A Student's View: Bridging Global Business and the AI Revolution in Academia
Speaker
Day Kim
Masters Student, Thunderbird School of Global Management (ASU)
Interviewer
Robert Cowlishaw
VP of Marketing at AmplifAI
Based on a conversation at CCW Orlando 2026 between Day Kim with Robert Cowlishaw.
TL;DR
Day Kim, a global management master's student, shares her perspective on entering the workforce and how AI has transformed every aspect of academic life.
Finding the Gaps
Day Kim isn't your typical CCW attendee. As a master's student in global management at Arizona State University's Thunderbird School, she came to Orlando with a different agenda: scouting.
"I'm honestly here scouting for different opportunities, getting to know what this industry looks like and where the gaps are," Day explains. "As someone who's going to be newly entering the workforce, I want to understand where I can contribute."
Set to graduate in May, Day's career interests center on consultative work—whether as a consultant or in-house strategist. Her passion runs deeper than job titles, though.
“My whole passion is bridging communities and different countries through business. I would love to bridge communities and businesses across borders.”
Day Kim
Masters Student, Thunderbird School of Global Management
Bridging Communities Through Business
Originally from South Korea, Day sees her future work through a global lens.
"My whole passion is bridging communities and different countries through business," she says. "I would love to bridge communities and businesses across borders."
This global perspective brought her to CCW through an unexpected path: her mentor, a CCWomen panelist, invited her to experience the event firsthand.
“As a student, I use AI daily—from task management to having meetings recorded and transcribed.”
Day Kim
Masters Student, Thunderbird School of Global Management
The AI Reality in Academia
When asked about the state of AI in academic settings, Day didn't hold back.
"Such a huge topic. Definitely a buzzword for every classroom you step into," she observes.
The reality on the ground? Students have fully integrated AI into their workflows.
"As a student, I use AI daily—from task management to having meetings recorded and transcribed," Day shares. "Every assignment I turn in, I would say safely that I run by AI first to check that everything's good."
But she acknowledges the tension this creates.
"We have extreme cases where AI does like 95% of the work and 5% is you checking to make sure it looks good. And that's just not the most beneficial in academic space."
“AI is just so exponential in how fast it's growing and how fast it's coming into our lives. Everyone is still trying to figure out how to catch up with rules and regulations surrounding it.”
Day Kim
Masters Student, Thunderbird School of Global Management
The Regulation Gap
Universities are scrambling to keep up.
"The reality is that everyone is still trying to figure out how to catch up with rules and regulations surrounding it," Day notes. "AI is just so exponential in how fast it's growing and how fast it's coming into our lives."
Professors and institutions alike are navigating uncharted territory, trying to establish guidelines for a technology that evolves faster than policy can follow.
Key Takeaways
New workforce entrants are actively scouting industries to identify gaps and opportunities
AI has become fully integrated into student workflows—from task management to assignment review
Universities and professors are struggling to establish rules and regulations around AI use
The speed of AI advancement consistently outpaces institutional policy development
Mentorship networks like CCWomen create pathways for emerging talent to explore industries