What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Executive Education Finance at the University of Zurich?

Practice-oriented academic continuing education.

The number of Executive Education Finance students is rising steadily. What is the reason for this success?

I think it's because education in the financial sector is a permanently important topic. I also believe that we have a good feel for trending topics such as sustainable finance and fintech. What's more, our team looks after the participants so well that they keep bringing talented and interested people to us through word of mouth.

What have been the most significant changes for you in executive education finance over the last 15 years?

One of the big changes and the starting point for everything else took place in 2010. In that year, we merged smaller courses and offered the MAS in Finance for the first time. This was a significant step that took us from a single course to a comprehensive and valuable degree. The second significant change is the use of the blended learning approach (combining online learning materials and interaction with face-to-face teaching), which we have now been using successfully for a long time. A third milestone is the establishment of the CAS in Sustainable Finance in 2015/16. At the beginning, the number of participants was still low, which is typical for trend topics. If you start too early, the topic initially remains a niche until suddenly everyone is interested.

What were the biggest challenges that Executive Education Finance had to overcome during this time?

A major internal challenge when we were founded was that we had to justify why we were training people in financial topics. However, our focus has always been on teaching people how to handle money responsibly and not on how to speculate and make as much money as possible.

The growth of the team was also an organizational challenge for me. At the beginning, my team only consisted of myself and a semester assistant and I worked full-time as the head of the degree program. Over time, the team grew and I was able to hand over some of the responsibility. And finally, it is also a challenge to always fill the courses and degree programs with enough participants. We are therefore all the more proud that our courses are in high demand.

How has the Executive Education Finance program changed over the years?

At the beginning, we offered exactly 60 credits for the MAS, with no options for students. Today, we offer a comprehensive program. We have also developed significantly in terms of content. For example, sustainable finance has become an important topic, as has fintech, which hardly anyone was talking about 15 years ago. And the new CAS in Stakeholder Management & Stewardship also deals with a topic that used to be a niche. We are also trying to develop further on the didactic side and offer many different settings, such as face-to-face teaching or blended learning. A new addition is game-based learning, another trend in teaching. We would like to expand this area.

What successes or developments at Executive Education Finance make you particularly proud?

In addition to the development of the MAS, maintaining our flexible and modular system is an achievement that I am very proud of. This offer is very practical for our participants, but on the administrative side it is incredibly complex. The fact that we can continue to offer this is fantastic. I also think it's great to be part of a creative and diverse team that wants to try out new ideas and approaches, whether in terms of content or didactics. I think that's what sets us apart.

What role does Executive Education Finance play in the current educational landscape?

Our offers are an excellent opportunity for people who want to acquire in-depth knowledge in the areas of banking, finance and sustainable finance in an innovative way. It is exciting that we have participants from a wide range of industries and with very different educational backgrounds, which means that our courses usually bring together a heterogeneous but interested group. Our modular structure also offers participants an exceptional degree of flexibility that is rarely found. The small proportion of face-to-face teaching, if desired, also contributes significantly to this. In combination with our high-quality training, this results in an unmistakable unique selling point.

What new teaching methods or technologies have you implemented in your teaching over the last 15 years and why?

On the one hand, the blended learning concept plays a central role for us. We have also been able to continuously increase interaction in the classroom so that participants can benefit more from the content. In some courses, the theory is provided in advance as an eLearning video so that face-to-face teaching can be used for areas where the lecturers offer real added value. In this day and age, with chatbots and AI tools, pure knowledge transfer has become less important; it is more about application and discussion. An additional important aspect is game-based learning, which allows participants to experiment in a safe space and learn from mistakes.

What motivated you personally to get involved in further education?

My main motivation is to train the participants well so that they can make responsible decisions - be it with money or in other areas. I also really appreciate the personal exchange. The discussions give me exciting insights into the financial industry and I'm constantly learning new things myself. You also enjoy certain freedoms in the area of continuing education compared to undergraduate teaching. For example, it is much easier to introduce didactic innovations.

How do you see the future of Executive Education Finance in the next five to ten years?

The key question is how to integrate AI without losing other important aspects of social learning such as face-to-face teaching, group discussions or case studies. How we deal with this issue will determine the success of continuing education, as teaching will change. Lecturers will continue to present content, but access to knowledge will shift from books and professors to AI. Participants will ask the AI for answers and then discuss them with the professors. I also think that flexibility in continuing education will increase significantly. Instead of fixed programs, there will possibly be contact persons who show where you can acquire which knowledge. At the moment, continuing education is often linear, whereas in the future it will be more about expressing specific needs and being recommended suitable online courses or face-to-face events to solve problems from everyday working life. Lecturers will increasingly become coaches who promote the transfer of knowledge.

Do you already integrate AI into your teaching?

Yes, before each lecture I consult the AI to find out what content it would suggest and how it defines certain topics. I am also considering integrating the Python programming language into a lecture using AI and in the blended learning courses, a chatbot supports the participants' learning process.

What would you like to see for the future of Executive Education Finance?

I hope that our courses will continue to be so popular and that many participants will find their way to our courses and degree programs in the future. I would also like to see a meaningful AI strategy at university level. At the moment, a lot is based on chance and individual initiative, but I would appreciate more exchange within the university. Many smart people are working on the topic, but most areas work independently of each other. It would be desirable if the university promoted the exchange of ideas more. AI will affect all areas, from medical training to the EMBA. The students of tomorrow will grow up with AI and will take it for granted to interact with it. I would therefore like to see a smart approach to pooling existing strengths.

What are you looking forward to in connection with the anniversary?

I think it's particularly nice that the celebration offers the chance to meet many former participants and find out what the training program made possible for them. It will also be exciting to see the development from the first participants to today's graduates and what topics have moved them and are currently on their minds.

Thank you very much, Dr. Benjamin Wilding!

(Click here to go to the website of Executive Education Finance and its wide range of courses.)

Text: Linda Betschart