In this wide-ranging interview with MBAUniverse.com, Dr Goyal outlines how LMTSM is leveraging its technological legacy to design AI-ready programs, expand its academic portfolio with launch of new programs, strengthen industry and alumni engagement, and sharpen its institutional identity. He also reflects on AI’s impact on management education, placement trends, and the school’s roadmap for 2026. Edited excerpts from the interview follows.
Q: You led IIM Shillong for over six years and helped elevate it into a leading B-school. What was your key mantras?
A: Our core mantra at IIM Shillong was “build depth before scale, and credibility before visibility.” The focus was never on chasing rankings or recognitions in isolation, but on strengthening the institutional fundamentals that ultimately lead to sustained excellence.
Q: Can you please elaborate and share specific approaches and strategies?
A: There were three strategic pillars that guided our journey at IIM Shillong.
First, academic and research credibility. We consciously invested in faculty capacity building, encouraged high-quality research with global relevance, and aligned incentives with scholarly impact rather than mere output. This helped IIM Shillong gain recognition for its research and thought leadership, which in turn strengthened its standing among peer institutions.
Second, student-centric rigor with values. We redesigned curricula to be more experiential, interdisciplinary, and socially grounded, while maintaining high academic rigor. The emphasis was on producing responsible leaders who are analytically strong, ethically grounded, and socially conscious. This identity gradually became associated with IIM Shillong.
Third, institution-building through systems and culture. Strong governance structures, transparent decision-making, stakeholder trust, and a shared institutional vision were critical. When faculty, staff, students, and alumni align behind a common purpose, outcomes follow naturally.
These principles of academic excellence, values-driven leadership, and institution-first thinking continue to shape my approach at LM Thapar School of Management as well.
Q: At LMTSoM, what are your initial priorities and initiatives?
A: One of the first things we have consciously emphasized at LM Thapar School of Management is articulating and amplifying our institutional story in a more integrated and confident manner. LMTSM is backed by the 70-year legacy of Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, one of India’s most respected academic ecosystems, and the school itself has been carefully nurtured and steadily strengthened over the last 18 years. Our initial effort has been to ensure that this depth, credibility, and continuity are clearly visible and well understood by all stakeholders, particularly students, recruiters, alumni, academic peers, and ranking and accreditation bodies.
Q: What are some key initiatives undertaken recently…
A: From an initiative’s perspective, our focus over the past few months has been on four interlinked areas.
First, brand visibility and positioning. We are moving to a more visible and clearly articulated management school, anchored in academic rigor, responsible leadership, and technology-enabled management education. This involves sharper and more consistent communication of our achievements in accreditation, rankings, research impact, program innovation, and student outcomes. However, we are not interested in superficial branding.
Second, program strengthening and new program development. Along with reinforcing the quality and relevance of our flagship MBA and doctoral programs, we are placing strong emphasis on new initiatives such as the Integrated Programme in Management (IPM). The IPM reflects our long-term vision of nurturing managerial talent early, with strong foundations in liberal education, analytics, technology, and values, while fully leveraging the multidisciplinary ecosystem of TIET.
Third, greater alumni and corporate leadership involvement. We have begun actively engaging alumni and senior industry leaders as strategic partners in curriculum enrichment, mentoring, guest sessions, live projects, and placement readiness. Alumni are increasingly being seen not merely as brand ambassadors, but as co-creators of the school’s future. Corporate leaders help ensure that classroom learning remains closely aligned with evolving industry realities.
Fourth, stronger faculty ownership and collective leadership. Faculty engagement is my central priority. Whether in research direction-setting, pedagogy innovation, accreditation processes, or external engagement. The emphasis is on building a culture where faculty members see themselves as institution-builders, not just course instructors.
Q: What are some early outcomes that you are seeing from these initiatives?
A: In terms of early outcomes, we are already witnessing wider brand recognition among recruiters and peer institutions, stronger corporate responsiveness, improved student confidence, deeper faculty involvement, and a sharper academic focus. More importantly, there is a palpable sense of shared purpose and momentum within the School, which is the most encouraging sign at this stage.
Our effort now is to convert this renewed clarity, energy, and engagement into sustained academic excellence and long-term institutional distinction.
Q: As part of Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, founded in 1956, how does LMTSM leverage this strong technology legacy in an increasingly tech-driven business world?
A: LMTSM’s location within the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology (TIET) ecosystem is a decisive strategic advantage, particularly at a time when business leadership is being fundamentally reshaped by technology, data, and artificial intelligence. TIET’s long-standing legacy in engineering and applied sciences has created a culture where technology is not viewed as a support function, but as a core driver of problem-solving, innovation, and value creation. This philosophy strongly influences our approach to management education.
This legacy allows us to move beyond treating technology as an add-on to management curricula. Instead, we pursue a deep and natural integration of management, analytics, and emerging technologies. A clear reflection of this is our partnership with NVIDIA and the deliberate integration of AI skilling within our MBA programme. Our objective is not merely to introduce AI tools, but to develop managers who can understand, evaluate, and strategically deploy AI in business contexts.
