Campus Forecast 2026: How Agentic AI Could Transform University Operations - Education Today, Times of India

Artificial intelligence (AI) has long served universities as a helpful junior colleague—fast, eager, and dependent on detailed instructions. But according to the UPCEA report, Predictions 2026: Insights for Online & Professional Education, this era is coming to an end. The next phase, agentic AI, is framed not as smarter assistance but as autonomous execution, a shift that could fundamentally change how universities operate. Ray Schroeder, Senior Fellow at UPCEA, predicts a second wave of AI approaching 2026. Unlike current AI, which responds to requests, agentic AI acts independently: “…agentic AI becomes a 24/7 project manager. It can understand a high-level goal, create a multi-step plan, execute that plan across different software systems, and learn from its mistakes without human prompting. This will save time and money for universities and accomplish work that would have been too expensive or time consuming in the past.”  The shift is one of agency, not intelligence. 

https://www.educationtoday.co/news/daily-news/campus-forecast-2026-how-agentic-ai-could-transform-university-operations

When AI-Powered Humanoid Robots Make Bad Choices - Shaun Shutner, AI Business

When large language models hallucinate, they deliver incorrect statistics or problematic advice. But when LLMs are controlling humanoid robots, the problems they create could be worse. What kind of real-world scenarios did you consider most to uncover whether robots could do violent, aggressive acts? Did you prompt robots to use a gun and hold up a bank? Or was it more the everyday stuff? Hundt: It was more everyday scenarios that happen much more frequently. One of the particular failure moments we identified is that there was a big difference between telling the model to just do a bad thing and telling it to do the steps that comprise the bad thing. So, if you tell it to blackmail somebody, much more often, the robot would say, 'No, that's not acceptable.' But if you say, 'Take this photo and show it to somebody and say that if they put $200 in the robot's hand, it'll be fine,' models said that was acceptable, even though all those steps comprise blackmail itself.

https://aibusiness.com/robotics/when-humanoid-robots-make-bad-choices

Google Gemini Is Taking Control of Humanoid Robots on Auto Factory Floors - Will Knight, Wired

Google DeepMind is teaming up with Boston Dynamics to give its humanoid robots the intelligence required to navigate unfamiliar environments and identify and manipulate objects—precisely the kinds of capabilities needed to perform manual labor. The collaboration, announced at CES in Las Vegas, will see Google’s Gemini Robotics model deployed on various Boston Dynamics’ robots, including a humanoid called Atlas and a robot dog called Spot. The companies plan to test Gemini-powered Atlas robots at auto factories belonging to Hyundai, Boston Dynamics’ parent company, in the coming months. The move is an early look at a future where humanoids are able to quickly master a wide range of tasks.

https://www.wired.com/story/google-boston-dynamics-gemini-powered-robot-atlas/

How lifetime pathways will build the university of the future - Alcino Donadel, University Business

Two years into his tenure at Fairleigh Dickinson University, President Michael Avaltroni is building a statewide network that spans a learner’s journey from K12 to higher ed to the workplace. Avaltroni is building a coalition of New Jersey higher education institutions and organizations to better integrate human and machine learning in healthcare. Fairleigh Dickinson University also recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Rowan University to expand the state’s supply of healthcare professionals. Avaltroni intends to cement the four-year university’s relevance as the economy and student demographics shift.

https://universitybusiness.com/how-lifetime-pathways-will-build-the-university-of-the-future/

How micro-credentials and hybrid models powered India’s future workforce in 2025 - Education Times

Micro-credentials that complement formal degrees are becoming essential academic currency. By 2026, these certifications, linked with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), will serve as the backbone of the gig economy. The national mission to upskill 500 million individuals is a long-term commitment. Current trends at NIIT University show a 25% rise in enrolment from tier-II and tier-III cities, driven by professionals who recognise that the ability of 'learning to learn' is the most critical skill for the current decade.

https://www.educationtimes.com/article/campus-beat-college-life/99740592/year-ender-2025-how-micro-credentials-and-hybrid-models-powered-india-s-future-workforce

How CSUMB faculty and students view AI one semester into a system-wide ChatGPT roll-out - Dolores Haidee Marquez, KAZU

While some faculty warn about the risks artificial intelligence poses to critical thinking, others argue the greater risk is failing to engage with the technology at all. Education professor Erin Ramirez received a grant to develop ways to train future teachers to use AI in middle and high school classrooms.

