Closing Higher Education’s AI Readiness Gap with Human-First Transformation
Release Date: 05/19/2026
When AI Finds the Administrative Friction Higher Ed Leaders Miss
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Most AI conversations in higher education focus on the academic side. The administrative side gets less attention and is producing the bigger near-term financial wins for institutions willing to govern the rollout. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how AI is being applied across enrollment and advancement at institutions including Empire State University, Florida Southwestern State College, and Boise State University. Drawing on his career across Blackboard, Instructure, Kaltura, and now Gravyty, Beck walks through the specific case studies behind administrative AI adoption: a...
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Inside CSU’s ChatGPT Edu Rollout Across 22 Universities
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AI implementation in higher education is often framed as a technology question. California State University treated it as with technology as the catalyst, rolling out ChatGPT Edu to 22 universities in 18 months while running the largest AI survey ever conducted at a single university system. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how the system designed and executed its generative AI implementation and what the of 94,060 respondents reveals about AI adoption, faculty engagement, and student behavior. Drawing on her work co-leading the academic side of CSU's GenAI initiative,...
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AI in Higher Education: Bias, Procurement, and Human Oversight
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At sixteen, with straight A's in math and science, Dr. Karen Panetta's school career assessment told her to sell makeup or be a cook. A male friend with lower scores got engineer or politician. No AI was involved. Just a rules-based system applying gender and biographical filters to two teenagers. That same logic now sits inside AI tools landing in admissions offices and HR systems across higher ed, with one critical difference: AI does not eliminate human bias, it removes the human accountability that used to make bias correctable. In this episode of the , speaks with , Dean of Graduate...
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AI-First Business Education: How Kogod Transformed Culture, Curriculum, and Faculty Adoption
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Most business schools are still forming committees to figure out what to do about AI. Kogod School of Business at American University formed a committee, but far from the typical higher ed standards. Leadership gave it six weeks and a five-page limit, and used the recommendation to integrate AI into every department, major, and minor. Three years later, undergraduate enrollment is up 40%, applications are up 50%, and more than 90% of faculty are using AI in the classroom. In this episode of the , speaks with returning guests , Dean of the Kogod School of Business at American University, and ,...
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Closing Higher Education’s AI Readiness Gap with Human-First Transformation
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AI adoption in higher education is moving faster than institutional change models were built to handle. Students are already using AI at high rates, while many institutions are still trying to decide where AI belongs, who should lead it, and how much change is required. In this episode of the , speaks with , serial entrepreneur and founder of , about why higher education’s traditional playbook will not work in the AI age. Drawing on her work with Fortune 500 companies and AI implementation, Barua explains why AI should be treated as institutional infrastructure, not an IT project. She...
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Scaling Higher Education: An Entrepreneurial Approach to a Consolidating Market
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Scaling higher education is no longer a theoretical strategy. As the sector moves deeper into consolidation, institutional leaders need to confront whether their operating models, credential structures, partnerships, and delivery systems are built for the market ahead. In this episode of the , speaks with , about how an entrepreneurial mindset can help higher education respond to consolidation, AI disruption, and changing learner expectations. Drawing from his experience as co-founder of Jiffy Lube International and president of one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurship institutions,...
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Why College Presidents Need a Coalition for Civic Preparedness
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Civic preparedness in higher education can no longer be treated as an assumed byproduct of a college education. In this episode of the , speaks with , president of the , about how colleges and universities can rebuild the civic skills students need to navigate disagreement, evaluate credible information, and solve problems across difference. Drawing on his work with college presidents, faculty, employers, and Gen Z leaders, Vinnakota explains why higher education has drifted too far toward a private-good narrative focused almost entirely on jobs and individual outcomes. He makes the case that...
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International Enrollment Strategy: Taking Higher Education to the World
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International student enrollment in the United States reached record highs in 2024–2025, followed by a sharp and uneven decline heading into 2025–2026. While top-tier institutions continue to attract global talent, regional and private institutions are facing growing pressure as visa restrictions, geopolitical dynamics, and shifting perceptions of the U.S. reshape the enrollment landscape. In this episode of the , speaks with Executive Director of UC Berkeley’s International House, about how institutions must rethink international enrollment strategy in response to these structural...
