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There’s no longer any debate about whether artificial intelligence will transform education. It already has. What matters now is how school leaders respond. Across the globe, educators are encountering a perfect storm, or maybe the perfect opportunity, to rethink how schools operate, how teachers teach, and how young people learn. The pace of change is unprecedented and the responsibility to lead wisely has never been greater.
The Shifting Ground Beneath Our Schools
AI’s arrival in education has been both liberating and unsettling. In my new book The Educators’ AI Guide 2026, I divide educators into two groups: the pragmatists, who use AI to reclaim time and improve efficiency, and the frustrated visionaries, who see AI as a catalyst to reinvent schooling altogether. The truth is, both perspectives are necessary.
That dual mindset, balancing practical improvement with long-term reinvention, is the new leadership skill every headteacher and principal must master. In the book we hear from Steve Karandy, who led the Rotterdam-Mohonasen School District’s AI integration. He describes this balance as anchoring in practice while keeping an eye on innovation. His district began by improving daily teaching tasks but soon discovered that “AI could be a bridge to close persistent learning gaps.” AI isn’t just a technological shift, it’s a cultural one that requires direction from the top.
Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Jenny Maxwell, Vice President at Grammarly and contributor to the book, wrote that modern school leaders must be “both guardians and explorers.” They’re expected to keep communities safe while also venturing into unfamiliar digital territory. The tension between those two duties defines contemporary educational leadership.
In the chapter Data, Dangers & Due Diligence, AI compliance expert Matthew Wemyss put it more bluntly: “Schools are powerhouses of data and that makes them targets.” For leaders, the job is no longer only about safeguarding students from physical harm, but also protecting them from digital exploitation. The same tools that promise personalised learning also open new vulnerabilities around data privacy, algorithmic bias, and misinformation. Effective leaders understand how these systems work, who controls them, and what values guide their use.
Safeguarding in the Age of AI
Safeguarding must expand beyond familiar boundaries. Matthew Wemyss outlines a pragmatic three-step framework for schools:
- Audit everything: Most institutions underestimate how many AI-enabled tools their staff already use. A comprehensive audit often doubles the official list of platforms in circulation.
- Tackle “shadow AI”: Teachers and support staff frequently experiment with unapproved apps for planning or communication. Without oversight, student data can unintentionally leak beyond secure environments.
- Update policies and train for new risks: Deepfakes, generative imagery, and wearable tech all pose emerging safeguarding issues. These must be addressed explicitly in acceptable-use policies and staff training.
AI ethics can sometimes feel like an abstract debate, but it can’t be left at a high level. It’s child protection in digital form.
Building AI Literacy as a Core Priority
If safeguarding is the foundation, literacy is the architecture built upon it. 79 percent of teachers feel their schools lack clear AI policies, yet where guidance exists teachers feel more confident, report less cheating, and there’s less need for AI-police detection tools. Confidence grows from clarity, and clarity depends on literacy.
In the book, Steve Karandy calls AI literacy “our toolbox.” His district embedded it into professional learning, ensuring every teacher could explain, not just use, AI systems. Similarly, in the chapter on empowering teachers, Abeda Natha at GEMS Wellington International School reframed AI training around ethics and inclusion, creating “AI ambassadors” among staff who model responsible experimentation. These schools show that literacy is both a safeguard and an enabler. It reduces fear while unleashing creativity.
AI literacy is one of the most important safeguards you can put in place. UNESCO, the U.S. Department of Education, and the European Commission all identify it as essential professional development for educators. Leaders who neglect it risk widening the AI divide and contributing to a two-tier system where some students harness AI confidently while others are left behind.
Tools To Empower, Not Replace
AI technology can support leaders in their strategic thinking rather than overwhelm it. Here are three tools that are helping real school leaders:
- SLT AI: This platform can automate documentation, policies, and reports while remaining customizable to a school’s specific context. Harmeet Sahota, a user of this tool, highlights that its value lies in being “personalized to the specific challenges of our staff and pupils,” not a one-size-fits-all automation.
- NotebookLM: This powerful AI tool from Google allows leaders to upload strategic documents, improvement plans, inspection reports, trust policies and instantly generate summaries, questions, or even podcast-style briefings. Dave Leonard of Watergrove Trust says it has “already saved our central team time,” while maintaining transparency through citation-based responses.
- Julius AI: This tool can democratise data analysis by querying attendance, performance, or budget data conversationally without specialist software.
These examples reflect the linear types of innovation that leaders can take advantage of now. They help us do what we do better. They free us up to spend less time formatting spreadsheets and more time leading people.
Learning From Other Schools and Leaders
No single school has all the answers, and in this new paradigm, collaboration is the most powerful leadership tool of all. In the book, Abeda Natha describes how informal “coffee-cart conversations” at GEMS Dubai built momentum faster than formal directives. Teachers sharedp rompt ideas, discussed ethical dilemmas, and celebrated small wins. The result was cultural change.
Karandy’s district took a similar approach: celebrating “teacher champions” who shared successes across departments. The process turned AI from a compliance issue into a shared professional adventure. As he observed, “Schools that listen, learn and adapt together evolve faster, and more safely, than those acting in isolation.”
The lesson for leaders is clear: open networks outperform closed systems. The exchange of practical experience can accelerate progress and prevent repeated mistakes. This can be done through regional collaborations, trust partnerships, or online forums.
The Dual Role of the Modern School Leader
We must be frustrated pragmatists when it comes to AI in our schools. Education needs both managerial and heretical leaders. Those who maintain stability and those who dare to re-imagine. The managerial leader ensures safeguarding, compliance, and accountability; the heretical leader questions whether existing models still serve their purpose. Good leadership manages the present while challenging its shelf life.
That balance is the heart of preparedness. Leaders must protect the integrity of the current system while simultaneously designing its successor.
From Reaction to Readiness
In the book, Matthew Wemyss urges educators to “shift gears from reacting to leading.” The past two years have seen schools scrambling to catch up with generative AI. The next two must focus on shaping intentional strategies that align technology with values.
This means investing in:
- Governance: establishing transparent frameworks for tool approval and data oversight.
- Capability: embedding AI literacy in teacher induction and ongoing CPD.
- Culture: nurturing curiosity, experimentation and collaboration.
- Community: keeping parents and other stakeholders informed and involved so that AI remains a partnership, not a mystery.Leadership in the AI era is about modeling wisdom. Let’s stop drawing lines and start building bridges between the now and the next, the practical and the possible.
Ultimately, the question isn’t whether AI belongs in schools, but how schools will belong in an AI-driven world. The leaders who thrive will be those who approach the challenge as learners themselves.
That spirit of shared learning will come alive at the School Leaders Meetup in London on November 7th. Toddle will be gathering leaders at 116 Pall Mall for a free event exploring AI readiness, safeguarding, and strategic implementation. The day promises dialogue and opportunities to learn. See you there.
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