AI and student entrepreneurship: perceptions, practices, and challenges in the path to sustainable innovation

Abstract

Introduction

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and entrepreneurship among young people has become increasingly relevant in the context of digital transformation and innovation-driven education. Recent research indicates a strong influence of digital and coding skills on students’ propensity to create new businesses, highlighting the importance of equipping them with practical AI-based capabilities (Sansone, 2024).

This paper investigates the perceptions, current practices and challenges faced by students when attempting to use AI tools in entrepreneurial projects.

The study explores how students understand and integrate AI into their business development. Using a mixed-methods approach—combining survey data from students enrolled in entrepreneurship Programmes and interviews with student entrepreneurs—this research aims to uncover diverse useful applications, from automating routine tasks to generative use cases such as content creation and business planning. These findings echo other recent studies showing that AI can significantly enhance entrepreneurial skills, including opportunity identification, creative thinking, and sustainable innovation (Vecchiarini-Piazza, 2023).

The paper also addresses the role that higher education institutions play in supporting AI-driven entrepreneurship through curriculum updates, mentoring Programmes, and access to digital tools. It provides concrete examples and proposes useful ideas to improve entrepreneurship education in the context of new AI-driven technologies.

Also, studies such as Almahry and Sarea (F. Almahry, 2018) highlight the importance of early entrepreneurial training, and Hadi & Abdullah (Hadi, 2018) emphasize the role of personal traits in business success Building on these perspectives, Luo et al. (Luo, et al., 2022) show that a supportive entrepreneurial environment, combined with targeted education, can significantly enhance students’ belief in their capacity to launch and manage a business. This underscores the need to integrate AI-related training into broader strategies for competence development in order to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.