Why I Started a Doctorate in My Sixties

When I tell people that I started a doctorate in my sixties, the first reaction is almost always the same: "Why?"

It's a fair question. By most standards, I had already built a successful career. I had spent more than 35 years working internationally in marketing, innovation, and leadership, held executive positions in global companies, started my own consulting business, and taught executives and university students. I had also completed both an M.Sc. and an MBA many years earlier.

So why return to university? The honest answer is simple. Because I was curious.

I've never believed that learning has an expiration date. Every major stage of my career has been accompanied by new learning. I completed my MBA while working full-time because I wanted to become a better leader. Years later I earned professional certificates in project management and adult learning because my work was changing again.

Then came artificial intelligence. Like many people, I watched the arrival of ChatGPT with a mixture of fascination and scepticism. Everyone seemed convinced that AI would change everything. Yet when I spoke with business leaders, I noticed something curious. Companies were investing heavily in AI, launching pilots, and experimenting enthusiastically. But relatively few were creating real business value.

That question stayed with me. Why do organizations keep investing in AI without learning how to make it work?

The more I searched for answers, the more I realized that this wasn't simply a technology problem. It was an organizational challenge involving leadership, culture, learning, and change.

At first, the idea of pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration felt almost unrealistic. Was I too old? Would I have the energy? Did I really want to spend the next three years reading academic papers, conducting research, and writing a dissertation?

Eventually, I realized I was asking the wrong question. Instead of asking, "Am I too old?" I began asking, "Am I still curious enough?" The answer was an immediate yes.

Today I am pursuing a DBA in Emerging Technologies and Generative AI at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. My research focuses on why organizations struggle to turn AI investments into meaningful business outcomes.

What surprises me most isn't the workload, although there is certainly plenty of that. It's how differently I approach learning today compared with when I was in my twenties.

Back then, education was largely about building a career. Today, it is about making sense of decades of experience.

Every academic paper I read connects with real organizations I have worked with. Every interview I conduct reminds me that behind every technology project are people trying to solve genuine business problems. Research has become less about collecting knowledge and more about connecting ideas.

And there is another unexpected benefit. Studying alongside classmates from different countries and industries has reminded me that learning is one of the few places where age matters remarkably little. Curiosity has a way of putting everyone on equal footing.

People sometimes ask whether I regret not starting the doctorate earlier. I don't. In many ways, I think I am doing it at exactly the right time.

The experiences accumulated over four decades in business give context to every theory I study. Equally, the research challenges many assumptions I have developed during my career. Practice informs theory, and theory sharpens practice.

That combination has been incredibly rewarding. If there is one lesson I hope others might take from my journey, it is this: Learning is not something we finish before life begins. Learning is how we continue growing throughout life.

A doctorate in your sixties isn't about proving that you can still study. It's about proving, to yourself more than anyone else, that curiosity doesn't retire.