The Department of Education is on the Trump chopping block. Details have not been fully released yet, but the president has signaled plans to dismantle it and move some of its key functions elsewhere. The department oversees student loans, federal funds for lower-income students, special education programs and more. Geoff Bennett discussed more with Laura Meckler of The Washington Post.
In a recent presentation to RNL’s AI Leadership Council, Armand Ruiz, Vice President of Product – AI Platform at IBM, shared his vision for the future of work and the role of AI agents in making it more efficient.
According to Ruiz, AI agents will become a key component of the future of work, enabling tasks to be completed autonomously and freeing up humans to focus on higher-level thinking. “The real promise of AI is in agents, which can actually do work and take action,” he said. “We’re moving into a world where we have multi-agent assistance, where multiple agents work together to achieve a common goal.”
Ruiz also highlighted the importance of addressing the challenges of security, governance, and compliance in the use of AI agents in enterprise settings. “We cannot allow these agents to leak sensitive and confidential information, delete files or send data to the wrong recipients,” he emphasized.
In terms of the future of work, Ruiz predicted that most General AI interactions will be in the form of autonomous agents, with 2/3 or 3/4 of the General AI workforce consisting of agents. He cited the example of GitHub, where an agent can automatically fix bugs and issues, freeing up developers to focus on higher-level tasks.
Ruiz also discussed the potential impact of AI agents on education, citing the example of a tool that can take notes and create an outline from handwritten notes. “We’re moving into a world where AI will develop AI by itself, and AI will develop agents automatically,” he said.
Regarding the recent developments in deep learning, Ruiz said that the market’s reaction to the release of the DeepSeek model was an overreaction. “We’ve been pushing for open innovation and open source at IBM, and it’s not surprising that someone else has come into the market with a similar model,” he said. “This will actually increase the demand for chips and energy and will unlock more consumption of AI and more use cases.”
When asked about the potential impact on decisions related to data centers, Ruiz said that the increased demand for chips and energy will lead to a surge in consumption of AI, particularly in inference workloads. “We see a lot of micro inference going on, and it requires more compute than a regular model,” he explained.
The presentation sparked a lively discussion among the attendees, with several questions and comments from the audience. Ruiz emphasized the importance of addressing the challenges of governance, compliance, working with a trusted partner who understands what you are trying to accomplish with AI, and the need for education and training in the use of these tools.
As the presentation came to a close, Stephen Drew, COO of RNL and chair of the AI Leadership Council, reflected on the importance of working with companies that understand the unique needs of higher education and are committed to the responsible use of AI. “As institutions like RNL continue to navigate the complex landscape of AI and its applications, we are focused on working with our partner universities to help them establish AI governance frameworks, educate their teams on responsible AI, and incorporating AI into our services so our clients benefit from the efficiencies AI offers along with the higher education expertise at RNL,” he said.
Learn more about RNL’s AI governance services and how they can support your institution’s AI initiatives here.
***It’s not too late to register for HEPI’s events this week: ‘Earning and learning: What’s the reality for today’s students?‘ webinar with Advance HE at 10am, Tuesday 14 January and ‘Who Pays? Exploring Fairer Funding Models for Higher Education‘ Symposium at Birkbeck, Thursday 16 January 10am to 5pm.***
By Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Aston University.
Universities have always been at the heart of knowledge and innovation. But in today’s rapidly evolving world, they must transcend their traditional roles to address complex global challenges, harness emerging opportunities and embrace heightened responsibilities. They must become champions of inclusive innovation and drivers of positive socioeconomic transformation, creating thriving innovation ecosystems that deliver sustainable, place-based development and inclusive growth. This is the promise of University 4.0.
In late 2024, Aston University hosted the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) University Research and Leadership Forum, marking a pivotal moment in the reimagining of higher education. Leaders, innovators, and visionaries from universities, industry, government, and communities gathered to confront a critical question: How can universities redefine their role in a world that is transforming at an unprecedented pace?
The GFCC, a global multi-stakeholder membership organisation, is dedicated to accelerating productivity, growth, prosperity, and sustainability through best practices. Central to this forum was the exploration of University 4.0 — a bold and transformative vision for the future of higher education in an era of digital disruption, hyper-connectivity, the emergence of powerful technologies like artificial intelligence, social inequities, and sustainability challenges.
The Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC) University Forum, which I have had the privilege to lead from Aston University, and Elsevier Fourth Generation University (4GU) Development Group, inspired by the pioneering work of the University of Technology Eindhoven, have independently arrived at remarkably aligned perspectives on the evolution of universities to date. This shared understanding traces the progression through four distinct generations of higher education institutions, culminating in the transformative vision of University 4.0 (or 4GU).
Universities have evolved through several transformative stages to meet the demands of each era:
The University 4.0 model is not about solitary academic pursuits. Instead, it thrives on collaboration, drawing diverse perspectives and inputs to address real-world challenges. Innovation precincts and districts — geographically concentrated hubs of high-tech companies, research institutions, and civic infrastructure — are emerging as the epicentres of economic revitalisation, creating opportunities for skilled workforces and fostering sustainable and high-value growth through place-based innovation.
Universities embedded in such precincts, acting as catalysts of engagement and innovation are emerging as the fourth-generation universities – University 4.0. They are aligned more closely to technological and digital transformations, ensuring greater interconnectivity between the future of work and learning, bringing society along and alleviating the so-called societal pain when education lags behind industrial and digital revolutions.
At Aston University, the University 4.0 vision is central to our Aston 2030 Strategy. We are transforming into a fourth-generation university that is future-ready and aligned with national higher education reform priorities as outlined recently by Secretary of State for Education Bridget Phillipson. Universities must shift from isolated knowledge hubs to active participants in their regional and national ecosystems, embracing transformational business models and their roles as civic anchors.
A flagship example of this vision is the Birmingham Innovation Precinct, part of the West Midlands Investment Zone. This innovation cluster, based on the quadruple-helix model, integrates academia, industry, government, and communities to create a globally significant hub of collaboration and innovation. By co-locating stakeholders, the precinct fosters digital innovation, improves health equity, drives skills development, and accelerates the transition to net-zero emissions.
Key initiatives within the Birmingham Innovation Precinct include:
These initiatives are more than projects; they are integral to Aston University’s commitment to place-based innovation, delivering measurable socioeconomic impact for Birmingham, the West Midlands, and beyond.
The transition to University 4.0 represents a fundamental shift in how higher education operates, collaborates, and contributes to society. However, to fully realise this vision, systemic change is required—not only within universities but across the funding models and evaluation frameworks that shape them.
The current funding and ranking systems often prioritise traditional metrics that fail to capture the broader socioeconomic contributions of universities, like access and participation, employability, social mobility, digital inclusion, contributions to health outcomes and sustainability, and impacts stemming from knowledge transfer and innovation. To truly support and reward the transformative impact of University 4.0, these systems must evolve to measure and incentivise the right indicators. As we move forward, it is essential to ask not just what we are good at but what we are good for. Only then can universities fulfil their potential as engines of innovation, inclusion, and growth for a better future.