Faculty are driving campus conversations about acceptable AI use in classrooms even as accreditors and professional bodies raise the bar for institutional AI strategy and research relevance. Survey evidence indicates most students learn AI norms from instructors rather than central administrators, placing frontline faculty at the center of policy implementation. AACSB’s 2025 State of Accreditation report followed by July 2026 changes demands that business schools show intentional, mission‑aligned AI integration across curricula and research. The accreditor also extended its continuous improvement review cycle from five to six years while raising expectations for evidence of societal impact. For deans and provosts, the twin signals are clear: faculty stewardship of classroom AI policies matters now, and accreditors will scrutinize whether institutions can demonstrate purposeful AI adoption and applied, practice‑oriented research.