This conversation, recorded live at EDUCAUSE 2026, cuts through the buzzwords and crisis headlines to explore what truly matters in higher education—to the people who work and learn in it.
Higher education leaders are moving artificial intelligence from isolated pilots to responsible, mission-driven scale. Their lessons: prioritize data, infrastructure, talent, equity, and measurable outcomes.
AI is forcing higher education leaders to rethink traditional planning. As colleges and universities face rapid changes in AI capabilities, costs, and demand, leaders discuss strategies for staying flexible, choosing the right tools for specific needs, and ensuring AI investments support institutional priorities. This conversation highlights strategies for these uncertainties.
Proposed changes to federal grant regulations could affect how colleges and universities are awarded and manage grant funding. The proposals from the Office of Management and Budget, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education would introduce changes to grant compliance, award management, allowable costs, and continuation funding.
After shoulder surgery limited the use of his dominant arm, a faculty member used generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to support teaching, research, communication, and software development. His experience shows how GenAI can reduce barriers to meaningful work while introducing new demands for verification and judgment.
Sophie and guest host Isaac Galvan talk with Kelly Crisp and Mat Flower about the current landscape of higher education cybersecurity awareness and how institutions can communicate and build controls to address the complex and changing nature of cybersecurity and privacy. Mat also shares his reflections on the human toll of a cyber incident and discusses how the higher education community can collaborate as a sector to combat cyberattacks.
Many higher education institutions treat artificial intelligence (AI) in education as a single category. A four-layer framework helps institutional leaders distinguish AI adoption from AI readiness and identify gaps in AI policies and investments, including limited support for profession-specific AI competency.
A panel of higher education IT leaders challenges five persistent myths about CIO success, revealing the diverse backgrounds, leadership styles, and career paths that define the role today while highlighting how CIOs drive institutional strategy, innovation, resilience, and collaboration.
As colleges and universities accelerate adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), leaders need a practical framework for evaluating AI workloads and determining how those workloads should be governed, funded, and supported.
Sophie and Jenay talk with Mark McCormack and Stan Waddell live at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. They discuss the 2027 EDUCAUSE Top 10 to explore the top issues for higher education leaders in the “age of perpetual change.”
