How education leaders ‘lead’ with AI

Summary & Speakers 
At Bett Asia 2026, the panel session entitled "How education leaders ‘lead’ with AI" addressed a pivotal evolution in educational technology. Moderated by Animesh Priya, Chief of Partnerships at Global School Leaders, the discussion brought together three distinguished education practitioners:

Steven Sutantro, Principal Learning Consultant at REFO Indonesia and Google-certified trainer, who leads the Gemini Academy in collaboration with Google and Indonesia's Ministry of Education. Dr Sathisha Goonasakaran, Head of STEAM Department at Tenby Schools Penang, a researcher with 16 years of experience in learning design. Lakshmi Annapurna Chintaluri, Director (Academics and Operations) at Educational Mentoring India (EMI), a Harvard-certified education leader with 35 years of experience in school transformation.

The central premise of the session was clear: the foundational debate over whether schools should adopt artificial intelligence is over. Because AI tools are already accessible to students and teachers, leadership can no longer be defined by software procurement or blanket restrictions. Instead, school leaders must focus on how to guide AI usage so that it enhances human intellect, strengthens learning design, and ensures that students remain the ultimate beneficiaries.

Key Takeaways for Education Leaders
For quick reference and search optimisation, the core conclusions of the Bett Asia 2026 panel are summarised below:
Leadership Over Technology: Access to AI software does not guarantee meaningful adoption. Leadership mindset, structural guidance, and institutional culture determine ultimate impact.

Problem-First Strategy: Effective AI strategy begins with identifying specific institutional problems, administrative bottlenecks, or learning goals—not by selecting tools.

Process Over Product: Because AI easily generates essays and answers, education must pivot from assessing end products to evaluating the process of learning, metacognition, and critical thinking.

Teacher Development as the Foundation: Sustained transformation requires continuous teacher support, reducing administrative burdens, and bridging technology gaps across generationally diverse teaching faculties.

Impact Over Activity: Generating worksheets or emails faster represents mere efficiency. True transformation is measured by improved student learning outcomes, better pedagogical decisions, and enhanced feedback.

The Fundamental Shift: From Tech Adoption to Leadership Mindset
Panel moderator Animesh Priya opened the session by noting that historical questions—such as whether to allow AI or which application is best—are obsolete. Today, AI operates pervasively within classrooms and daily life. The primary responsibility for leaders is ensuring that technology serves as a catalyst for deeper learning rather than a source of distraction.

Steven Sutantro highlighted that wide-scale access to AI does not automatically produce meaningful educational outcomes. Drawing from his work with the Gemini Academy—which has reskilled over 180,000 educators across Indonesia—Sutantro observed that without strong leadership support and structured guidance, adoption remains uneven. Treating AI merely as a rapid question-and-answer tool fails to unlock its transformational potential.

Dr Sathisha Goonasakaran explained that AI directly challenges traditional educational models focused on reproducing information. Historically, schools measured understanding by evaluating a student's ability to acquire and output knowledge. Because AI can instantly write essays or solve mathematical equations, knowledge acquisition must now be viewed merely as the first step in learning. At Tenby Schools Penang, under the leadership of Campus Principal Ms John, the institution rebranded as a STEAM specialist campus. By embedding metacognition, curiosity, and real-world problem-solving into the core curriculum, the school established a strong learning purpose prior to integrating AI tools.

Lakshmi Annapurna Chintaluri noted that AI entered schools organically through teachers and students long before formal institutional policies were established. Leaders cannot ignore or ban technology that is already embedded in daily practice. Consequently, the role of leadership is to replace confusion with clarity, alleviate fear with confidence, and govern excitement with responsibility. AI should be positioned as an administrative assistant and a cognitive thinking partner that amplifies human capability.

Strategic Frameworks for Implementing AI
When asked how a principal or university leader should initiate an AI strategy, the panellists advised against starting with software selection. Instead, they offered three practical frameworks:

1. The Problem-First and 3P Framework (Steven Sutantro)
Leaders should begin by diagnosing institutional needs through three core questions:

• What specific student learning outcomes need improvement?
• Which administrative tasks consume excessive staff time?
• What institutional risks emerge with the introduction of AI?

To execute this strategy, Sutantro outlined the 3P Framework:

• People: Ensure leaders and staff understand both the capabilities and limits of AI.
• Practice: Define clear expectations for how AI can reduce workload and support teaching.
• Policy: Establish guidelines for academic integrity, data privacy, and responsible use, starting with one to three targeted use cases.

2. Curriculum Audit and Scaffolding (Dr Sathisha Goonasakaran)
Rather than introducing AI tools immediately, leaders must audit their curriculum, lesson plans, and assessment methods. Schools should evaluate where students engage in deep thinking, peer collaboration, and enquiry. Goonasakaran emphasised using established frameworks—such as design thinking, engineering design processes, or computational thinking—to scaffold learning. When structured reflection points are built into the curriculum, AI serves as a sounding board while keeping the human firmly in the loop.

3. Targeted Capacity Building (Lakshmi Annapurna Chintaluri)
Leadership should focus on identifying the immediate operational challenges faced by teachers, whether in lesson planning, assessment design, or creating differentiated learning materials. By leveraging AI to reduce a four-hour preparation task to thirty minutes, educators can redirect saved time into high-value teaching methodologies and direct student interaction.

Common Pitfalls and Red Flags in School AI Adoption
The panellists identified three major errors that institutions frequently commit:
Seeking Quick-Fix Solutions: Chintaluri warned against relying on AI for instant answers without understanding classroom execution or verifying output accuracy. Because AI can generate errors, leaders and teachers must understand the desired learning outcome before using automated tools.

Total Banning vs Unstructured Usage: Goonasakaran cautioned that banning AI deprives students of essential skills expected by higher education and modern industries. Conversely, introducing AI without structured scaffolding leads to superficial learning.

Confusing Activity with Transformation: Sutantro stressed that generating worksheets or emails faster is merely digitisation, similar to using an electronic calculator. True transformation occurs only when saved time leads to richer learning experiences, better feedback, and improved leadership decisions.

Institutional Priorities and the 2029 Outlook
Looking toward the future, the panellists outlined what education leaders in 2029 will wish they had initiated in 2026:

Redesigning Curriculum and Assessment: Goonasakaran prioritised redesigning learning experiences to foster joyful, relevant education, while Sutantro emphasised revising assessment structures to reflect what tasks can be delegated versus what requires human reasoning.

Building Institutional Capability: Sutantro argued that sustainable progress depends on creating institutional systems for continuous practice and peer-to-peer sharing, measuring impact rather than workshop attendance.

Fostering Continuous Learning and Mindset: Chintaluri highlighted the necessity of bridging technology gaps across generationally diverse teaching faculties, establishing guardrails that support long-term professional development.

Anchoring in Human Values: Goonasakaran concluded that technology integration must remain anchored in core human values, curiosity, and the fundamental purpose of the teaching profession.

As moderator Animesh Priya concluded, effective AI leadership rests on three pillars: access to technology is insufficient on its own; strategy must begin with learning design rather than tools; and long-term success requires continuous teacher empowerment.

Audio and written summaries powered by Gemini Notebook, a free generative AI tool grounded in your provided sources. Try Gemini Notebook for free. You can listen to the audio overview of the session here.