Local Government
Education
Government
Health and Community Services
Asset and Project Intensive Industries
Financials and Corporate
App Builder
Business Analytics
Corporate Performance Management
Curriculum Management
Enterprise Asset Management
Enterprise Budgeting
Enterprise Cash Receipting
Enterprise Content Management
Financials
Guide
Human Resources & Payroll
Performance Planning
Plus
Property & Rating
Spatial
Student Management
Supply Chain Management
Timetabling & Scheduling
DxP Student
About SaaS+
Our Solutions
ERP in 30 Days
Security
About Us
Investor Relations
Life@Tech1
Foundation
Careers
Login
Customer community
Enterprise App StoreArtificial intelligence has rapidly moved from a future-facing concept to a boardroom priority across higher education.
Across Australia and New Zealand, education providers are exploring how AI can improve student outcomes, streamline operations and better support staff. Yet while the conversation around AI has accelerated, many leaders face a fundamental question: how can they move from experimentation to meaningful impact?
New Forrester research, commissioned by TechnologyOne and based on a survey of more than 300 education leaders across Australia and New Zealand, provides a snapshot of where the sector stands today. The findings reveal strong ambition, growing investment and significant opportunity, while highlighting some challenges institutions will need to address as AI adoption matures.
AI has become a strategic priority for the sector
AI is no longer a future consideration. It is firmly on the agenda for education leaders today.
This shift reflects the pressures facing the sector. Institutions are balancing financial pressures, changing student expectations, workforce challenges and growing competition for enrolments in an increasingly digital environment. AI is emerging as a way to improve outcomes while making better use of existing resources.
The research identified financial sustainability (87%), student experience (86%) and recruitment and enrolment outcomes (83%) as the sector’s highest priorities. Increasingly, leaders view AI as an enabler across all three priorities.
Ambition is outpacing readiness
A concerning trend uncovered by the survey results is the apparent gap between AI ambition and institutional readiness.
Only 21% of education leaders believe their current systems can effectively support AI capabilities. Just 10% report having fully integrated student and administrative systems, while fewer than one-third (29%) believe they have the skills and resources needed to fully leverage their existing technology investments.
These findings highlight a clear challenge: many institutions are still building the foundations required to scale AI effectively.
According to Mark Jones, Executive Vice President for Education at TechnologyOne, the challenge is no longer whether institutions should adopt AI, but how quickly they can translate investment into meaningful outcomes.
“The conversation has moved beyond whether institutions should adopt AI to how quickly they can realise value from it. Successful AI adoption is not simply about deploying new tools. Institutions must also consider the people, processes and technology environments required to support them.”
The research reinforces this point. AI relies on connected information, trusted data and well-defined processes. Institutions may invest in new AI tools, but if the underlying foundations are fragmented, it becomes much harder to generate consistent value.
AI in Higher Education: Why Unified Data Is the Missing Link
Discover why unified student data is critical to unlocking AI in higher education, improving early alerts, student services, and institutional reporting.
Learn moreInstitutions are focusing on real-world use cases
Despite the perceived lack of readiness, it seems institutions are still finding real-world applications for AI, with many of these projects now well underway.
In most institutions, survey respondents indicate they’ve moved beyond curiosity and pilot programs, focusing instead on everyday challenges that affect students and staff. The most common use cases include student self-service enquiries (51% implemented, and 32% implementing), identifying students who may be at risk of disengaging (38% implemented, and 42% implementing) and admissions processes (38% implemented, and 37% implementing).
These initiatives all have one thing in common: they are challenges that universities and tertiary providers deal with every day. By improving service delivery while reducing administrative effort, they help student access information more easily, enable earlier intervention and free staff to focus on higher-value work.
This reflects a broader shift in mindset. The conversation is no longer about AI itself, but the outcomes it can help deliver
AI with purpose: Powering the future of Higher Education
Transforming higher education by reducing admin, enhancing learning, and empowering staff.
Learn moreStudent experience represents the biggest opportunity
Perhaps the most compelling insight relates to student engagement and support. Almost half (47%) of respondents said disconnected student data limits their ability to provide proactive and personalised support. At the same time, only 11% strongly agreed that their systems deliver a consistent, high-quality experience across every student touchpoint.
These results highlight an ongoing challenge for the sector. Today's students expect seamless digital experiences. They expect institutions to understand their needs, anticipate issues and deliver timely support. Yet many organisations still lack a connected view of the student journey.
This is one of the strongest opportunities for AI. Whether identifying students who may need assistance, improving access to information or enabling more personalised engagement, AI has the potential to strengthen both the student experience and outcomes.
Maintaining student engagement in the age of AI
Practical strategies for maintaining student engagement in the age of AI, including assessment design, early alerts & AI-aware academic integrity support
Learn moreTurning potential into value
Across the research, one theme stands out: leaders recognise the potential of AI, but they are equally aware that technology alone is not the answer.
As Mark Jones explains:
“The institutions that generate the greatest value from AI won't necessarily be those that invest the most. They'll be the ones that create the right foundations for success: connecting data, building capability and focusing on the outcomes they want to achieve for students and staff.”
AI will play an important role in the future of higher education. However, institutions must also navigate financial sustainability, changing student expectations and workforce challenges.
The opportunity is significant, but as the research shows, real success will depend on how effectively institutions translate AI ambitions into meaningful outcomes.
AI and predictive analytics in student management
Learn how AI and predictive analytics in student management systems help institutions identify risk, personalise support and improve student outcomes.
Learn moreRead the report
Download the full Forrester report, Reshaping Student Success Through AI in Tertiary Education within ANZ, to explore the research findings and recommendations in more detail.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs): Plus & AI
Need more information? Read some of our most frequently asked questions about AI, Plus, and more below.
Plus is TechnologyOne’s new agentic AI product, purpose-built for customers on TechnologyOne’s SaaS ERP. It represents the next evolution of enterprise software — an AI that doesn’t just provide answers but takes action on behalf of the user.
Plus stands for Predict, Learn, Uncover, Simplify. It combines advanced reasoning with TechnologyOne’s SaaS+ workflows to interpret intent, anticipate needs, and deliver outcomes in a single interaction. Whether accessed through text or voice, Plus transforms how people work by connecting enterprise-wide data and managing tasks automatically.
Agentic AI refers to AI systems that operate autonomously to achieve specific goals with minimal human supervision. These systems can plan, make decisions, use tools, and adapt their behaviour over time, unlike traditional AI that simply responds to inputs or follows predetermined rules.
Guide is an extension of Plus, designed for the people your organisation serves. It gives residents and students a simple, conversational way to access services, find information, and complete tasks on any device, at any time, without navigating complex systems or portals.
Guide is available in two forms: Guide for residents, for local government communities, and Guide for students, for higher education institutions. Both connect directly to your TechnologyOne ERP to deliver fast, personalised, and trusted responses through natural language conversations.
Plus is designed for your staff. It helps teams work more efficiently by connecting enterprise-wide data, surfacing insights, and completing tasks through natural language, all within your TechnologyOne ERP.
Guide is designed for the people your organisation serves. It gives residents and students a simple way to access services and find information through conversational interactions, without needing to understand and navigate your internal systems.
In short: Plus helps you help your community. Guide helps your community directly.