Dean Frederik Anseel sits down with Prof. Stephen Shih for a wide-ranging conversation, and it starts where he believes everything in business starts: with people.

He shares his priorities and direction for the Business School, and what his first months taught him about leading a large organization through change.

From there, the conversation turns to AI and the future of work, and why Hong Kong sits at the intersection of two forces reshaping business: China's innovation ecosystem and the rapid advance of AI. Why the companies getting real value from AI are the ones investing in their people, not just the tools. Why we trust a human driver who makes a fatal mistake more than a self-driving car that makes far fewer. Why career forecasts are almost always wrong, and what he believes is worth building instead.

And for every student and applicant, he offers one habit to master: knowing when to take the stairs, and when to take the elevator.