Global investment in artificial intelligence is expected to hit US$815.9 billion by 2028 – that's the equivalent of around A$1.2 trillion. Use of the technology is accelerating across the Asia–Pacific (APAC) region to improve healthcare, streamline manufacturing, and strengthen public services.
Artificial intelligence (AI) in education has expanded too. In Australia, AI is gaining particular momentum in the tertiary education sector and the regulator, Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), has issued guidance on how it can be used responsibly to support student success.
AI in tertiary education was the central topic at an APAC roundtable event hosted by Ellucian in Sydney in June 2025, where senior leaders gathered to discuss its impact and potential in the sector.
Their insights were included in our recently published white paper in collaboration with Nous Group ‘From Pilots to Transformation: Scaling AI for Student Success in Higher Education’, which offers clear strategies institutions can adopt to move beyond small-scale pilots toward an AI-enabled digital transformation with student success at its core.
Below are some of the key findings from the white paper.
What Can Tertiary Education Institutions Learn From Business To Scale AI?
The white paper underlined the importance of the lessons institutions can take from business and industry when scaling AI for students, faculty, and staff in tertiary education.
Private sector organisations have shown that success often comes from keeping the focus on the human experience, rather than the technology. Uber, the ride-sharing company, prioritised convenience for its customers, as well as making its app easy to use. Online-only bank Monzo and global retailer Amazon redesigned traditional business models along with payment, logistics, and the use of data for a digital age to create new value, rather than replicating what had come before online.
Institutions that move beyond simply digitising existing practices and take a human-first, system-wide approach to AI are best placed to ensure the technology engages students in their learning, guides them toward the right skills, and supports their long-term career development.
There was broad agreement among senior leaders of the growing need for the sector to shift focus away from detecting AI-generated student work to explore how AI can be used to enhance their experience of tertiary education.
How Can Institutions Scale AI To Support Student Success?
Three key strategies emerged from the white paper to help institutions develop their use of AI.
- Avoid more pilots or layering AI onto existing systems
To scale effectively, AI initiatives should be designed around core aims, academic values and daily operational demands. A rethink may be needed to ensure strategic plans, governance, teaching, and student services still work effectively together. - Build trust, skills, and a culture for AI
Faculty and staff need to be confident the technology will be used responsibly. This means investment in training and a safe environment where people can experiment and discuss concerns openly. - Factor equity and ethics in from the start
AI can help personalise learning and widen access. But it’s key to proactively address the digital divide, minimise bias, maintain strong governance, and involve students in AI policy to ensure it truly supports their success.
Institutions expanded on this with insights into how AI can be scaled effectively and sustainably across Asia Pacific for the benefit of students.
1. AI to enhance students' learning and career development
AI literacy should be regarded as a core academic skill and embedded into the curriculum alongside other teaching priorities. Graduates will enter workplaces where AI is part of everyday practice, so students need to understand how it can be applied across fields ranging from nursing and law to engineering and the arts.
At the University of Technology Sydney, pathology students are already using AI tools to deepen their knowledge and get more from the experience of clinical placements, for example. With AI becoming more prominent in Australia’s tertiary education sector, assessment methods are also evolving to properly evaluate students’ ability to use the tools effectively and ethically.
UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales) has developed a course attended by both staff and students to build technical skills, confidence and a broader understanding of how AI can be used more effectively across the institution. Initiatives like this will be critical to ensure students are adequately prepared for an AI-enabled future.
2. Using AI to Deliver Equity and inclusion in Tertiary Education
AI has the potential to help staff ensure learning is more closely personalised to each student’s individual needs, but safeguards are essential to ensure all students benefit equally.
Not all students have the same access to technology, for example, and there are growing numbers of students who are neurodiverse or those studying part time. Some groups with complex needs could be at a disadvantage or might struggle to complete their courses if their needs are not met.
Institutions are building digital equity checks into AI planning to improve equality and accessibility. This can highlight where changes are needed to ensure all students have access to up-to-date devices, reliable internet or accessible software and are well supported.
The effectiveness of AI as a tool to help institutions identify and remove bias from automated feedback and assessments is also being explored. When used strategically in these ways, institutions can use AI to deliver fairer, more inclusive learning for all students.
3. AI and academic integrity
Academic freedom is rigorously protected in the tertiary education sector, but the rise of AI can create tensions between an institution’s drive to innovate and its need to safeguard academic quality, control, and integrity.
Senior leaders recognised the value of giving faculty and staff time and space to experiment with AI in teaching and learning and the need to protect their autonomy. Questions around AI policy should not prevent academics from bringing new methods of teaching to their students to improve engagement and achievement. They should simply spark discussions around how to innovate in ways that uphold academic judgment and expertise.
As part of its commitment to responsible AI experimentation for student success, UNSW is drawing expertise from its faculty seeking recognition as a world leader in the development of AI as a safe, reliable and ubiquitous technology for global benefit. Part of this commitment is to ensure AI use upholds academic integrity and ethical practices across learning and assessment.
4. The governance of AI in tertiary education
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in Australia's tertiary education sector, governance frameworks need to keep pace.
Institutions acknowledged that historical rules around file sharing and data management must be updated to reduce risk and prevent sensitive information from being exposed to third-party applications when AI tools are used.
To address this, new governance frameworks are being developed with both staff and students involved in decision-making. These collaborative AI governance strategies provide clear guidelines for the safe and ethical use of AI, including feedback channels to monitor how tools are being used so improvements can be made to guidelines as the technology evolves.
How Can Ellucian Help Unlock the Potential of AI in Tertiary Education Institutions?
Purpose-built for tertiary education, our solutions incorporate the latest advances in AI technology to help institutions across Australia and globally to overcome the challenges they face.
Find out how you can use our AI-enabled solutions to:
- Predict and identify at-risk students so the right support can be delivered at the right time to ensure they succeed.
- Allow students and advisors to plot progress in real time and find the optimal path to completion of their academic programme – automatically accounting for unexpected grades, changing career requirements, course availability and students' scheduling preferences.
- Provide a smart virtual assistant that uses natural language to answer questions from students on-demand, 24/7 – including over 800 questions from financial experts which can be tailored to each institution.
- Get critical insights from data to inform institutional decision-making and personalise learning to improve student outcomes.
- Slash time spent on time-consuming routine tasks so staff and students can focus on achieving their goals.
Download the full white paper 'From Pilots to Transformation: Scaling AI for Student Success in Higher Education' today.
