The AI Inflection Point | Ep 3 — The coalition Pt 1: Together or alone?

Episode 3 of The AI Inflection Point — and the first of four conversations on coalitions.

Can universities lead the AI transformation that higher education needs — alone? The answer is no. But what “together” actually looks like when your institution is under real financial pressure is a much harder conversation.

This panel brings together four leaders with very different starting points. Rose Luckin, CEO of Educate Ventures Research, has built one of the most active AI coalitions in UK schools. Noah Pickus, Head of Global Strategy and Partnerships at Duke, has just launched the Future Universities Alliance — 49 institutions from 23 countries. Theo Farrell, Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe, is two years into a serious AI transformation. And Shan Wareing, Vice-Chancellor of Middlesex University, inherited a 12% deficit on day one.

What emerges from this conversation is not a simple case for collaboration — but a more honest question about what we’re actually trying to protect, and whether we can do that alone.