Your MBA should reflect where you want to go next in your career. At Surrey, you can shape your MBA through three distinctive pathways: Artificial Intelligence, Entrepreneurship, and Hospitality Service Leadership. Alongside a strong foundation in strategy, finance, leadership and operations, these pathways allow you to develop expertise aligned with your professional ambitions, creating a degree that combines broad managerial capability with focused expertise.
Why are pathways beneficial?
- Tailored skillset: Graduate with practical, strategic, and industry-relevant skills that not only make you immediately valuable in competitive markets and sectors – but align with your personal career goals.
- Greater personal brand for employers: Stand out with a clear narrative about what you specialise in and the impact you can create.
- Best of both worlds: Gain specialised knowledge without sacrificing the breadth and versatility of a traditional MBA.
Artificial Intelligence pathway: Lead intelligently
Artificial Intelligence is fundamentally transforming industries, economies, and societies across the globe. Drawing on the University of Surrey’s established expertise in the digital economy – such as the Surrey Institute for People-Centred Artificial Intelligence, the Centre for the Digital Economy, and the Surrey Academy for Blockchain and Metaverse Applications – this pathway equips you to integrate AI into organisations, manage digital transformation, and make data-driven decisions that help your business succeed.
Along with frameworks covering AI, analytics, and digital transformation, you will learn AI-assisted tools for decision-making and automation for business applications, as well as the broader impact of AI on the economy and society. Our academic alliance with Make further enhances the student experience, providing hands-on access to industry-leading automation tools for building real-world AI workflows.
The school supports applicants with entrepreneurial talent and ambition with the Surrey MBA AI Pathfinders Scholarship. This scholarship is designed for candidates who are eager to explore the opportunities and challenges of AI and to apply these technologies responsibly and strategically in their careers.
You’ll develop:
- The ability to identify where AI creates real business value
- The skills and application-knowledge to integrate transformative AI tools with business processes and lead digital transformation
- Understanding of governance, policy, ethics, and responsible AI leadership
Ideal for:
- Professionals seeking to future-proof their careers
- Managers responsible for digital strategy and innovation
- Consultants and analysts wanting deeper AI understanding and application
Entrepreneurship pathway: Build boldly
The Surrey MBA is embedded within the University of Surrey’s dynamic entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem, providing access to a range of support and networks such as Surrey Research Park, a large cluster of start-ups and established companies, the Business Incubator, powered by SETsquared, one of the UK’s leading incubator partnerships, Surrey Hatchery, a student-focused incubator supporting ideas from concept to market, and connecting with Executives-in-Residence.
Surrey supports applicants with entrepreneurial talent and ambition with the Surrey MBA Enterprise Trailblazer Scholarship. This scholarship is designed for candidates who challenge assumptions, think creatively, and have the determination to turn ideas into thriving ventures.
Ideal for:
- Founders and start-up leaders
- Family business successors
- Corporate professionals looking to take that next step with new ventures
Hospitality Service Leadership pathway: Elevate customer experience
This pathway prepares you to lead premium, service-driven organisations in hospitality, tourism, luxury, and beyond. A pathway reflecting Surrey’s expertise in the field, the school is 1st in the UK and 3rd in the world for hospitality and tourism management in the Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2025.
Surrey supports applicants who aspire for service excellence with the Surrey MBA Service Stewardship Scholarship. This scholarship is designed for candidates with a passion for customer experience, creativity in service design, and the ability to inspire teams to deliver world-class service: those ready to shape the future of service leadership.
You’ll develop:
- Strategic insight into service-focused business models
- Leadership capabilities tailored to people-centric industries
- Expertise in customer experience design
Ideal for:
- Professionals in hospitality, tourism, luxury or other service sectors
- Managers aiming for senior leadership roles and to better understand the customer journey
- Career-changers passionate about service excellence
