the learning experience begins to evolve. With a traditional case, students debate what should happen next and what’s the best decision. In an AI-native case, their decisions can influence how the scenario progresses. “The path forward becomes dynamic rather than hypothetical,” he explains.

Naidoo also describes this evolution as a move from static storytelling to what he calls “living systems.” In these environments, new information can come up during the classroom discussion, stakeholders could respond to student decisions, and conditions could change just like it happens during real leadership situations. “Students are no longer only debating what should happen next,” he says. “They can experience how their choices might actually influence what happens next.”

At the same time, Naidoo emphasizes that AI does not replace the traditional case method. Instead, it builds on it. “AI enriches context and introduces dynamism,” he says, “but judgment is still forged through conversation, debate, and reflection.” To him, the instructor will always be central to guiding that process.

“The difference is not in adding tools, but in designing the learning environment differently from the outset,” he concludes. “The future of case development begins where it always has, with the right question. AI simply gives us a richer environment in which to explore it.”

 Designing the pedagogy differently

Another important aspect in the evolution of the case method with AI is how it is integrated into the learning experience. When AI is simply added to an existing case, it “sits at the edges,” says Antoine Duvauchelle, Lecturer at INSEAD and co-founder of the LiveCase platform. “Students are getting direct answers without truly engaging with the material.”

Designing cases with AI in mind allows educators to rethink the structure of the learning experience itself. In the LiveCase platform, for example, AI helps run the scenario rather than simply commenting on it. The system can represent different stakeholders, respond to student decisions, and maintain coherence in the narrative while still allowing meaningful variation from one learner to another.

This approach also creates new opportunities for instructors. AI-native cases can capture information about how students move through the exercise, including decision paths, response patterns, and the time spent evaluating different options. “You can see completion, decision splits, timing, and learner responses,” Duvauchelle explains. “Then you can use that to guide discussion in a much more targeted way.”

In this sense, he agrees with Naidoo that AI does not diminish the instructor’s role. Instead, it changes their focus to helping students interpret their decisions, identify patterns in their thinking, and reflect on the consequences of their choices.

A new type of case in the works

Maclean points to a new grammar, Naidoo to a new case architecture, and Duvauchelle to a different way of designing the learning experience. They are all describing the same shift: the emergence of AI-native cases.

For now, much of the work in this space is exploratory. Educators are experimenting with different formats and trying to understand which AI-enabled experiences best support learning. The potential, however, is significant. AI-native cases could allow students to explore complex situations more dynamically, observe the ripple effects of decisions, and develop judgment through repeated exposure to evolving challenges.

In the meantime, explore a collection of artificial intelligence cases in business, including work by Maclean, Naidoo, and Duvauchelle, as well as the broader LiveCase collection, using our AI search assistant.

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