Towards an AI-Augmented Graduate Model for Entrepreneurship Education: Connecting Knowledge, Innovation, and Venture Ecosystems

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Abstract
Problem: Entrepreneurship education continues to expand, yet it remains fragmented across disciplines and loosely connected to the knowledge, innovation, and venture ecosystems that shape entrepreneurial success. At the same time, AI is transforming research, collaboration, and venture development, but its use in education is typically limited to narrow, task-specific applications rather than ecosystem-level integration. Objective: This paper seeks to develop a comprehensive conceptual model for integrating AI into entrepreneurship education by positioning AI as a connective infrastructure that links and activates the knowledge, innovation, and venture ecosystems. Methods: The model is derived through an integrative synthesis of literature, programs, and activities on entrepreneurship education, ecosystem-based learning, and AI-enabled research and innovation practices, combined with an analysis of gaps in current educational approaches. Key Findings: The proposed model defines a progressive learning pathway consisting of (1) AI competency training that builds foundational capacities in critical judgment, responsible application, and creative adaptation; (2) AI praxis labs that use AI-curated ecosystem data to support iterative, project-based learning; and (3) venture studios where students scale outputs into innovations and ventures through structured ecosystem engagement. This pathway demonstrates how AI can function as a structural mediator of problem definition, research design, experimentation, analysis, and narrative translation. Contributions: This paper reframes entrepreneurship education as an iterative, inclusive, and ecosystem-connected process enabled by AI infrastructure. It offers a new theoretical lens for understanding AI’s educational role and provides actionable implications for curriculum design, institutional readiness, and policy development while identifying avenues for future research on competency development and ecosystem impacts.

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