As part of the EFMD’s Executive Academy for Teaching & Learning Professionals, held this year at Nanyang Technological University, Sasin’s Deputy Director, Professor Ian Fenwick, was invited to present, and facilitate discussion, on Changing Needs in the Higher Education Market. Ian invited James Tan, Managing Partner of Quest Ventures, a leading venture fund for technology startups, to co-present. Professor Fenwick discussed the changes that digital media have brought to users’ perception of time and their expectations of mobility, and the disruptive threats that these contain for the education industry. Not only has digital increased demand for ‘what I want; where I want; now,’ it’s also opened up very different sources of competition. Duo Lingo, for example, provides free language education via mobile device, funded by selling the results of students’ translation exercises. Education could learn from the trajectory of music: developing from static pre-selected assortments, to user-made playlists, to streaming AI-driven dynamic selections. So, we can expect education to evolve from today’s pre-selected course assortments, to the user-assembled course selections already offered by some schools (often called stackable), to a future ‘on-demand, just-in-time’ education, with specific skills provided as and where needed. James Tan suggested that the education market should ‘follow the money’. He pointed to the increasing importance of start-ups as drivers of students’ expectations of their education. When start-up founders were asked how university had prepared them for their work, the answer was typically ‘not at all’. James urged educators to keep the flat hierarchy and cross-functional skilling of start-ups to the fore of their thinking in designing programs and to allow maximum flexibility of study over students’ lifetime. This session was part of the EFMD Executive Academy, using a blended learning approach including preparatory self-study (with a 360° feedback exercise administered with the support of the Center for Creative Leadership), followed by five intensive days of face-to-face presentations and discussions. Participants included Deans and Directors from leading schools in Australia, China, Europe, India and Southeast Asia.