College Leadership for the AI-Native Generation

Students in FE today are the first “AI-native” generation. For college leaders, that means confidence in guiding the safe and effective use of AI is no longer optional, it has to become part of core leadership.

The AI-native generation

Every student graduating from FE now has been studying during a time when AI was simply there. Some used it daily, others barely touched it, but the point is that generative AI has always been part of their backdrop. For the next cohorts coming through, it will be even more ingrained, something they have lived with throughout their teenage years.

That creates a clear generational shift. Leaders and staff are, quite understandably, still getting to grips with what AI means for teaching, governance, and operations. Students, meanwhile, walk in assuming that these tools exist and expecting adults to make sense of them. Bridging that gap is one of the defining leadership challenges for the education sector right now.

What I hear from leaders

Talking with education leaders over the last year, I keep coming across three broad types of approaches:

• Early adopters (around 15%): a small group of organisations that already have clear strategies and governance in place. They are embedding AI into planning, curriculum, and operations with real intent.
• The messy middle (the majority, around 75%): organisations that are dabbling, running pilots, and maybe have designated “AI champions,” but do not yet have a joined-up approach across the organisation.
• No strategy at all (around 10%): organisations where AI simply has not reached the leadership agenda yet.

Those numbers aren’t from a survey, just what emerges again and again in conversation. The pattern is real, though. One SLT member recently told me they had set up a small AI trial to support lesson feedback and were surprised by how curious staff were to get involved. It shows the potential, but also the fragility, of initiatives without a wider framework. And the truth is that the longer an organisation sits in the messy middle, the harder it becomes to move towards a coherent, system-wide strategy.

DfE guidance: a starting point, not a solution

The Department for Education’s June 2025 guidance, Using AI in education: support for school and college leaders, is a welcome step. It includes frameworks, planning tools, and practical audit checklists to help senior teams get started. But as several leaders have told me, having guidance on paper is not the same as having confidence in practice.

The hard part is turning that document into day-to-day decisions. Knowing when to say yes, when to say no, and how to take staff and students with you. That is where leadership development comes in.

Five priorities for leadership development

1. Build digital fluency at the top

No principal or governor needs to be an AI expert, but they do need to be fluent enough to ask the right questions. What problem is this tool meant to solve? Where does the data come from? Does this fit with our mission?

2. Embed ethical guardrails

The DfE guidance makes clear that privacy, safety, and fairness matter. Leaders need to set out principles that staff can actually apply in practice, not just policies that sit in a drawer.

3. Champion experimentation

Staff take their lead from SLT. When leaders are willing to try things, reflect openly, and share lessons (including what didn’t work) people feel more confident to experiment responsibly.

4. Keep wellbeing at the centre

A number of leaders have admitted they worry AI will end up adding to workload rather than taking pressure off. Leadership development has to include the skills to introduce technology in ways that genuinely reduce stress.

5. Focus on processes, not just products

A lot of energy right now is going into the question “Which AI tools should we be using?” The truth is, no large organisation runs on just a couple of platforms. Education organisations will almost certainly end up using multiple AI systems for different functions, just like they do with their IT systems.

That is why the bigger leadership question is not “Are we choosing the perfect tool or AI partner?” because both will keep evolving. The real question is “Do we have the right processes in place to make sure whatever tools we adopt are being used safely, consistently, and in line with our values?”

Why this matters: students are already ahead

Every student now in FE has studied in an environment where AI was available. The ones coming next will have used it through most of their teenage years. In February, Times Higher Education released research which showed 92% of students use AI regularly, while for teaching professionals the figure was closer to 50%. Whether leaders feel ready or not, those students already see AI as normal.

If organisations hold back, they risk being outpaced by the very students they are meant to prepare. That is why leadership development has to catch up, so confidence, ethics, and strategy can keep pace with a generation who already assume AI is part of life.

Leadership is the lever

AI in education will not be defined by tools alone. It will be defined by the choices leaders make, whether they hesitate, manage from within the messy middle, or step forward with clarity.

Students arriving in FE today are AI-native. The question is whether leaders are ready to be AI-confident. Now is the moment for sector leaders to champion leadership development that builds AI confidence, strengthens trust, and meets the expectations of the students they serve.

By David Geaney, Founder at Brava Education