“This collaboration with LinkedIn allows our students to engage directly with the real challenges and opportunities shaping the global economy,”  said Marchick.

About the 2026 Case Competition: Real Data, Real Challenges

The 2026 Case Competition will immerse participants in two LinkedIn-designed case studies inspired by real-world scenarios.

Undergraduate Division: Reinventing the Org Chart

Undergraduate participants will envision how companies might reorganize work around skills, outcomes, and projects—integrating both human and AI “agents” while addressing questions around culture, governance, and accountability.

Students will consider the same questions and challenges today’s leading CEOs and CHROs face: how to make skills more visible, balance experimentation with reskilling, and design AI systems that amplify human creativity and trust.

Graduate Division: Regional Transformation in the DMV

Graduate students will address how the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region can adapt to economic shifts caused by large-scale federal downsizing. Drawing on real insights from LinkedIn’s Economic Graph, teams will work together to propose cross-sector strategies that surface hidden skills, enable worker mobility, and align employers, educators, and policymakers around inclusive workforce renewal.

Teams will be asked to reimagine hiring systems that prioritize skills visibility and AI literacy, addressing both economic resilience and equity.

About the Kogod School of Business

American University's Kogod School of Business is building a more sustainable world through business. For 70 years, Kogod has redefined what business education looks like — preparing future business leaders to thrive in careers on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, at nonprofits and in government agencies, in startups and at Fortune 500 companies. With a strong focus on AI, Kogod ensures graduates harness technology’s potential to solve real-world business challenges, earning Kogod recognition from Poets & Quants as Best in Class for Artificial Intelligence. Kogod’s approach to learning fosters the entrepreneurial mindset and provides students with the skills, resources, and mentorship they need to succeed in any industry. 

About LinkedIn

LinkedIn connects the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful and transforms the way companies hire, learn, market, and sell. Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce through the ongoing development of the world’s first Economic Graph. LinkedIn has more than 1 billion members and has offices around the globe. www.linkedin.com