Truth be told: over the past two decades, elite B-schools have become a three-lane highway with only a few “approved” exits—consulting, investment banking, and big tech. Far fewer grads head to the old-economy, real-asset arenas—energy & utilities, real estate & construction, healthcare delivery, aviation/aerospace, chemicals, transportation & logistics, manufacturing, CPG, etc.—than they used to. If AI keeps squeezing desk-based work, the center of gravity (and the best roles) may swing back to operations-heavy industries that need on-the-ground leaders.
IB, consulting, and big tech still exist—but the generic “generalist” seat is fading as AI commoditizes broad analysis.
You need to be an expert in a specific industry—its structural problems, demographics/demand, regulation, economics, and workflows.
The era of hopping across sectors to crank out decks, investment memos, or me-too SaaS pitches is over.
Depth and operational fluency now beat breadth and slideware.