Episode 52: Becoming AI-Resilient: What I Saw in the Green Room

If we want AI-resilient graduates, we can’t just talk about disruption. We have to train for it. Back on February 7th, I had the privilege of judging the preliminary round of the Digital Innovation Challenge hosted by the Haskayne School of Business, and supported by the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Haskayne. Eight teams. One Green Room Pool. One big, messy, very real question:

“Becoming AI-Resilient: Navigating the Undergraduate Experience in an Age of Disruption.”

In other words, how should students prepare for a world where AI is reshaping work before they even graduate?

No pressure!

I did share a quick post after the judging wrapped. But after two decades of coaching and judging competitions, I wanted to double down on what stood out, because much of it stands out every single time.

Student competitions are learning laboratories, as Scott Holley called in a recent post, when they’re done right. There’s a core community of global case-solving coaches who truly understand this. They don’t just prepare students to compete. They develop real-world capability. What we need now is to make that universal. To move from classrooms that primarily prepare test-takers… to classrooms that graduate professionals with serious Mad Skills

😊The Good News

There was a lot to celebrate.

✅ Every Team Showed Up

Balancing classes, jobs, and life, these teams still took on a complex, ambiguous problem. That alone matters.

✅ The Calibre Was Impressive

Creative ideas. Bold thinking. Genuine care for the future of post-secondary learners. You could feel the effort in the room.

✅ Teams Applied What They Learned

Many team members attended the case-solving workshops the week before. Most teams clearly integrated those lessons. They followed structured approaches. They didn’t just brainstorm; they analysed.

✅ Q&A Maturity

The teams in my pool handled questions well. They answered what was asked. They didn’t over-talk. They avoided adding fluff that didn’t add value.

That’s growth. That’s coachability. That’s professionalism in development.

😒 Where Teams Can Level Up

This is where real skill-building lives.

📌 Details Matter

Big ideas are great. Judges love ambition. But in real life, ideas live or die on execution. How does this actually work for a first-year student who’s overwhelmed, unsure, and figuring things out? What happens in week one? Month one? Year one? If you can’t operationalise it, it’s just a concept.

📌 Tell a Story - Not a Slide Deck

Too many presentations felt like a collection of well-designed slides. What wins? A clear narrative arc. Here’s the problem. Here’s why it matters. Here’s our insight. Here’s the solution. Here’s how it works. Here’s the impact. When the story connects, the audience leans in; when it doesn’t, they mentally check out.

📌 Use Your Audience Strategically

The audience wasn’t abstract; it was built into the case context. The strongest teams could have leaned in harder: Who in this room has the power to bring this idea to life? What partnerships are needed? What immediate steps can start tomorrow? In the real world, success often depends on how well you mobilise the people already in the room.

📌 Be Concise

In answers, in explanations, in framing; Details Matter absolutely! But it’s imperative to present those details concisely and deliberately, and to choose what truly adds value. More information doesn’t equal more impact. Clarity does.

📌 Instant Gratification Is Real

Attention is finite & Clarity Wins. In this age of compressed attention spans, start with a high-level explanation of what you’re proposing. Too often, teams wait too long to engage the audience in their solution, leaving judges wondering “What exactly are they recommending?” while analysis is still unfolding.

Try this structure instead

1️⃣ High-Level Solution: Tell us clearly & confidently what you are proposing.

2️⃣ How We Got There: Walk us through the analysis and reasoning that supports it. Then add the details to the solution your analysis identified.

3️⃣ How You Make It Happen: Show us the execution plan. Make it tangible. Make it real. Then show us the impact of your solution.

Lead with the answer. Support it with logic. Close with action. That’s how you respect attention and win rooms.

Why This Matters Beyond the Competition

These competitions are not about trophies. They are rehearsal spaces for the future of work. AI-resilience won’t come from memorising content. It will come from Structured Thinking, Storytelling, Strategic Communication, Adaptability, and Execution under pressure.

In other words… Mad Skills.

Huge congratulations to the finalists, runners-up, and every single team that stepped into this challenge. If this is the future of our students, I’m genuinely optimistic.