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Higher Ed Technology Change Management and Digital Transformation
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Higher education's track record with technology change is uneven for a reason, and the reason is rarely the technology. It is whether leadership treats that runs from planning through sustainment, or as a rollout activity bolted on at the end. In this episode of the podcast, speaks with , Chief Strategy Officer at , about why technology projects in higher education succeed or fail on the strength of leadership behavior rather than tooling. Drawing on 23 years working with universities, nonprofits, and foundations, including Stanford and UC Davis, Toguchi explains how the institutions...
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Building Workforce Readiness Through Real Startup Experience
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Most institutions offer experiential learning. Few deliver it. The gap between the claim and the outcome is structural, and closing it requires more than a better course design. In this episode of the , speaks with , a for-credit startup incubator operating at eight universities, about what it actually takes to produce the depth of learning that institutions advertise but rarely achieve. Drawing on his experience founding and selling a technology company to Walmart, leading the entrepreneur center at Brigham Young University, and building Sandbox across multiple institutions, Crittenden...
info_outlineAI adoption in higher education is moving faster than institutional change models were built to handle. Students are already using AI at high rates, while many institutions are still trying to decide where AI belongs, who should lead it, and how much change is required.
In this episode of the Changing Higher Ed® podcast, Dr. Drumm McNaughton speaks with Nikki Barua, serial entrepreneur and founder of FlipWork, about why higher education’s traditional change management playbook will not work in the AI age.
Drawing on her work with Fortune 500 companies and AI implementation, Barua explains why AI should be treated as institutional infrastructure, not an IT project. She discusses the growing gap between technology adoption and human readiness, why many AI pilots fail, and how institutions can move from slow, episodic transformation to shorter, people-centered reinvention cycles.
This conversation is especially relevant for presidents, boards, provosts, CIOs, and senior leadership teams trying to prepare students, faculty, staff, and institutional systems for an AI-driven future.
Topics Covered
- Why incremental change management cannot keep pace with AI
- How AI differs from previous technology disruptions like the internet and mobile
- Why AI should be treated as infrastructure across the institution
- What the AI readiness gap means for higher education leaders
- Why many AI pilots fail when organizations focus on tools instead of people
- How AI may reshape entry-level jobs and the graduate talent pipeline
- Why skills-based hiring is changing what students need from higher education
- How faculty roles may shift from content delivery to mentorship, ethics, and judgment
- Why liberal arts and human skills may become more valuable in the AI age
- How human-in-the-loop design can improve AI use in enrollment, advising, and student support
- Why AI literacy must become a core institutional capability
Real-World Examples Discussed
- AI adoption among students far outpacing institutional readiness
- Corporate AI pilots failing because organizations did not prepare people to use the tools effectively
- Entry-level jobs shrinking or changing as AI takes over early-career tasks
- Employers moving toward skills-based hiring and project-specific teams
- AI tutors, teaching assistants, adaptive learning tools, and student support applications
- Enrollment chatbots that create frustration when they replace rather than support human interaction
- Human-in-the-loop workflows that know when to hand a student or prospect to a person
- Ethics in AI as a foundation for preparing graduates to use powerful tools responsibly
Three Key Takeaways for Higher Education Leadership
- AI is an opportunity for reinvention, not an IT project. Institutions should treat AI as a strategic leadership issue that affects competitive position, culture, academic delivery, student support, and institutional agility.
- Students are already ahead of many institutions. Without governance, ethical guidelines, and structured leadership, AI use can become unmanaged shadow AI across the institution.
- The cost of waiting grows exponentially. AI is advancing week by week, and institutions that delay action will face a widening readiness gap that becomes harder and more expensive to close.
This episode offers a direct look at why higher education cannot rely on its traditional pace of change in the AI age, and why institutional leaders must rethink what they offer that AI cannot replicate.
Read the transcript: https://changinghighered.com/closing-higher-educations-ai-readiness-gap/
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