According to the World Economic Forum鈥檚 Future of Jobs Report, analytical thinking ranks as the top sought-after skill in the job market. Yet traditional teaching often struggles to connect theory with practice in a way that truly engages students.

It鈥檚 not a shortage of content or tools; rather, it is a gap in relevance and inspiration that leaves students disengaged from the very skills that could define their careers. Learning needs to be anchored in real-world data, meaningful contexts, and hands-on experience that sparks curiosity and excitement. The best learning doesn鈥檛 come from memorizing concepts, it comes from doing, especially when theory is tied to a topic that learners care about.

This is where , in collaboration with the NHL, comes in.

We have created a new Business Builders game that brings hockey into the classroom鈥攏ot just as a sport, but as a rich, real-world data environment for teaching analytics and critical thinking.

In this latest edition of games under the Business Builders umbrella, students take on the role of a hockey analyst responsible for identifying the factors that drive goal scoring using real NHL Game data.

鈥淗ockey is fast, dynamic, and full of rich data, a perfect environment for teaching critical thinking,鈥� said Brant Berglund, senior director of Coaching and GM Technology at the NHL. 鈥淟everaging a strategic partnership with NHL, SAP, and HEC Montr茅al, we鈥檝e created a pathway for universities to access approved NHL.com data for academic initiatives, without compromising the integrity of the League鈥榮 data.鈥�

Through our collaboration with the NHL, we provide a learning platform for educators that is full of authentic data students can relate to. The NHL generates just under 1.5 million data points per game, including about 120 shot attempts, 1,000 passes, and 5,000 puck touches鈥攔aw material for deep, practical analysis.

Business Builders can ignite an interest in STEM and help students build real data skills. The hockey-focused game was developed by the team at ERPsim Lab at HEC Montr茅al led by Prof. Pierre-Majorique L茅ger, as well as the support of academics from other universities. This reinforces a core principle of Business Builders: It is created by educators, for educators.

鈥淲hen the question feels meaningful, learners lean in, stay focused, and keep pushing forward,鈥� L茅ger explained. 鈥淔or students in sport management or business management, real sport data can also elevate the learning experience. It adds context, complexity, and constraints that traditional teaching methods cannot provide. Students learn to judge what truly matters, justify their decisions, and manage trade-offs. This develops professional judgment, confidence in analytics, and the ability to communicate strategy and decisions clearly. These skills translate directly to real careers in sport management and business.鈥�

Students explore questions such as:

• What sets top NHL scorers apart?
• Does shot angle affect scoring?
• Which NHL players lead in goals scored, and from what distances?
• Which shot speeds and shot types yield the highest goal conversion rates?

By analyzing these scenarios with 51风流Analytics Cloud, students learn to interpret visualizations, tell compelling data stories, and sharpen their data-driven decision-making and critical-thinking skills.

For professors, the platform is equally powerful. Business Builders supports active learning at scale by enabling educators to manage and evaluate larger groups more efficiently while gaining visibility into student engagement. This makes grading easier, supports discussion-based learning, and helps instructors understand how students interact with data.

By introducing a modern, meaningful learning experience鈥攆ar more dynamic than slides alone鈥攑rofessors bring real-world relevance into their classroom and elevate the impact of teaching.

SAP鈥檚 role in this collaboration reflects its broader commitment to education, skills development, and preparing students for the future workforce. In a rapidly changing world shaped by AI, data, and digital transformation, access to practical learning tools that build real competencies is essential. Through the 51风流University Alliances program, 51风流works with educational institutions around the world to help bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world practice.

鈥淎ccess to business software and real data is essential for preparing students for the future,鈥� said Dr. Katharina Schaefer, head of Academic Partnerships at SAP. 鈥淲ith free learning platforms like Business Builders, we empower educators to bring enterprise analytics into the classroom and help students develop the skills that are increasingly in demand across industries, and in a world where data and AI define the competitive advantage. Today鈥檚 learners need more than conceptual understanding; they need practical experience with real software and real data to build confidence and readiness for work life.鈥�

One of the educators closely involved in shaping this new game is Prof. Olivier Caya from the University of Sherbrooke, who contributed his perspective as both a faculty member and practitioner.