Being part of a mature engineering ecosystem gives our students access to advanced infrastructure, technical expertise, and an interdisciplinary environment where management students regularly engage with engineers, data scientists, and technologists. This enables us to design AI-integrated courses that emphasize managerial judgment, ethical considerations, and business impact, rather than narrow technical training.
Q: How does this legacy specifically help LMTSM deliver a contemporary MBA program?
A: For MBA education, our legacy translates into three clear advantages.
First, technology- and AI-enabled management education, where students develop fluency in analytics, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence alongside core management disciplines. Second, interdisciplinary learning and innovation, supported by collaboration across management, technology, and entrepreneurship, which are essential for solving complex, real-world business problems. Third, strong industry relevance, as organizations increasingly seek leaders who can bridge strategic thinking with an informed understanding of technology and AI-driven decision-making.
I believed TIET’s legacy enables LMTSM to prepare AI-aware, technologically confident, and strategically grounded managers.
Q: B-schools are facing increasing pressure to remain relevant and aligned with evolving industry needs. How do you view this challenge?
A: Yes, there is a structural shift in the role of business schools. Industry expectations today go well beyond functional knowledge; organizations are looking for graduates who are willing to learn, adapt and apply skills in the rapidly changing technology-led VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) business environment.
The real challenge for B-schools is becoming irrelevant due to the outdated ways of teaching and industry engagement for the next generation leaders. Management education must therefore move beyond a transactional model. Industry engagement must be more inclusive than just placements. It should be kind of value co-creation model, in which industry actively shapes curriculum, pedagogy, and student development (preparedness) for the VUCA world.
However, relevance should not come at the cost of academic depth or long-term thinking. The role of a business school is to prepare students not just for the first job (entry point), but for the sustainable career and industry relevance. That requires the focus on shaping the mindset besides providing the industry-ready skills. Balancing entry-point readiness with long-term staying ability is where the real challenge, or the opportunity, lies.
Q: What specific initiatives has LMTSM taken to strengthen industry relevance and alignment?
A: At LMTSM, industry relevance is approached as a system-level commitment, anchored directly in the core design of the MBA curriculum, rather than being treated as an add-on.
A key pillar of this approach is the Management in Practice course, a core component of the MBA programme. Through this course, industry practitioners from across business domains and MBA specializations interact closely with students. The objective is to expose students to diverse managerial roles, real decision contexts, and career pathways, helping them understand how management concepts translate into practice across industries and functions.
Complementing this is the Sustainability in Practice course, which introduces students to the human, social, and environmental dimensions of business decision-making. Through community engagement, field-based projects, and real-world problem contexts, students are encouraged to look beyond purely economic outcomes and appreciate the broader societal impact of managerial choices. This helps develop empathy, ethical judgment, and a long-term perspective.
Beyond these core courses, we have strengthened structured industry engagement through deeper involvement of corporate leaders and alumni in mentoring, guest sessions, live projects, and the evaluation of student work, ensuring continuous alignment with evolving industry expectations.
We have also invested in future-oriented skill integration, particularly in areas such as analytics, digital transformation, and AI-enabled decision-making, supported by partnerships like our collaboration with NVIDIA and by leveraging the broader TIET ecosystem.
Finally, our career development and placement processes are closely integrated with industry needs, combining employability training, continuous recruiter feedback, and long-term relationship building rather than transactional hiring.
Q: How do you assess its impact of Artificial Intelligence on management education and MBA programs?
A: Artificial Intelligence (AI) signifies a fundamental shift in how businesses operate today. It is not perceived simply as another technology trend. For management education, this implies the shift in focus from teaching digital tools to developing AI-aware managers, who can combine human judgment with the analytical insights.
AI in MBA education implies reshaping the skills of future leaders in the context of decision-making, problem-solving, and leadership itself. Besides automation, focus is shifting towards asking the right questions, interpreting AI outputs, managing ethical risks, and leading people in AI-enabled organizations. As a result, management education must emphasize conceptual clarity, contextual thinking, and responsible use of AI, rather than narrow technical proficiency.
LMTSM looks at AI as an opportunity to redefine the managerial capability without losing focus on the fundamental management principles. The objective is to prepare graduates who are comfortable working with AI, skeptical enough to challenge it when needed, and responsible in how they deploy it in organizational settings.
Q: In which areas is AI most relevant for B-schools today?
A: The real value of AI lies in the curriculum and pedagogy of MBA education because that is where the true potential lies in training the future managers as AI-skilled workforce. However, AI is most effective when integrated across disciplines—marketing, finance, operations, HR, and analytics—rather than taught in isolation.
Q: What could be potential risks of AI adoption that should B-schools should keep in mind?
A: A key risk is over-dependence on AI at the cost of human judgement. If AI-generated outputs are treated as final answers rather than decision pointers or inputs, it can weaken critical thinking and managerial judgment skills, which are key to effective decision-making.
Another concern relates to blurring of the ethical boundaries, which results in ethical and governance issues, including data bias, transparency issues, and misuse of AI in assessment or fair decision-making.
Q: CAT 2025 registrations declined significantly. How do you interpret this trend?
