McKinsey’s State of AI 2025: What Higher Ed Leaders Need to Pay Attention To
Research Review by Claire Brady, EdD
“The institutions that will thrive are those that move past pilots and into purposeful redesign—treating AI not as a tool to bolt onto the margins but as a strategic partner that reshapes workflows, improves student experiences, and elevates human work.”
McKinsey’s newest 2025 State of AI report paints a picture that will feel familiar to many of us working in higher ed: AI is everywhere…and yet, the real enterprise-level impact is still largely ahead of us. Ninety percent of organizations in the survey report using AI, but two-thirds admit they are not yet scaling it across their organizations. Sound familiar? Many campuses are stuck in the same place—full of pilots, curiosity, and experimentation, but lacking the deeper workflow redesign and institutional strategy that turn promise into value.
But the report also highlights what separates the high performers from everyone else—and there’s a lot here that higher ed can use immediately.
Key Insight #1: AI agents are gaining momentum—and higher ed will feel this shift soon.
Sixty-two percent of respondents say their organizations are experimenting with AI agents—automated systems that complete multi-step tasks, not just generate text. Today they’re most common in IT and knowledge management, which aligns directly with campus needs: ticket triage, research support, documentation, policy navigation, and even service desk operations.
Action for Higher Ed:
Begin identifying 2–3 agent-ready workflows (IT tickets, advising FAQs, financial aid document routing).
Pilot them intentionally with cross-functional teams, not in isolation.
Document what the agent replaced, improved, and surfaced—this is where early value emerges.
Key Insight #2: The majority remain stuck in pilot mode—but not the high performers.
Just one-third of organizations have begun to scale AI. And those who have? They do something that higher ed often resists: they redesign workflows instead of layering AI on top of old processes.
High performers are three times more likely to fundamentally rethink workflows rather than simply “AI-enable” them.
Action for Higher Ed:
Audit one major student-facing process (orientation comms, tutoring scheduling, advising intake).
Ask: If we rebuilt this process today with AI as a partner, what would it look like?
Look for needless steps, handoffs, or legacy forms of “the way we’ve always done it.”
Key Insight #3: Efficiency is the starting line—innovation is the finish line.
Eighty percent of companies say their primary AI goal is efficiency. But the organizations with the biggest gains also set growth and innovation goals. That’s a powerful nudge for higher ed, where we often treat AI as a cost-savings tool rather than a catalyst for new models of learning and support.
Action for Higher Ed:
Pair every efficiency use case with an innovation question:
“If this saves us 5 hours per week, what student success or staff development activity could we reinvest that time into?”Encourage units to track not only time saved but also time repurposed.
Key Insight #4: Leadership commitment matters more than tools.
High performers report one consistent differentiator: senior leaders champion and model AI use. They don’t outsource AI literacy—they own it.
Action for Higher Ed:
Form an executive AI steering group (Provost, VPSA, CIO, CFO).
Require each leader to identify one process they personally streamline with AI each quarter.
Make AI fluency a leadership competency, not an optional curiosity.
Key Insight #5: Workforce impacts are coming—but not in the way headlines suggest.
The report shows mixed predictions:
32% expect workforce reductions
13% expect increases
Most expect little immediate change
Yet nearly all large organizations are hiring for AI-related roles—especially engineers, analysts, and product-minded thinkers.
Action for Higher Ed:
Begin building a hybrid AI talent model: internal upskilling + selective hiring.
Train staff on validation, oversight, and quality control—the human skills AI cannot replicate.
Prepare for workload shifts, not necessarily reductions.
Bottom Line for Higher Ed:
The institutions that will thrive are those that move past pilots and into purposeful redesign—treating AI not as a tool to bolt onto the margins but as a strategic partner that reshapes workflows, improves student experiences, and elevates human work.
The full report is well worth your time—and offers a roadmap for campuses ready to lead rather than follow.
Read the full report here: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai?cid=mgp_opr-eml-nsl-shl-mgp-glb--&hlkid=6a3b5d6ab925466d869b2059e78d6e6c&hctky=15266629&hdpid=23c109bf-82a0-4749-b21f-8bf374197ddf#/
