The Financial Times Executive Education Rankings 2026 are out. Results and projections from UNICON’s Annual Benchmarking Study were featured prominently, and executive director Melanie Weaver Barnett was quoted, offering her perspective on the forces reshaping demand for corporate learning. UNICON’s Benchmarking Study projects 37% global growth and 47% US growth in executive education over the next decade.
Melanie Weaver Barnett
Executive Director, UNICON
UNICON Research: The Industry Picture
Annual revenues among leading business schools from executive education
Projected global growth in executive education over the next decade
Projected US growth over the next decade
UNICON members across 33 countries
From the Rankings
Five Themes Shaping the Field
AI Is Now Mainstream
AI features in three-quarters of all ranked programmes. Open-enrolment AI courses are seeing especially strong demand, with schools moving earliest on agentic AI positioning as market leaders.
Hybrid Is the New Normal
Employers expect online delivery for what can be done digitally, and in-person for the complex work — collaboration, innovation, relationship-building — where presence counts.
Geopolitics Is Reshaping Demand
Conflict in the Middle East has significantly curtailed regional expansion, with companies increasingly refocusing on home markets and pushing down international programme demand.
Custom Programmes Are More Ambitious
Clients want programmes locked to their strategic priorities — some commissioning bespoke master’s degrees. This rewards schools with deep faculty expertise and agile delivery capacity.
Value for Money Under Scrutiny
With some employers requiring staff to co-fund open programmes, the ROI case for learning must be made sharply. Schools with strong repeat business data are winning.