As We Prepare for the Era of AI-Native Students, How Can the Way We Teach Entrepreneurs Adapt? A look at three important trends to keep in mind.

Innovation is the key to our future, and it all starts in the classroom.

In particular, the way that technology is—or isn't—being integrated into teaching and learning in classrooms will have a huge impact.

As the EU and its Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) continues to emphasise the need to develop skills in searching for, evaluating and managing digital information, schools have a key role to play.

On one hand, we can see a protective stance taking shape in how and where children are exposed to technology.

Countries including France, the UK, Hungary and Italy have already moved to ban or heavily restrict the use of smartphones on school premises amid growing concerns on their impact on learning among young students.

Yet this doesn't mean schools are against the idea of integrating technology entirely, in particular when it comes to teaching the entrepreneurs of tomorrow. In fact, we can find numerous examples of tech used in a progressive way to support learning goals or solve niche classroom challenges.

For example, AI-powered social robots have been adopted in Dutch and Norwegian schools to help migrant students integrate and receive personalized language support, while in Finland they are used to assist students with autism.

Meanwhile, initiatives like the AI4T project provide training pathways and knowledge to help European educators, mentors and teacher trainers get up to speed in the latest ways that AI is being used in education.

For entrepreneurs, these dual trends highlight the need to balance innovative ideas with usefulness and trustworthiness. Further, the "whipsaw surge in interest around how AI can enhance and evolve existing education technologies" was a key focus at the recent EdTech Summit in London.

As the current cohort of students becomes the first AI-native generation, here are three trends entrepreneurs need to keep in mind.

1. When it comes to teaching the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, educators need to get serious about the risks associated with AI

AI can accelerate human creativity and inquisitiveness, helping young entrepreneurs uncover new insights, and this starts at school. At the same time, recognizing the rise of AI in the classroom means that teachers and institutions will need to be proactive when it comes to the risks to the technology, including security and privacy.

For instance, the rise of technology within education has also opened up the doors to increased student data leaks from phishing attempts.

According to the 2024 Sophos State of Ransomware in Education, 63% of K-12 organizations were hit by ransomware last year, and 26% of those attacks started with a phishing email, with a median recovery cost of $3 million in 2024.

This is expected to increase in 2025 as AI is increasingly adopted by bad actors.

The good news is that organizations are beginning to put policies in place. Last February, for instance, the Board of Education from the Val Verde Unified School District in the U.S. directed district leaders to begin evaluating and testing AI to improve operations, including developing adoption guidelines and training for how to use GenAI tools responsibly.

SaaS solutions from the industry are also emerging to address these concerns with tools and learning aids for teachers.

For example, with Classroom Manager, schools control what students are looking at online, direct them to helpful online resources and unlock granular control over banned pages so that these can be adjusted as appropriate for particular lesson plans or age brackets, while contextually aware AI features in Cloud Monitor are helping to detect phishing attempts. [Editor's note: The author is Chairmand and CEO of Managed Methods, the compnay behind Classroom Manager.]

We can already see examples of K-12 schools embracing the benefits of technology for both learning and backroom efficiency, and putting solutions in place to address bad actors.

For entrepreneurs, a close eye on local regulations, policies and frameworks for digital solutions is needed to make sure digital security solutions can scale across the regional edtech ecosystem.

2. Cheating and plagiarism in the era of AI

In entrepreneurship certain lines can't be crossed, and cheating is one of them. This year, the scale of how widely students began using AI to produce everything from college applications to essay drafts is coming to light.

In the UK, a survey of academic integrity violations found almost 7,000 proven cases of cheating using AI tools in the 2023-24 academic year. In the U.S., a survey of college students taken in January 2023, just two months after ChatGPT's launch, found that some 90% had already used it on assignments.

This is despite the very real risk of getting caught. Using AI is viewed as plagiarism at best, or directly cheating at worst, and can lead to suspension or even a loss of scholarship funding.

With such high stakes, the fact that students continue to risk these repercussions by using AI shows that current frameworks are out of step with the reality of 2025.

It's also placing the burden on the shoulders of teachers who, according to Stephen Cicirelli, an English professor at St. Peter's University in Jersey City, need "to be a teacher and an AI detector at the same time."

Looking ahead, it's likely that the rise in AI will fuel a change in assessment frameworks. It will be important for education organizations to adopt a new standard to address this increasing challenge.

As one example of this, more focus could be placed on performance in the classroom during lessons, tests and live assignments.

Take-home work could also become more skill-building work, not heavily weighted pieces that make up a large percentage of the final grade.

3. While the educators of entrepreneurs have mixed feelings with AI, the key will lie in critical thinking

Terms like "brain rot" paint a picture of the fear many have about the risk of spending too much time online. Indeed, there is a growing narrative exploring the question of whether or not AI will erode our critical thinking skills.

A study by Michael Gerlich at SBS Swiss Business School found that increased reliance on AI tools is linked to diminished critical thinking abilities.

Although this may sound alarming at first glance, the situation is much more nuanced. For instance, researchers from a different 2024 study pointed out that "overreliance on AI occurs when users accept AI-generated recommendations without question, leading to errors in task performance in the context of decision-making."

If AI is causing a trend of "cognitive offloading," it is key that we teach students how to train critical thinking skills in other ways.

European entrepreneurs are stepping up to the challenge. Munich-based EDURINO fuses educational games, ergonomic input tools and animated characters to teach both classic and future skills such as reading, logical thinking and coding to all age groups while French startup PyxiScience is highlighting how AI can be used to enhance the study of mathematics.

Notably, when schools first started using the internet, a lot of parents and teachers weren't sure it was a good idea. Some thought it would hurt attention spans or take away from real teaching. But over time, it became part of everyday learning, research, homework, and communication. People adapted. AI is going through a similar moment now.

A key part of higher education has always focused on teaching students not to always accept the words on a page as verbatim truth, and instead to seek multiple sources.

When it comes to educating our future innovators, it will be important that we reinforce this.

The future of innovation

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 believes that education systems must go beyond digital literacy and embrace AI literacy as a core educational priority. This is particularly true when it comes to educating the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.

Ultimately, AI is a reality in our schools today. It is important for students to be trained to use it like any other tool.

Once the initial knee-jerk fear around AI subsides, educators will need to adjust to use the tool, with a keen and critical mind to prepare students adequately for the future of work.

While we used to speak about the digital native generation, today's students will become the AI-native generation. We need AI in the classroom to help students become innovators and equip them with a new kind of critical thinking. This demands we recognize the benefits and risks of technology in the classroom.