The Professor Business Schools Need: Rick Rubin

Not a PowerPoint Operator

Business schools are at a crossroads. The safe bet—a tenure-track professor armed with decades of theory and an unshakable love for PowerPoint—won't cut it anymore. Why? Because the agents and operators are coming. AI, online certifications, and entrepreneurial bootcamps are building better, faster, and cheaper versions of what the average business professor offers.

So, what’s the antidote? Rick Rubin.

Rubin, the music producer who shaped everything from the Beastie Boys to Johnny Cash, doesn’t play instruments or read sheet music. He’s not a technical wizard. What he does is distill chaos into brilliance. He listens, observes, asks sharp questions, and cuts through noise to find the purest, most essential version of an idea. Imagine a professor who brings that to the classroom—guiding students not with rigid syllabi but by nurturing their ability to think, adapt, and create.

The professor-as-Rubin archetype understands that students don’t need to be lectured on SWOT analyses anymore; they need to learn how to create, question, and lead in real time. The future of business education isn’t theory; it’s application, coaching, and unlocking potential.

Without a Rubin-like transformation, business schools will become irrelevant. Because AI and agents can regurgitate frameworks, but only a Rick Rubin can teach someone how to tune the instrument of their mind and lead an encore-worthy career.