Structured Creativity

I am pleased to have been selected for the inaugural Adobe Higher Education Faculty Leader Cohort, one of a global group spanning 33 countries for 2026–27. Part of the year included a visit to Adobe’s headquarters in San Jose, where it was wonderful to meet students and educators from across the globe, as well as have some rich discussions with Adobe colleagues on all things digital tech and AI. Closer to home, the more interesting question is what a Faculty of Business and Law can do inside a cohort most people would assume belongs to design departments and creative arts schools.

Manchester Met is already an Adobe Creative Campus. It is easy to assume that status sits with the art and design side of the institution and stops there. It does not have to. Visual communication, digital storytelling, and the ability to build a coherent argument in something other than a Word document are business skills now, not decorative extras. Our students will pitch, present, and persuade using tools that did not exist when most business curricula were last redesigned.

The cohort runs for a year, and San Jose set the tone for what is to come. I am looking forward to seeing what comes of it, for the business school as much as for me.