Beyond the Pilot: A Higher Education AI Roadmap and Action Guide

Higher education institutions worldwide have spent the past few years piloting and experimenting with AI. What comes next? Many institutions remain stuck in the piloting phase, uncertain about how to move toward institution-wide implementation.

This Executive Briefing introduces the Higher Education AI Roadmap, a structured framework that maps the institutional AI journey, outlines the changes that need to be managed along the way, and identifies the resources required to move forward.

Developed by the DEC University Leadership 2026 Working Group with 24 university leaders worldwide, the report provides two practical resources to support scaling:

• An AI Strategic Investment Proposal Template to define strategy, secure resources, and communicate impact

• A collection of institutional AI use cases with proven impact to guide implementation

The report is designed to help institutions move from experimentation to institution-wide adoption with greater clarity and confidence.