An AI Change Agent
David Nichols brings his experience helping EY’s biggest clients incorporate artificial intelligence to the MBAi program’s Industry Advisory Board as it works to keep the curriculum aligned with rapidly evolving business needs.
David Nichols is used to seismic technological changes.
Nichols has spent 30-plus years helping businesses navigate the latest technology, including laptops, smart phones, and virtual meetings. Now, as senior principal and global client service partner at consulting firm EY, he is doing the same thing with artificial intelligence (AI).
It’s a skill that serves him well as a member of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for Northwestern's MBAi Program, a joint-degree program offered between the Kellogg School of Management and the McCormick School of Engineering.
“People are trying to understand how AI is really going to change things,” said Nichols, who in his current role helps some of EY's biggest clients. “For MBAi to say, ‘This is what the program is going to be’ and expect that to be the case in five years is completely unrealistic. We have to continue to go back and challenge ourselves every year on how we evolve in a way that these students get what they want and need.”
That is one of the main purposes of the program’s IAB. Its mission is to keep the MBAi curriculum aligned with true industry needs so that its graduates are in the highest demand and in the best position to succeed.
With a rapidly evolving field such as AI, that means constant change. And constant change has been a major part of Nichols’ career.
Nichols, who also serves on the McCormick Advisory Council, currently helps EY’s clients grapple with AI as they seek a competitive advantage while investigating how it will change the way business works. The question is still very much open as to how AI will write the future, he said. The potential, however, is immense.
“The beauty of this, especially when it comes to AI, is that it could be transformational, but we've had a lot of transformational things happen over the course of my career,” said Nichols, who has been involved with the MBAi program since its inception in 2021. “The exciting part about this is how you can match up what we have available today to advance what clients are trying to do.”
That is one of Nichols’ central missions in his role at EY. His job is to bring together the right resources from among EY’s vast network of 400,000 employees operating in 48 states and more than 100 countries to solve his clients’ business problems.
These days, that sometimes means an AI-driven solution. Sometimes it doesn’t.
When and where each solution fits is constantly changing, Nichols said. That state of flux keeps him on his toes.
“There's never a square peg in a square hole,” he said. “Just because it worked well over here at this company doesn't mean it's going to work the same way here. There are no real new problems out there, but the solutions are constantly evolving.”
So, too, must the MBAi program and the students who work their way through it, Nichols said.
One misconception he hopes students understand is that their post-graduation careers do not need to be in the technology space. AI, Nichols said, has the potential to touch a vast landscape of industries and career paths, which means MBAi students’ skills will be in high demand well outside the business world’s technology giants.
“Some of the more fascinating business cases could be in pharma or major industries. Think about car manufacturers and heavy equipment manufacturers,” he said. “It is our job to help people understand where the real opportunities are. I don't care if you're a music major, a psychology major, or an art history major. AI could really touch everything.”