A: The decline of around 10% in CAT 2025 registrations does not necessarily reflect that MBA education is losing its appeal. Today’s student represents a more discerning aspirant base, who make choices based upon clarity of career goals, ROI considerations, and specific value proposition programmes. There are many possible reasons behind this trend. One, it is a natural market correction after we saw the unusually high registrations in 2023 & 2024 due to post-pandemic dynamics. Secondly, some aspirants, especially early professionals are opting for work experience considering the strong job market and competitive salaries, before opting for full-time MBA programme. Third, candidates have wider set of options today including specialized master’s programme, certifications, and global MBA.
Q: What is the ideal candidate profile that LMTSM seeks to attract in its MBA Admissions 2026 process?
A: At LM Thapar School of Management (LMTSM), we look beyond academic scores to identify candidates who demonstrate intellectual curiosity and leadership potential. Beyond academic ability, we value clarity of purpose, problem-solving skills, adaptability, and a willingness to learn and grow in a collaborative environment.
We encourage applications from diverse academic and professional backgrounds, as peer learning is a key strength of our MBA program. Candidates who align with the Thapar legacy of integrity, innovation, and social responsibility are a strong fit for LMTSM.
Q: What changes have you made to the admissions process to attract the right candidates and assess the required competencies more effectively?
A: For MBA Admissions 2026, LM Thapar School of Management has adopted a more holistic and competency-driven admissions process. While scores from national-level aptitude tests such as CAT, XAT, GMAT, CMAT, and TMAT remain an important eligibility criterion, greater emphasis is placed on overall profile evaluation, including academic consistency, work experience, leadership exposure, and extracurricular achievements.
The personal interview process has been further strengthened to assess communication skills, critical thinking, attitude, and career readiness. In addition, enhanced pre-admission counselling and interactive engagement sessions ensure better alignment between candidate aspirations and the School’s academic rigor and industry-focused approach.
Q: What key placement trends did you observe at LMTSM?
A: Despite a slowdown in the job market across certain sectors, we were able to secure dynamic and challenging roles through several first-time recruiters, including Axtria, Daimler, HT Media Group, Hitachi, SBI Life, and Hexaware Technologies, among others. The placement process for students graduating in 2026 commenced slightly later than usual. We are engaged with several prominent organizations, including Deloitte, PwC, Reliance BP Mobility, Samsung C&T Corporation, and the Vardhman Group, among others. To date, placement opportunities have been identified for all interested students. Placement drives are being conducted regularly, and new opportunities are shared with students on an ongoing basis. We are confident that by the completion of the MBA program, the majority of interested students will be placed across diverse industry sectors.
Q: You are organizing LMTSM ICON 2026 in February, 2026. What are the objectives and expectations?
A: LMTSM ICON 2026 marks an important milestone in the School’s academic journey. As our first international conference, it reflects LMTSM’s intent to create a credible global platform for dialogue at the intersection of management research, innovation, and corporate leadership. The conference is being organized in partnership with Laurentian University, Canada. The primary objective of the conference is to bring together scholars, industry practitioners, and policymakers to examine emerging paradigms in business, technology, and sustainability. ICON 2026 is structured around six thematic pillars spanning the future of business education and innovation, Industry 5.0 and the future of work and other related themes. In addition, the conference will feature plenary sessions focused on critical contemporary themes.
We are hopeful that ICON 2026 will stimulate high-quality scholarly discourse, foster meaningful academic–industry collaboration, and strengthen LMTSM’s visibility in the global management research community.
Q: What are other important initiatives planned for 2026 at LMTSM?
A: The year 2026 is planned as a phase of measured expansion and portfolio diversification for LM Thapar School of Management, with a clear focus on strengthening LMTSM’s brand visibility, strengthening relevance, and deepening impact.
A key initiative is the launch of the Integrated Programme in Management (IPM), aimed at nurturing managerial talent early through a strong foundation in liberal education, technology, analytics, and management thinking within the TIET ecosystem.
We are also planning an Online Executive MBA for working professionals, designed around strategic leadership, digital transformation, and application-oriented learning without career disruption.
In parallel, LMTSM will expand its Professional Skill-building Programmes and Management Development Programmes (MDPs) in areas such as AI-enabled decision-making, analytics, sustainability, and leadership.
Together, these initiatives reflect LMTSM’s intent to build a future-oriented management education ecosystem that serves students, professionals, and organizations across different stages of their learning and career journeys.
Also Read: LM Thapar School of Management Overview, LM Thapar Management Admission 2026 and LM Thapar Placements Report.
At a time when management education is being reshaped by technology, artificial intelligence, and shifting industry expectations, LM Thapar School of Management (LMTSM) is rethinking its strategy with a clear focus on relevance, rigor, and long-term institutional value. Leading this transformation is Dr D P Goyal, Director & Dean of LMTSM, who brings over three decades of experience in institution-building, academic leadership, and management education.
Before joining LMTSM, Dr Goyal served as Director of IIM Shillong for more than six years, where he played a pivotal role. His leadership experiences at IIM Shillong, MDI Gurgaon and other institutions continues to shape LMTSM, which is part of the prestigious Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, a technology-focused university established in 1956.