Takeaways from Ellucian Live
The ‘Mile High City’ of Denver in the US became the centre of global higher education innovation between 19 and 22 April, as Ellucian Live 2026 brought together more than 6,000 attendees from 1,100 higher education institutions across 25 countries.
This year saw the highest attendance from UK higher education institutions in recent years, with senior leaders travelling across the Atlantic to explore the latest developments in Software as a Service (SaaS), AI-enabled innovation, and the future direction of the Ellucian Student ecosystem.
As I soaked up the atmosphere at this truly impressive event, the mood was unmistakable. Institutions are moving decisively forward from digital ambition to active transformation, with student success at the centre of it all.
In the spotlight were the technology and tools shaping the next phase of higher education transformation, where SaaS is the technical foundation everything is built on, Agentic AI is set to change the way institutions are doing things, and measurable outcomes are the benchmark for success.
These themes came to life most clearly for UK delegates in on-site visits, customer sessions and roundtable discussions, where they could get a glimpse of how institutions are already putting these tools into practice.
Here are five of the biggest takeaways UK universities brought home from Ellucian Live 2026.
1. Ellucian Student has evolved to tackle complexity in higher education – not just scale
One of the standout moments of Ellucian Live 2026 was the global unveiling of Ellucian Student — the next evolution of Ellucian’s SaaS journey. This marks a shift from systems of record to systems of intelligence, designed to support decision-making and student success in real time.
At its core are embedded AI capabilities that provide insights, recommendations, and automation, while keeping educators and administrators in control. It highlighted Ellucian’s continued investment in Agentic AI to automate thousands of workflows across the student lifecycle, reducing administrative burden and freeing up teams to focus on higher value activity. Underpinned by institutional rules and decades of sector expertise, Ellucian’s approach ensures AI is trusted, explainable, and practical — helping institutions not just manage complexity, but actively respond to it.
2. SaaS is already showing clear operational benefits for universities
Institutions based in the UK were particularly interested in how the move from legacy, on-premises systems to SaaS is progressing in other areas of the globe.
With SaaS adoption in the US now so well established, delegates were able to see realistic examples of how their institutions could standardise systems and processes to benefit fully from the change. What stood out was not just the technology shift itself, but how institutions approached digital transformation. Rather than focusing on system changes, many underlined how SaaS supports broader institutional priorities such as improved service delivery, insight from data and more responsive ways of working across faculty and departments.
One of the standout moments of this year’s event was the opportunity for a group of UK and APAC delegates to step beyond the conference centre and onto the campuses of Georgetown University and Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (part of PASSHE,) as part of a US Study Tour. Delegates were given a warm welcome by the institutions and shown SaaS in action first-hand.
Georgetown’s own journey to SaaS was a carefully planned, phased approach to ensure the institution could continue to support around 20,000 students across four campuses. Universities that have gone through this transition emphasised how important their ongoing relationship with Ellucian is to their continued evolution, and how change management expertise smooths the adoption of new tools and functionality. This momentum is reflected in the more than 26 SaaS go-lives completed globally by our teams in Q1 of 2026 alone.
A common theme in feedback was how familiar and intuitive the student-facing interface felt, as it was highlighted as particularly strong in enabling self-service and reducing friction. Delegates noted the flexibility of the SaaS Platform, particularly in how content and access could be tailored to different users, making it both user-friendly and scalable across complex institutions.
Critically, seeing the solution in practice helped bring the technology to life. Attendees spoke about how it reinforced confidence in what is possible for UK institutions — from improving agility in responding to policy or external change, to streamlining operations and reducing administrative workload. There was also clear recognition of the value in moving towards a fully SaaS model, with the visit helping institutions better understand both the end-state vision and the practical steps required to get there.
As UK universities continue to face tight budgets, operational pressures and regulatory complexity, SaaS is increasingly being viewed as a long-term technical solution to build institutional resilience and agility with less disruption to the day-to-day.
3. Collaboration models highlight the value of a shared future
One theme that continually emerged was how important collaboration has become for supporting the higher education sector in the US. There are clear parallels for UK institutions navigating challenges back home that might be considering a collaboration or shared services approach.
Kutztown University of Pennsylvania is one institution that operates as part of a shared financial model adopted across the wider PASSHE group, but maintains its own priorities and decision-making processes. Within this structure, institutions may work together to implement and embed new systems and teams might share best practice or lessons learned. Training resources are also shared to help staff and students get the most from the technology. But the real value of collaboration lies in reduced duplication, accelerated innovation and institutions that have access to collective experience they would struggle to build alone.
4. Data, insight and AI are being used to strengthen human decision-making
AI is no longer experimental in US higher education. It is already widely used by many institutions to make better decisions, faster. As UK universities move on from isolated pilots to more consistent use of these tools, it’s interesting to look at some of the higher education trends in AI use that have been seen in the US.
The findings of a survey shared at the event showed how quickly adoption has accelerated. Over 90% of university administrators now use AI at work, and more than 40% of institutions are already including it in their strategic plans and budgets.
The drivers are practical, with around 55% focused on using AI to improve efficiency, 52% using it to increase student outcomes and success, and 35% adopting it to keep pace with wider technological change.
Interestingly, conversational AI is supporting students in many institutions with everyday queries around areas such as financial aid, fees and payment plans. Many are also using it to help staff automate workloads, such as managing alumni engagement and communications more efficiently, a trend that is also mirrored in the UK.
More universities are also finding the value of AI is in improving the quality of the information staff use to inform their decisions, respond more consistently to students’ questions and offer the skills and courses employers want. What came through clearly is that AI is only as effective as the data that underpins it. Institutions seeing the strongest results are those that have already done the work to ensure their data is accurate, up to date and trusted by staff and students. The opportunity then is less about the actual adoption of AI and more about how it is governed and embedded into teaching and learning, so that it can be used well to help students succeed.
5. Technology is expanding from single systems to whole ecosystems
Institutions have moved away from thinking about individual systems in isolation. In the US they are more concerned with how well tools connect not just internally, but with the employers, placement partners and external services that increasingly shape the student experience.
UK universities got a taste of how seamlessly a modern student information solution like Ellucian Student can integrate with other tools a university might use in curriculum planning, timetabling or to create student access cards, rather than locking them into a single way of operating. With more options, many US universities are now less focused on replacing their entire technology infrastructure all at once and concentrating more on improving how their existing systems connect with each other. Upgrades can then happen over time.
This gave universities in the UK that are still reliant on legacy systems more confidence that phased modernisation can deliver the flow of data and processes they need to retain students, operate efficiently and meet their goals.
Ellucian Live 2026 was a realistic testing ground for what digital transformation in higher education can look like, so UK universities do not have to start from a blank sheet.
That change is already happening as institutions upgrade to take advantage of AI and automation, connect systems they want to bring in and build from there in a more joined-up way.
The question now is, what could institutions achieve if their systems and partnerships are purposely designed not for today, but for the decade ahead?
Let’s connect to find out how we can help your institution prepare for a fully connected, AI-enabled future.
