Experiential Learning as Talent Differentiator

Neil Kane, Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Notre Dame

Neil Kane is an assistant teaching professor at the University of Notre Dame, where he works in the ESTEEM Graduate Program. A serial entrepreneur, he has founded multiple companies, led entrepreneurship programs, and focuses on experiential learning, technology commercialization, industry partnerships, and cross-functional skill development.

In this feature, Neil Kane explains how business education is evolving. He discusses how AI is reshaping hiring practices and changing skill expectations. He highlights the growing importance of experiential learning, industry partnerships, and cross-functional skills in preparing students for real-world careers and long-term professional relevance.

I have always identified as a serial entrepreneur. Over the course of my career, I have started multiple companies, many connected to universities, where the challenge was taking technologies out of research labs and turning them into viable businesses. That path is what ultimately led me into higher education, even though it was not my plan.

About ten years ago, Michigan State University hired me to lead undergraduate entrepreneurship as their first director. They were intentional about hiring a practicing entrepreneur, rather than a career academic. That decision marked the start of my fulltime role in higher education.

While I understood startups and ventures deeply, I had to climb a steep learning curve to learn how to execute entrepreneurial initiatives effectively within a large university system. Five years ago, I moved into a similar role at the University of Notre Dame, continuing to work at the intersection of academia, entrepreneurship, and business development.

Today, I work within the university’s ESTEEM Graduate Program, an intensive, accelerated eleven-month program focused on technology innovation and commercialization. Experiential learning is central to the program, with students spending about half their time applying what they learn to real-world, industry-facing projects.

Connecting Classroom Learning with Industry Practice

My responsibilities fall into three main areas.

First, I teach the entrepreneurship capstone course and our venture capital class.

Second, and more significantly, I advise students as they execute experiential projects with external partners. These capstone projects require hundreds of hours of original research, technology commercialization plans, and go-to-market strategy development.

Our corporate partners range from startups and small businesses to global companies like Whirlpool, Lockheed Martin and SpaceX. I spend much of my time mentoring students, managing these relationships, and ensuring the work delivers real value.

"What sets people apart are interpersonal effectiveness and relationship management."

My third role focuses on outreach and business development, engaging organizations interested in future collaborations with our students.

AI is reshaping the relationship between academia and industry, changing how companies approach talent, skills, and hiring. We are moving quickly to align our curriculum with industry expectations and keep students competitive.

At the same time, global economic uncertainty has made companies more cautious. Macro factors, political shifts, and trade policy are leading organizations to be more deliberate about investments and partnerships, a caution reflected in how they engage with universities.

Why Human Skills Matter More in the AI Era

When people talk about emerging trends in education, the answer almost always comes back to AI. Its impact, however, operates on two levels. Students must be able to use the latest tools and leverage them effectively. At the same time, AI is democratizing skills. Tasks that entry-level employees were hired to do just a few years ago can now be handled by AI systems.

As a result, companies are placing renewed emphasis on what we often call soft skills, core skills or cross-functional skills. These include written and verbal communication, project management, leadership, teamwork, persuasion, negotiation, and selling. In my estimation, these capabilities may have taken a backseat to technical skills in the past, but the pendulum is now swinging back. Humans still outperform AI when it comes to interacting with other people.

My industry experience has significantly shaped my approach towards teaching and student development. A large portion of my coaching today focuses on these horizontal skills. For example, as part of their capstone projects, our students are required to conduct extensive stakeholder interviews, a process rooted in the lean startup approach. They must identify and interview at least fifty people, which involves cold calling, writing compelling emails, leveraging alumni networks, and reaching out through LinkedIn. These are not skills typically taught in engineering or computer science programs, but they make an enormous difference in career outcomes.

In real-world business environments, communication skills are consistently underestimated. Knowing how to persuade, manage projects, negotiate and guide conversations in a professional way are critical capabilities. These are the skills that will define successful careers going forward.

My entrepreneurial background shapes my perspective. Managing expectations with boards, keeping teams aligned through uncertainty, raising money, and sustaining momentum during difficult periods are the real differentiators of leadership. Over the past ten years, I have seen a clear shift away from an exclusive focus on textbook knowledge toward experiences that require collaboration and human interaction.

The Shift from Technical Ability to Human Advantage

As AI adoption accelerates, it will continue to lower the technical barriers to entry across many roles. Financial modeling, once requiring extensive training, can now be supported by AI tools. While students must still understand the fundamentals, those basics no longer differentiate someone. What sets people apart are interpersonal effectiveness and relationship management.

For students and early-career professionals building careers at the intersection of academia and business, my advice is simple: Take every opportunity to work with others by presenting your ideas, pitching often, participating in competitions and networking confidently. These experiences compound over time and matter more than many realize.

This shift is not theoretical; it is already happening. The future of business education lies in experiential learning, AI-enabled productivity, and a renewed focus on human skills that technology cannot replace.

AI

Startups

Financial

Project Management