Institutions around the world are navigating complex and dynamic contexts. The primary tool for doing this is strategic planning. The common approaches in higher education have emphasized the planning and underplayed the idea of strategy. The results have been uneven with many universities gaining little return on their efforts. And they are doing so at a time in which they have little capacity to waste. This session will focus on how university leaders can leverage the notion of strategy given their specific context and create the organizational space, time, and capacities to execute strategy.

The session designed for executive leaders in universities who currently manage complex challenges derived from external and internal transformation pressures. We will focus on developing a strategic vision, aligning it with institutional governance, and guiding diverse university stakeholders in executing the vision to drive high performance. Through a process-centered approach, participants will address their ability to govern effectively, execute strategies, and lead meaningful organizational change as members of the top management team.

Using examples from Harvard University and other universities in the US, this session will explore how institutions are navigating the impact of rapid technological advancements and their strategies to enable innovation, highlighting the applicability of these strategies beyond the US context. It will discuss various initiatives to adapt to and leverage new technology developments, with a focus on AI, while considering the realities faced by universities globally. The session will highlight approaches to integrating cutting-edge research and technology into curriculum and operations to enhance both academic and operational frameworks. Insights from Azeem Azhar’s "Exponential Age" will be used to contextualize these strategies, ensuring that the practices and guidelines shared are adaptable and relevant to academic leaders such as Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Deans from various institutions.

This session will discuss the implementation of the AI Regulation in the management university, highlighting the importance of compliance and respect for fundamental rights. Emerging codes of conduct and ethical frameworks that help integrate AI strategically and manager will also be discussed. The session will highlight, among others, transparency, human oversight and management of risks, ensuring a people-first AI within the framework of university governance.

This talk explains the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence to improve decision making and assessment and management systems in universities. It describes the current capabilities of Artificial Intelligence for classification, forecasting and content generation, and its potential to assist in decision making and strategy setting based on data, in all aspects of university activity. Examples of its use will be presented to improve teaching processes, evaluate teaching, and measure more accurately the results of research activities and the quality and efficiency of university administrative processes.

The massive adoption of generative artificial intelligence tools in the academic, professional and staff fields has shown that, in appropriate contexts, it produces high quality results and improves business productivity. In this new framework, the role of the human being will be primarily to ask questions. The development of a capacity for deep and articulate questioning will be core topic for learning and the role of the university.

In an increasingly volatile and competitive environment a university’s reputation, and an institution’s ability to develop and protect that reputation has never been more important. Whether it’s recruiting the best academics and students, attracting academic and industry partners, working with government and all that may entail, or maintaining our social licence to operate, reputation plays a fundamental role in delivering on institutional ambitions. This session will explore the opportunities and risks involved in proactively developing your institutional brand, what a reputation strategy needs to address and some of the practicalities of making this happen.  

In this workshop we explore how artificial intelligence could transform the university market in the coming years. Through the scenario planning methodology, participants will identify the trends core topic, opportunities and risks that AI presents for higher education Education . They will work on the construction of different future scenarios, evaluating their impact on aspects such as teaching, learning, institutional management and job opportunities. The goal is to provide academic leaders with strategic tools to prepare and adapt to these changes.