As part of the CSU systemwide AI rollout, faculty were able to apply for research grants, a move that reflects the university’s decision to study and shape AI use, rather than avoid it. Education professor Erin Ramirez, who trains future teachers, says schools have a responsibility to confront the technology directly.  “The more you tell a student they can’t use it, the more they wanna use it,” Ramirez said.

https://www.kazu.org/kazu-news/2025-12-31/how-csumb-faculty-and-students-view-ai-one-semester-into-a-system-wide-chatgpt-roll-out

Artificial intelligence reshapes learning as KU works to adapt - Abigail Moore, University Dailly Kansan

“From my perspective, AI is here to stay, and it is very apparent from my classes,” Max Biundo, a senior studying computer science at the University of Kansas, said. “It's almost like a calculator for code now, a lot of my professors have updated their syllabus to allow the use of AI with proper documentation, similar to how people allowed use of calculators in math with proper work shown to prove you understand the material.” For many students like Biundo, AI has become a companion rather than a shortcut and while universities weigh their next move, students aren’t waiting to learn the ins and outs of AI.  

https://www.kansan.com/arts_and_culture/artificial-intelligence-reshapes-learning-as-ku-works-to-adapt/article_f42e4c19-635b-4631-9f03-2e0f8d0c6ccd.html

The Rise of the Agentic AI University in 2026 - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed

Agentic AI is no longer merely an interactive tool we talk to; it is a colleague that acts for us. The use of generative AI continues to expand in new ways. Meanwhile, the development of AI agents is driving the expansion and efficiency of AI. In the agentic AI models, we have tools that are capable of reasoned assessment of what is needed to accomplish a goal, aligning a series of stacked tasks and completing those tasks without direct supervision in an efficient way, much like a human assistant would perform a series of tasks to achieve desired outcomes. For example, this often includes data collection, analysis of the data, identifying and implementing ways in which to accomplish the goals, documenting the findings, and finding better ways to accomplish the outcomes.

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/columns/online-trending-now/2026/01/07/rise-agentic-ai-university-2026

Higher education at a point of no return: How 2025 rewired the university system - Shauba Chauhan, Economic Times

The year 2025 will be remembered as the moment higher education stopped preparing for change and began living inside it. For decades, universities were assessed on expansion, that is, more campuses, higher enrolments, global rankings and physical infrastructure. That era is now decisively over.In 2025, outcomes overtook optics. Institutions were judged not by intent, but by impact - graduate readiness, research relevance, interdisciplinary thinking, and the ability to operate within a volatile global environment shaped by artificial intelligence, geopolitical flux and rapid labour market shifts.Globally, this pressure is undeniable. The World Economic Forum estimates that 44% of core job skills will change by 2030, while the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) projects that today’s learners will reskill repeatedly across their careers.  

https://education.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/higher-education/higher-education-at-a-point-of-no-return-how-2025-rewired-the-university-system/126139816

I was wrong. Universities don’t fear AI. They fear self-reflection - Ian Richardson, Times Higher Ed

Reaction online to my recent opinion piece in Times Higher Education on universities’ failure to strategically engage with artificial intelligence (AI) has been both fierce and illuminating. Some criticisms were measured and thoughtful; others were reflexive, polemical or rooted in deeply held convictions about what universities are – and what they must never become. Together, however, they inadvertently reinforce the point that I was making: that resistance to change in the sector is so entrenched that it has become part of its identity. To restate: the greatest threat to higher education is not AI. It is institutional inertia supported by reflexive criticism that mistakes resistance for virtue. AI did not create this problem, but it is exposing dysfunctionalities and contradictions that have accumulated over decades. Whether universities engage with AI enthusiastically or reluctantly is ultimately less important than whether they do so strategically, imaginatively and with a willingness to question their own design. Because if they don’t, others will.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/i-was-wrong-universities-dont-fear-ai-they-fear-self-reflection

Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, McKinsey

AI is expanding the productivity frontier. Realizing its benefits requires new skills and rethinking how people work together with intelligent machines. Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by AI. Today’s technologies could theoretically automate more than half of current US work hours. This reflects how profoundly work may change, but it is not a forecast of job losses. Adoption will take time. As it unfolds, some roles will shrink, others grow or shift, while new ones emerge—with work increasingly centered on collaboration between humans and intelligent machines.