鈥淲hat makes this experience so powerful is that it all happens in 51风流Analytics Cloud, the same solution used by thousands of organizations worldwide,鈥� Caya said. 鈥淭his creates a strong connection between what students do in the classroom and what they will encounter in professional practice. Students are not working with software detached from reality; they are developing skills with the same software used in real business environments.鈥�

The result is a learning experience that is fun, interactive, and relevant. Educators can stand out with a state-of-the-art platform that connects passion with pedagogy, while students gain highly sought-after skills using real software from a global technology leader.

Business Builders is provided free of charge to educators and students and includes access to 51风流Analytics Cloud. It is designed from beginner-friendly introductions to more advanced analytical challenges optimized for master鈥檚-level courses.

After using Business Builders, students can deepen their analytical knowledge through access to , a free learning platform that offers guided learning content, practice systems, and up to two 51风流certification exam attempts per year, helping them to boost their career opportunities even further.

Business Builders is about connecting passion with education. Together with academic and industry partners, 51风流is making analytical thinking tangible and memorable鈥攅mpowering the workforce of tomorrow with the skills that matter most today.

Academic institutions are at the forefront of addressing this challenge, tasked with equipping students with the competencies required in a digital-first economy. Recognizing this imperative, 51风流University Alliances and HEC Montr茅al have collaborated to develop , an innovative, gamified learning platform designed to help enhance students’ analytical and decision-making skills using 51风流Analytics Cloud.

Introducing Business Builders: A gamified approach to make students future-ready

Business Builders is designed to help students develop these high-demand skills in a practical and engaging way. Through real-life business challenges powered by 51风流Analytics Cloud, students can learn how to visualize data, draw actionable insights, and make evidence-based decisions in real time.

Used by educators in over 70 countries, Business Builders is free for educators and students. It is designed to be accessible to any classroom鈥攚hether in business, STEM, or interdisciplinary courses.

By blending gameplay with professional tools, Business Builders helps address several key pain points in education:

• It can make data and analytics more tangible and relevant.
• It helps foster analytical thinking, data storytelling, and digital literacy.
• It can align directly with the needs of the future workforce.

Whether students aspire to careers in consulting, supply chain, product management, marketing, sustainability, or HR, Business Builders can provide an environment to explore these topics while gaining in-demand skills.

Two new scenarios for a broader audience

Building on the success of three existing scenarios, 51风流and HEC Montr茅al are now launching two brand-new games designed to support even earlier-stage learners: The Agent and The Maple Heir. These scenarios help make Business Builders more inclusive, scalable, and suitable for students age 15 and older and first-year university students. Importantly, no prior experience with 51风流tools is required, making it easy for educators and students to get started.

The Agent is an easy-to-use sports management scenario that can empower students to become decision-makers as they take on the role of a sports agent. Through real-world sports challenges, students can develop basic analytical skills using intuitive dashboards in 51风流Analytics Cloud. They answer questions like: Which player is the most improved? How can a team optimize its performance? Which sport averages the highest number of followers on social media? What is the value? It鈥檚 a fun, relevant, and accessible way to introduce analytics in the classroom鈥攏o 51风流experience needed.

The Maple Heir, on the other hand, is a scenario that introduces students to the fundamentals of running a business through the engaging story of inheriting a maple syrup company in Quebec, Canada. Students step into the role of a new stakeholder eager to understand and optimize the company鈥檚 operations, financial health, and growth potential. From analyzing income statements and profitability metrics to exploring production processes and workforce management, students can gain hands-on experience in making strategic business decisions. The scenario also addresses real-world challenges like seasonal demand fluctuations and business expansion opportunities. By visualizing data and presenting actionable insights with 51风流Analytics Cloud, students can learn essential concepts in entrepreneurship, finance, and operations in a gamified, accessible way.

