Available to Advance HE Members only.
Smarter Futures addresses how higher education needs to evolve rapidly while maintaining quality and accessibility through three expert-led online events. These events will demonstrate how AI and digital technologies can transform your institutional efficiency.
You’ll discover how you could reduce operational inefficiencies, enhance both staff and student experiences, and leverage data for strategic planning. Beyond the sessions, you’ll gain access to peer networks, resources, and a comprehensive sector report highlighting emerging best practices. It’s designed specifically for senior leaders who need actionable solutions, not just theoretical frameworks.
Three Expert-Led Online Events
Are you interested in joining?
Bookings for the sessions are now open. These sessions are for Advance HE members, don’t miss out!
Alternatively, you can register your interest to be kept up to date about the member benefit and receive project outputs.
What You’ll Gain
- Improved Understanding – Discover how AI and digital solutions can be practically applied to reduce inefficiencies, enhance experiences, and support strategic planning in your own context.
- Enhanced Collaboration – Increased knowledge exchange between institutions, with new cross-sector connections formed through shared challenges and innovations.
- Building Awareness – Stronger understanding of current and emerging digital practices as we capture and disseminates insights from the series.
- Data-Informed Decisions – Enhanced ability to make strategic decisions and implement scalable, efficient solutions aligned with long-term organisational goals.
In today’s rapidly evolving higher education landscape, we’re constantly balancing the need for innovation with operational sustainability. Smarter Futures gives you practical insights from experts and peers on how to harness AI and technology to reduce inefficiencies, enhance our students’ and staff experience, and make strategic decisions backed by data. It’s not just theory – it’s actionable intelligence that could help you stay competitive while maintaining educational excellence and these cross-institutional events could open doors to partnerships and solutions.
Elliot Spaeth – Senior Consultant, Inclusive Education
Three Expert-Led Online Events
Smarter Systems with AI
Automating Processes to Improve Staff and Student Experience
Date: Tuesday 9 June
Time: 13:00-14:30pm BST
Discover practice and tools that improve the staff and student experience through smarter, more efficient processes.
Keynote Speaker: Al Kingsley
Contributors: Samuel Saunders and Jody Sailor
AI and Digital Decisions
Leveraging Data to Drive Resilience and Agility
Date: Tuesday 26 May
Time: 13:00-14:30pm BST
This session equips institutions with practical tools to strengthen decision-making in an AI-enabled environment.
It introduces a Decision Readiness Diagnostic, a clear framework for defining high-quality decisions, and a focused 6-12 month action playbook outlining what to stop, fix and trial.
Together, these tools support more confident, transparent and strategically aligned use of data and digital solutions for planning, delivery and service improvement in an uncertain environment.
Keynote Speaker: Martha Horler
Contributors: Robin Gibson, Narinder Gill and Beth Lane
AI for Impact (Fully Booked)
Transforming Institutional Efficiency with Smart Technologies
Date: Tuesday 12 May
Time: 10:00-11:30am BST
This session provides practical tools to turn AI ambition into strategic impact.
It introduces an AI Impact Alignment Tool to link AI initiatives to institutional priorities and measurable outcomes, an Efficiency vs Impact framework to create a shared language across teams and a focused 6-12 month AI Action Plan outlining what to stop, fix and trial.
Together, these tools support confident, transparent and strategically aligned use of AI across higher education.
Keynote Speaker: Mary Curnock Cook CBE
Contributors: Dr Chris Trace and Simon Thomson
Lead Associate
Dr Miri Firth PFHEA
Academic Lead for Flexible Assessment
The University of Manchester
Speakers
Mary Curnock Cook CBE
Independent Education Expert
Dr Chris Trace
Chief Academic Officer, KEATH.ai Ltd
Simon Thomson
Director of Flexible Lifelong Learning
Cardiff University
Martha Horler
Higher Education Data Specialist
Al Kingsley
EdTech Advisor, Mentor, Author and Speaker
Robin Gibson
Director of External Affair, Kortext
Narinder Gill
Educational Leader, Executive Coach and Author
Beth Lane
Award-Winning AI Education Leader
Samuel Saunders
Educational Developer in the Centre for Innovation in Education
University of Liverpool
Jody Sailor
Senior Director of Academic Strategy and Innovation at Instructure