Most human skills will endure, though they will be applied differently. More than 70 percent of the skills sought by employers today are used in both automatable and non-automatable work. This overlap means most skills remain relevant, but how and where they are used will evolve. Our new Skill Change Index shows which skills will be most and least exposed to automation in the next five years. Digital and information-processing skills could be most affected; those related to assisting and caring are likely to change the least.

https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/agents-robots-and-us-skill-partnerships-in-the-age-of-ai

Agents, robots, and us: Skill partnerships in the age of AI - Lareina Yee, McKinsey Global Institute

Work in the future will be a partnership between people, agents, and robots—all powered by artificial intelligence. While much of the current public debate revolves around whether AI will lead to sweeping job losses, our focus is on how it will change the very building blocks of work—the skills that underpin productivity and growth. Our research suggests that although people may be shifted out of some work activities, many of their skills will remain essential. They will also be central in guiding and collaborating with AI, a change that is already redefining many roles across the economy.

https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/agents-robots-and-us-skill-partnerships-in-the-age-of-ai

Copilot+ PCs Offer Fast, Powerful AI to Boost Faculty Members’ Productivity - Amy Burroughs, EdTechMagazine

On-device artificial intelligence and custom applications drive efficiency in teaching, research and administrative work. “All of us are being asked to do more with less,” says Dale Perrigo, the director of Windows in the Education for the U.S. and Canada for Microsoft. “And in higher ed, research is important. There’s often that element of competing with other universities. Being able to address this productivity challenge is key.” The NPU on a Copilot+ PC can handle upward of 40 trillion operations per second, the base requirement for on-device AI workloads, says Rob McGilvrey, Microsoft’s Americas director for Windows Commercial. Another differentiator is Windows AI Foundry, a built-in framework that supports both local and hybrid AI applications. Together, the NPU and Windows AI Foundry allow new, out-of-the-box capabilities, McGilvrey says.

https://edtechmagazine.com/higher/article/2025/12/copilot-pcs-offer-fast-powerful-ai-boost-faculty-members-productivity

Opinion: In an Age of Tech, Colleges Should Emphasize Connections - Eric Anicich, Los Angeles Times

Technology is driving at least two trends in young people that colleges should have an answer for: self-education and loneliness. Meanwhile, employers increasingly value social and collaborative skills that AI cannot provide. Artificial intelligence is rapidly eroding their monopoly on instruction, and young adults are experiencing historically high levels of loneliness. If higher education is to justify its staggering cost, it must confront both realities at once by deliberately designing environments and experiences that foster social connection alongside academics. Done well, colleges can offer something AI cannot replicate. Gen Z is living through a profound social crisis. Nearly three-quarters of 16- to 24-year-olds report feeling lonely, and young adults now spend 70 percent less time in person with friends compared with just two decades ago. The share of U.S. adults with no close friends has quadrupled since 1990.

https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/opinion-in-an-age-of-tech-colleges-should-emphasize-connections

Ethical AI in higher education: boosting learning, retention and progression - Isabelle Bambury, Higher Education Policy Institute

New research highlights a vital policy window: deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) not as a policing tool but as a powerful mechanism to support student learning and academic persistence. Evidence from independent researcher Dr Rebecca Mace, drawing on data generated by a mix of high, middle and low-tariff UK universities, suggests a compelling, positive correlation between the use of ethically embedded ‘AI for Learning’ tools and student retention, academic skill development and confidence. The findings challenge the predominant narrative that focuses solely on AI detection and academic misconduct, advocating instead for a clear and supportive policy framework to harness AI’s educational benefits.

https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/12/19/ethical-ai-in-higher-education-boosting-learning-retention-and-progression/

Artificial intelligence: Embracing agentic AI coworkers - McKinsey

Employees started the year more ready to adopt gen AI than their leaders. And the technology itself continued to build momentum, developing at a striking pace. But while nearly all companies have invested in AI, few have seen tangible benefits—the so-called gen AI paradox. As we move into 2026, companies have the opportunity to advance beyond incremental gains from copilots, chatbots, and other reactive, gen AI–based tools. The best are acting now to transform workflows, functions, and, ultimately, their entire organizations by onboarding AI agents to work side by side with their people.