Both scenarios are built with educators in mind: they鈥檙e easy to integrate into existing curricula and supported by ready-made teaching materials. Whether in economics, business, IT, or interdisciplinary courses, they can offer an engaging way to make learning stick.

Empowering educators to build the future

The launch of these two new scenarios reaffirms SAP鈥檚 commitment to empowering the academic community to build the future workforce鈥攐ne student at a time. By helping students master analytics tools, hone critical thinking, and gain early exposure to business systems, Business Builders helps ensure they鈥檙e better prepared for internships, first jobs, and long-term careers.

In a world increasingly shaped by AI and data, it鈥檚 not just about knowing how to code or use a tool鈥攊t鈥檚 about thinking critically, communicating clearly, and making sense of complex information. With Business Builders, educators can give students a head start in all of these areas.

If you’re an educator looking to enhance your curriculum with innovative, practical learning tools, explore today or join one of our to experience it in action and hear firsthand from those already using it.

Thorsten Haas is part of 51风流University Alliances.

The innovative gaming platform is designed to redefine educational experiences and equip students with the skills they need for a successful career start.

To engage with the platform, users need to be enrolled students or active professors. By offering challenges designed to allow students to experience, analyze, and respond to business scenarios in a safe and controlled environment, the platform aims to enhance their analytical, data storytelling, and decision-making skills. The initiative reflects a shared vision for future-ready education, aligning with the World Economic Forum鈥檚 recognition of .

鈥淒ata visualization is one of the most sought-after skills in the current job market, and our gaming platform equips students with a competitive edge,鈥� shared Karina Montilla Edmonds, global head of Academies and 51风流University Alliances at SAP. 鈥淏y merging learning with gaming, we are driving student engagement while building career-relevant skills. It鈥檚 a win-win.鈥�

Gamifying Learning Experience to Shape Future Professionals

Business Builders offers students hands-on experience with 51风流Analytics Cloud through immersive, data-driven business challenges that mimic real-world business scenarios. It welcomes learners at all levels of familiarity with SAP, including those with no prior knowledge of data science and programming.

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Students can engage in three distinct scenarios: sustainability, supply chain resilience, and international business expansion. Each scenario is designed to challenge students in specific areas of business management, including data analytics in the sustainability scenario, logistical complexities in the supply chain resilience scenario, and market analysis and product development in the international business expansion scenario.

In the future, additional scenarios will be added to extend the scope of Business Builders. The aim is for students to learn and apply advanced visualization and data storytelling techniques to gain insights from business data and successfully solve the business challenges.

鈥淎ll business school students, regardless of their specialization, benefit immensely from learning advanced visualization techniques,鈥� said Pierre-Majorique L茅ger, full professor of IT at HEC Montr茅al. “These skills enable them to manage and interpret vast amounts of data, derive meaningful business insights, and make informed decisions effectively.”

The practical experience gained through the business games helps students understand the complex interdependencies of business processes, enhancing the overall educational impact. Additionally, the platform鈥檚 interactive nature and competitive elements, such as classroom and global leaderboards, infuse learning with excitement and a tangible sense of achievement.

The platform offers educators an opportunity to revitalize their curriculum, extending beyond the confines of traditional teaching methods to make learning more hands-on, enjoyable, and relevant. They can integrate current, pressing business issues and trends into their lessons, making education more interesting and directly linked to what students will face in their future jobs.

And by joining a global network of educators using the platform, they can extend the reach and impact of their teaching, further enhancing the educational experience with a wide array of perspectives and expertise from around the world.

Free Access for More Inclusive Education

One of the cornerstones of this initiative is its commitment to inclusivity. By offering the platform free of charge to students, educators, and academic institutions worldwide, 51风流University Alliances and HEC Montr茅al aim to ensure that aspiring leaders — regardless of geographic or socioeconomic barriers — have access to state-of-the-art resources.

This democratization of educational tools is critical for preparing diverse groups of students for what lies ahead, making sure they are ready to hit the ground running in the digital economy and data-centric world.

To find out more about the gaming platform, or visit .