Beyond the Classroom: Building Leadership Capacity for AI in Higher Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming higher education, extending beyond pedagogy into governance and leadership. While AI offers potential for efficiency, predictive analytics, and evidence-based decision-making, the preparedness of higher education leaders to integrate these technologies remains underexplored.This study examines leadership preparedness at Regent College London (RCL) through an interpretivist qualitative case study of ten senior leaders. Semi-structured interviews were thematically analyzed to capture leaders’ awareness, preparedness, ethical considerations, and infrastructural needs. Findings reveal wide disparities in AI awareness, with many leaders limiting its relevance to student use. Preparedness was constrained by technical skill gaps, lack of structured training, and institutional inertia. Ethical reflections were often superficial, centered on plagiarism rather than systemic risks such as bias, accountability, or fairness. Infrastructure challenges included budget limitations, bureaucratic procurement, and fragmented systems, while some leaders reported being paralyzed by the abundance of available tools.The study contributes in three ways: it highlights that gaps in AI literacy and ethics extend into leadership, where their implications for governance are significant; it shows that infrastructural challenges stem as much from cultural misalignment as from resource scarcity; and it develops a conceptual framework linking awareness, infrastructure, ethics, and preparedness, moderated by institutional context. While grounded in a single institution, this framework is transferable to other higher education settings, offering institutions a lens to assess readiness and build capacity. By shifting attention from pedagogy to leadership, the study provides both theoretical insight and actionable strategies for AI adoption in higher education.Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Higher Education Leadership, Governance and Decision-Making, Preparedness and Capacity Building, Ethics and Accountability, Digital Transformation in Education