Abstract
Extending our BAM 2025 study of student perspectives on AI in entrepreneurship education, this paper examines the AI competencies expected of graduates by corporate stakeholders. The opinions of corporate stakeholders have not been much investigated to date. This could mean a misalignment between education and industry. The paper draws on a preliminary thematic analysis of three semi structured interviews with corporate stakeholders in Lebanon. Four themes emerged: the ideal of the “augmented professional” who uses AI strategically and critically evaluates its outputs; a competency hierarchy prioritising critical validation over technical fluency; an “appearance reality gap” where polished AI produced outputs could mask shallow understanding; and a call for selective integration alongside deeper collaboration between industry and academia. The paper contributes to entrepreneurship education scholarship by extending stakeholder theory and servicing a tension between student self-perceptions and the expectations of corporate stakeholders which are more critical. The findings give practical guidance for educators designing AI integrated curricula and assessment strategies for the current AI environment.