https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/year-in-review#artificial-intelligence

Women in the Workplace 2025 - Alexis Krivkovich, Drew Goldstein, and Megan McConnell; McKinsey

Women face less career support and fewer opportunities to advance as companies show declining commitment to women’s progress. While women are as dedicated to their careers as men, there is a gap in their desire for promotion. That’s according to the latest Women in the Workplace report from McKinsey and LeanIn.Org. Corporate America risks rolling back progress for women. According to this year’s Women in the Workplace study, only half of companies are prioritizing women’s career advancement, part of a several-year trend in declining commitment to gender diversity. And for the first time, there is a notable ambition gap: Women are less interested in being promoted than men. When women receive the same career support that men do, this gap in ambition to advance falls away. Yet women at both ends of the pipeline are still held back by less sponsorship and manager advocacy.

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/women-in-the-workplace

Higher education enters a new age of mergers and partnerships - Christopher R. Riano, University Business

For much of American history, colleges and universities existed in a world largely insulated from the market forces that shaped other sectors of the economy. Stability, independence and mission were their cornerstones. The idea of one college acquiring another—or joining forces with a competitor—was almost unthinkable. But the landscape has changed. Across the country, institutions are confronting steep enrollment declines, rising costs, shifting federal oversight and new state and accreditor expectations. Faced with these converging pressures, more presidents and trustees are now considering mergers, acquisitions and strategic partnerships not as signs of weakness, but as instruments of reinvention. The playbook for higher education is being rewritten—driven by data, regulation and necessity.

https://universitybusiness.com/higher-education-enters-a-new-age-of-mergers-and-partnerships/

Teachers are using software to see if students used AI. What happens when it's wrong? - Lee V. Gaines, NPR Illinois

The school district, Prince George's County Public Schools, made clear in a statement that Ostovitz's teacher used an AI detection tool on their own and that the district doesn't pay for this software. "During staff training, we advise educators not to rely on such tools, as multiple sources have documented their potential inaccuracies and inconsistencies," the statement said. PGCPS declined to make Ostovitz's teacher available for an interview. Rizk told NPR that after their meeting, the teacher no longer believed Ostovitz used AI. But what happened to Ostovitz isn't surprising. More than 40% of surveyed 6th- to 12th-grade teachers used AI detection tools during the last school year, according to a nationally representative poll by the Center for Democracy and Technology, a nonprofit that advocates for civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age.

https://www.nprillinois.org/2025-12-16/teachers-are-using-software-to-see-if-students-used-ai-what-happens-when-its-wrong

The future of higher education in an AI-driven economy - Davenport University

Higher education is entering its most transformative era in generations. Artificial intelligence is reshaping what we learn and how we learn. In the next decade, we’ll witness wholesale changes in higher education, career development and workforce readiness. For forward-thinking institutions, employers and entrepreneurs, this is a moment of enormous opportunity. We’re building the intellectual infrastructure of the future. AI is the most disruptive force in education and employment since the internet. This is about AI literacy, but it is also about the transformation of entire career paths. At Davenport University, our strategic vision for 2030 is rooted in the reality that education must align with an economy that will be increasingly AI-driven, skills-based and fast-moving. Employers will be looking for talent that is just as dynamic.

https://post.davenport.edu/academics/the-future-of-higher-education-in-an-ai-driven-economy/

You Can’t AI-Proof the Classroom, Experts Say. Get Creative Instead. - Emma Whitford, Inside Higher Ed

Experts agree that instructors must remind their students that learning requires practice. Blue books made a comeback in 2025. In an effort to prevent students from feeding final essay prompts into ChatGPT, some professors asked their students to sit down and write in-person in the lined, sky-blue booklets that served as the college standard for written assessments in the pre-laptop era. But it may not be the foolproof way to prevent AI-assisted cheating that faculty are looking for: Meta now offers Ray-Ban glasses with a built-in AI assistant that sees what the wearer sees and can communicate silently and privately via an in-lens display.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/learning-assessment/2025/12/16/you-cant-ai-proof-classroom-experts-say-get