"The dramatic enhancement in the capability of AI as it moves from bots to agents will bring about efficiencies and have a far greater impact on the day-to-day operations, strategies and effectiveness of our institutions. We will become less expensive, more personalized and more responsive to students and employers. Those are big claims, so for this column, I turned to my personal assistant, Google Gemini 2.5 Pro on Nov. 1, 2025, to help me with identifying the pathway to those outcomes."
"Caveats In this article, I can only hit the high points along the way in developing an agentic AI-enhanced university. This is merely a broad-brush, incomplete view that each university should adjust and enhance in order to meet its structures and needs. I also encourage you to read the valuable McKinsey article " Deploying agentic AI with safety and security: A playbook for technology leaders," published on Oct. 15, 2025, for important security and safety information."
"Gemini Pro prefaced its recommendations with: This will take significant thought and planning across the university. It will be important that we include all members of the university community to make this a coordinated, comprehensive change that will significantly advance the efficiency, effectiveness and relevance of the institution. Timing is important. We must begin immediately if we hope to have major changes in place before the end of 2027. Let's begin!"
Agentic AI transitioning from bots to agents will generate significant efficiencies across university operations, strategies, and effectiveness. Universities will become less expensive, more personalized, and more responsive to students and employers. Immediate planning and coordinated implementation are necessary to achieve major changes by the end of 2027. An executive task force formed in the first half of 2026 should include the chief information officer, chief financial officer, provost, vice president of enrollment, and vice president of operations. Safety, security, and system mapping require attention, and pilot funding and stakeholder inclusion must be prioritized.
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