By Christoph Meinrenken, Program Director, Information & Knowledge Strategy (IKNS), School of Professional Studies
One of the many rewarding parts of my role as Academic Director of the M.S. in Information & Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) degree here at Columbia is hiring new lecturers to teach our students. Over the past several years, as organizational intelligence has proved ever more crucial for employers and our student body has continued to grow, we have had to expand our portfolio of courses as well. What is rewarding is the sheer number and the impressive expertise of professionals who apply to bring the industry experience of their day jobs into our classrooms. This past year alone, we have welcomed to our faculty talent from Capgemini, Deloitte, Google DeepMind, Meta, PwC, SAP, and the World Economic Forum.
Since the IKNS curriculum and our students are interdisciplinary, so are naturally the people who apply to teach for us. And as all interdisciplinary people know, one inevitable moment during the interview is: “What you have done is impressive … but how does it all fit together?” Or more pointedly: “So what value-add do you bring?” A recent applicant to our faculty addressed this proactively and elegantly. Early in the interview, she offered this: “So, the throughline — both of my career so far and for my future plans — is … ” Finding and following this throughline in one’s life is not easy, and the line will not always be perfectly straight. But being able to explain that throughline, to oneself and to others, is powerful. At that moment, the applicant’s CV crystallized for me, and I knew she would be great for our students.
I use a similar concept when I advise students. I call it transferable passion (as opposed to transferable skills). Once you identify that passion, I tell my students, it will guide you through your career. The passion part, by definition, will ensure you will be great at whatever you do. But rather than starting over in every new job, the transferable part will mean you hit the ground running in ever more rewarding roles.
Some passions are similar across all our students. This became very apparent earlier this month when we welcomed our fall 2026 incoming cohort to our first Residency right here on campus. As the room filled with a lively crowd, at different points in their careers and from 20 different countries, and as the mix of orientation icebreakers and discussion groups for our IKNS Foundations course progressed throughout the day, one student remarked: “I have never been in a room full of people where everyone is confident enough and actually more interested in listening to others … instead of just talking about themselves.”
Listening builds knowledge and trust. Listening promotes high-performing teams through effective collaboration — all key themes in the IKNS curriculum. This emphasis on building communities — whether simply in one’s own job or indeed across colleagues and friends outside of work and outside the classroom — was on display at the fall welcome dinner we held in the evening of said Residency: New IKNS students were welcomed by current IKNS students and alums, and veteran and new faculty alike (re)connected with alums they had taught decades ago just as well as with the new students they would soon teach this fall. The power of that network was palpable.
People skills are indeed a common theme in IKNS. Yes, we are good at data-driven decision-making with all the latest tools, but in our pursuit of intellectual capital and innovative strategies for the organizations we strive to serve, we value the knowledge and judgement we can gain from people even more. This throughline also informs our approach to AI. I was impressed with our students during last year’s capstone projects (see recordings here), where they approached AI adoption needs from diverse clients such as Microsoft Garage, the City of New York, and the United Nations with a consistent maxim: AI is a tool, and just as any tool, AI will provide value only if it is designed and employed responsibly with a human-centered approach.
As Academic Director, I tap into my own interdisciplinary background when designing the curriculum for our students. The computational neuroscientist in me is in awe of what algorithms can achieve when they are trained to mimic the 100 billion neurons in our brain. Yes, AI is intellectually fascinating, its potential benefit to organizations needs to be leveraged, and our students need to be trained in it. It is for this reason that IKNS, already five years ago, was one of the first professional M.S. degrees to offer a course solely dedicated to AI. But the physicist and humanist in me also appreciates AI’s profound risks — which is why IKNS is now one of the first professional M.S. degrees offering a course dedicated solely to AI governance.
The power of mastering both people and analytics is on display in our co-curricular event offerings as well. Join us on September 24 for an evening with Michael Raj, who will talk to the wider Columbia community and New York City thought leaders about his VP role with the Transformation Command Center at Verizon.
After Michael’s presentation, you are welcome to stay for the networking event at Columbia’s Faculty House. If you don’t have your throughline figured out or memorized quite yet — those events are always a good start.
About Columbia's IKNS Degree
Columbia University’s M.S. in Information & Knowledge Strategy (IKNS) degree integrates data, people, and strategy skills for the AI age. The flexible and interdisciplinary curriculum trains leaders across the entire value chain of data-driven management: Getting the data and analytics right (e.g., AI adoption, business analytics), creating a high-performing, people-centric culture (collaboration, team/project management, organizational psychology), and finally the right change management to turn your strategy into reality.
IKNS is available full-time or part-time, online or in-person on Columbia’s landmarked campus right here in New York City. To maximize opportunities for networking and community building, our online students join our New York-based students on Columbia’s campus for three in-person Residencies during their studies. The M.S. in IKNS is a STEM-designated degree.
Students train under world-class faculty, including former and current executives from Google, IBM, NASA, and Oliver Wyman, and join a powerful global alumni network in coveted positions, including at Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Nike, Pfizer, and the World Bank.
For more IKNS insights, news, and events, please go to our website, connect with us on LinkedIn, or attend one of our online info sessions. Visit the School of Professional Studies website to learn more about the SPS Student Experience.
