As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace, business schools are facing a new challenge: How do you teach students to use emerging technology without losing sight of the human skills that matter most?
At the Kogod School of Business at American University, Professor Alexandra Mislin is answering that question in a way that feels both timely and deeply practical. In her Negotiation course, students are using AI not as a shortcut, but as a tool for preparation, reflection, and hands-on learning—helping them strengthen one of the most essential skills in business: the ability to navigate high-stakes conversations with clarity, strategy, and confidence.
That approach reflects what sets Kogod apart in a crowded business education landscape: students are not just hearing about AI. They are using it in realistic, career-relevant ways that mirror the future of work.
In Mislin’s classroom, students first learn the human foundations of negotiation: how to identify interests, listen carefully, build trust, communicate under pressure, and understand the perspective of the other side.
Once that foundation is in place, AI becomes a tool for hands-on practice.
Students use AI to:
Students use tools like Perplexity, which is available to all Kogod students through the school’s broader commitment to AI-powered learning, to simulate negotiation scenarios, test assumptions, and better understand the perspective of the other side.
That means students are actively practicing negotiation every day—using AI to sharpen the judgment, communication, and adaptability they will need to get hired and to succeed in the workplace.
Negotiation is not a skill students master through memorization. It develops through repetition, experimentation, and reflection.
Professor Mislin thinks that’s where AI can add real value.
“I want my students to think about how these tools can help them to prepare for a negotiation, how they can help them practice their negotiations, and how they can support them when they’re stuck in negotiations. It could be for that bigger moment, but a lot of times, it’s all the steps leading up to it,” said Mislin in a feature with Fortune.
Instead of relying on a limited number of in-class simulations, students can extend that preparation and testing beyond the classroom—trying different approaches, and seeing how a conversation might unfold before it happens. That creates more room for trial, revision, and self-awareness.