HEDx

As AI reshapes how students learn, get assessed, and enter the workforce, one question is becoming more urgent: do students actually know what makes them uniquely human? In this episode, Annabel is joined by Timothy Hodges, Executive Director of the Clifton Strengths Institute at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and Anne Lingafelter, Principal at Gallup, to explore how strengths-based education builds the self-awareness, confidence, and human capability that no AI can replicate. Because in a world where everything can be generated, knowing what you do best — and leaning into it — might be your greatest advantage

Most universities have AI ambition. Far fewer have figured out how to turn that into something students actually feel. In this episode, Annabel is joined by Kate Shum, Product General Manager at Technology One, and Gail Bray, Chief Transformation Officer at Victoria University, to talk about what it actually takes to move from experimentation to real impact. They cover where to start, how to build a framework without stifling innovation, what happens when an idea is ready to move into the tech stack, and why legacy systems are still the biggest blocker nobody wants to talk about.

Valerie Singer leads the Global Education Team at Amazon Web Services, working with universities across more than 200 countries. In this episode, she and Martin talk about the gap between what employers need and what graduates actually bring, why 53% of employers say AI skills are their biggest hiring challenge, and what universities can do right now, this semester, to start closing it. A conversation about applied learning, institutional courage, and what higher education needs to look like in 2030.

Two days of conversations about AI, disruption, and the future of higher education. This is where it ends — and where the real question begins. Did we just talk, or did something actually change? Martin gets put on the spot, Sam says what most people won't about public universities, Sean proposes replacing disruption with construction, and two students close the whole series with something simple: change shouldn't wait until graduation.

Episode 9 of The AI Inflection Point — the last conversation on the student experience.
Most universities will tell you they listen to their students. But listening and actually responding are two very different things.
Jasmine Johnston moderates a panel that gets honest about that gap.
Ghazal Duggal, nursing student at USQ and student representative, on what it feels like to carry the concerns of a whole cohort.
Neave Nagel, President of NUS 2026 and UTS Students Association, on why two students on a university council isn't enough to represent 20,000 people.
Taryn Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie, on what 8,800 students said when asked not about their classes — but about their lives. Loneliness came up more than anyone expected.
And Michael Henderson from Monash on why student voice only means something if it actually changes decisions.
What is a university without its students? That question sits underneath everything in this episode.