Higher Ed Tech Officers Navigating “Age of Perpetual Change”

DENVER—Navigating the age of artificial intelligence was top of mind for the 7,000-plus educators, information technology professionals and vendors who convened last week for Educause 2026, the ed-tech sector’s largest annual conference.

Demonstrations of new AI-powered learning products, towering vendor booths and posters about institutional approaches to incorporating AI into campus operations filled the exhibit hall at the Colorado Convention Center. Meanwhile, speakers from higher learning institutions across the country dished out advice on combating rising cybersecurity threats, teaching AI literacy and keeping humans at the center of conversations about AI.

All of it underscored just how much AI has disrupted higher education.

In the four years since large language models went mainstream with the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, colleges and universities have been consumed with concerns about academic integrity and preparing students for an uncertain labor market. In response, scores of colleges have invested in AI-powered learning tools, despite nearly nonexistent independent research showing their widespread efficacy. At the same time, radical changes to higher education policy are afoot at the state and federal level, including the introduction of student loan caps and program earnings tests and attempts to control what subjects faculty can research and teach.

“There’s so much change happening around us, and we need to be honest about the challenges,” Mark McCormack, senior director of research and insights at Educause, said to a packed ballroom Thursday morning. “But we’re also discovering new ways to educate and build community. We can and are adapting, and we’re figuring out how to do that with a sense of purpose and with a connection to the people we serve.”

Technology leaders’ feelings of uncertainty around AI are reflected in the 2027 Educause Top 10, which McCormack unveiled at the event and dubbed “the age of perpetual change.” The list outlines key focus areas the organization compiled based on interviews with leaders, expert panel recommendations and a survey of 882 technology leaders across hundreds of institutions.

Determining where AI adds real value topped the list, the first time an AI-related item has been No. 1 on the Educause top 10. Leaders also said responsible innovation, strong data governance and future-proofing students for a volatile world would be top of mind in the coming year.

“But this doesn’t signal consensus as much as it signals urgency—a real, immediate need to determine where AI belongs in our institutions,” McCormack said. “AI is everywhere. Most of us are using it. Many of us use it frequently, but adopting new technology simply because it’s there isn’t good enough. It has to serve a purpose. It has to be in service to, not at the expense of, our mission in higher education.”

Resisting AI-related change altogether isn’t a productive strategy, either, said Melody Buckner, associate vice provost of digital learning and online initiatives for the University of Arizona. “We need to help our people get comfortable with change and to settle into the idea that we’re always going to be evolving, we’re always going to be growing,” she said during a panel discussion about the list. “Because if we’re not growing, we’re actually dying.”

But part of getting faculty, staff and students comfortable with change, Buckner added, is building trust and support on a personal level, echoing No. 9 on the list: meeting stakeholders where they are with AI. “Sometimes people don’t want a solution right away. Sometimes people just want to be listened to, to be heard.”

Including more voices in those conversations about change—especially when it comes to AI—is also critical to leading colleges and universities through uncertain times, said Lori Robbins, head of AI strategy at Denison University in Ohio.

“Participation in planning and in tech rollouts is really going to help build ownership and excitement,” she said during a panel about strategies for implementing the top 10 list on campus. “If you’re unclear with your expectations for a new technology, people fill in that gap with anxiety and fear. They don’t really want to use it because they don’t feel like they’re comfortable or confident enough to use it.”

In addition, different stakeholders may need different degrees of help learning how to use new technology.

“We’re all still figuring it out. These are complicated tools, and our feelings about them are complicated,” McCormack said. “The people we support at our institutions represent a wide range of experiences and comfort with using these tools, and our approaches to providing support have to accommodate that range of AI-readiness and need on our campuses.”