From experimentation to institutional strategy: How Luiss Business School is building responsible AI capability

How the QS AI Capability Self-Assessment helped Luiss Business School turn emerging AI initiatives into a clearer, more coordinated roadmap for responsible adoption.

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Executive summary

As Generative AI gained traction across Luiss Business School, faculty, programme coordinators and professional teams were already exploring ways to enhance teaching, learning design, student engagement and assessment. However, innovation was developing at different speeds across the institution, with varying levels of confidence, awareness and governance maturity.

Using the QS AI Capability Self-Assessment, Luiss stepped back from individual initiatives to assess its AI capability at an institutional level. The process provided greater visibility of existing strengths, highlighted areas requiring further formalisation and helped establish a clearer roadmap for responsible AI adoption.

“The framework transformed the initiative into a strategic roadmap and accelerated organisational alignment,” Raffaele Oriani, Dean of Luiss Business School said.

The assessment strengthened conversations around governance, faculty development, monitoring and assessment, while creating greater shared ownership of AI across the institution.

The challenge: Moving beyond isolated AI experimentation

AI adoption at Luiss Business School emerged organically rather than through a single centrally managed programme. Faculty, programme coordinators and professional teams independently explored applications for generative AI across teaching, learning design, student engagement and assessment.

While this created momentum, it also meant Luiss must ask whether it was developing a coherent AI strategy, or simply accumulating disconnected initiatives?

As adoption accelerated, different parts of the school progressed at different speeds and with different levels of governance maturity. AI was also becoming more than a technology project. Increasingly, it was viewed as part of a broader transformation encompassing governance, ethics, organisational readiness, faculty capability and long-term institutional strategy.

The approach: Creating a shared view of AI capability

Luiss Business School participated in the QS AI Capability Self-Assessment to better understand its institutional maturity before defining future priorities. Rather than seeking external validation, the school wanted a structured way to understand where capability was strongest, where gaps existed and where greater coordination was needed.

The self-assessment became a strategic reflection exercise, examining whether governance structures, processes and institutional priorities were keeping pace with technological adoption.

“The real value of the Self-Assessment is not achieving a high score but understanding clearly where the institution’s strengths and improvement areas truly are.”

The process involved academic leadership, programme coordinators, faculty-focused teams, digital transformation, student services and governance functions, and was completed over approximately one month.

The insight: Existing innovation needed stronger institutional structures

The QS AI Capability Self-Assessment confirmed strengths in teaching innovation, AI literacy and curriculum integration, while recognising ongoing efforts to embed AI competencies and support faculty development.

At the same time, it highlighted areas where experimentation had progressed faster than formal institutional structures. Governance processes, risk assessment, AI monitoring and assessment validation emerged as priorities for further development.

The assessment also revealed that more AI-related activity was taking place across the institution than central teams had realised, providing a valuable picture of previously less-visible capabilities.

“AI maturity cannot be delegated to a single office or innovation unit. It requires alignment across pedagogy, governance, operation, technology and organisational culture.”

The impact: From assessment to a strategic roadmap

The QS AI Capability Self-Assessment provided a clearer roadmap for Luiss Business School’s next stage of AI development and shifted internal discussions beyond experimentation towards governance and institutional oversight.

Potential next steps included establishing a cross-functional AI task force, strengthening faculty development, exploring AI assessment validation protocols and expanding AI literacy pathways across programmes.

The framework also helped broaden ownership of AI across the institution. Rather than being viewed primarily as a concern for innovation specialists or technology-focused faculty, AI became a shared conversation involving leadership, programme management, governance, faculty development and student support.

“Technology can accelerate innovation, but sustainable institutional maturity depends on trust, capability building and shared understanding across the school.”

Faculty engagement, cross-functional collaboration and leadership alignment are now central to the school's evolving AI strategy.

Looking ahead: Building an adaptive approach to responsible AI

For Luiss Business School, the QS AI Capability Self-Assessment was never intended as a fixed endpoint. As AI technologies, expectations and risks continue to evolve, institutional governance and capability must evolve alongside them.

The framework helped the school assess its current position while encouraging a more adaptive approach to future AI development.

As a founding member of the Responsible AI Consortium, Luiss also sees collaboration and shared frameworks as essential for navigating a transformation that no institution can address alone.

Ultimately, the school's experience reinforces a key principle: responsible AI adoption is about more than implementing new technology. It requires institutions to align governance, leadership, culture, pedagogy, assessment and organisational responsibility.

“AI cannot be simply adopted. It must be governed, integrated and continually monitored through processes that ensure transparency, ethical responsibility and human centricity.”

For Luiss Business School, the QS AI Capability Framework provided a practical way to make existing activity visible, build shared ownership and establish clearer priorities for the next stage of its AI journey.

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