Collaboration, capacity and how AI is in every conversation

Discussions at these lively forums directly shape our priorities for Wales each year. Last year’s event took place against a backdrop of political uncertainty ahead of the Senedd elections. With a new government in place, this year felt especially constructive and future focused.

After a short recap of our 2025-26 priorities, delegates looked at the year ahead, with discussions organised around four themes: policy leadership and Wales's digital future; digital transformation and future readiness; sustainable infrastructure and resilience; and inclusion, skills and digital capability.

What struck me most was that discussions were rarely about whether digital transformation, AI, cyber security or collaboration matter. There was broad agreement on the direction of travel. Instead, conversations focused on how institutions can implement change at pace while managing financial pressures, workforce constraints and increasing complexity.

Put simply, Wales does not appear to have an ambition problem. It has an implementation challenge.

Here are some of the key themes I picked up from the day.

Collaboration is the preferred way to overcome challenges

A key Jisc message is that higher and further education institutions are strongest when they work together, and so I was encouraged to see collaboration repeatedly emerge as one of Wales’s greatest strengths, and the preferred way to meet the many challenges facing the sector. This is against a prevailing feeling that many challenges are too large or too expensive for institutions to tackle independently.

Delegates highlighted opportunities around shared services, communities of practice and greater collaboration between FE, HE, adult community learning and work-based learning providers. Overall, collaboration is now seen less as a ‘nice to have’ and more as a practical necessity.

Whether discussing AI, cyber security, procurement, infrastructure or specialist skills, participants repeatedly returned to the same conclusion: many challenges are becoming too expensive or too complex to tackle alone. Collaboration is no longer simply desirable; for many organisations it is becoming essential. 

Capacity is a critical constraint

Leaders want to deliver change but feel held back by a lack of resource and capacity. The challenge is increasingly one of implementation rather than strategy, with staff shortages, recruitment difficulties and limited capacity creating pressure on already stretched teams. For many institutions, sharing resources feels easier said than done.

We will continue supporting cross-sector collaboration to help address these challenges.

Leadership and culture matter as much as technology

Interestingly, many discussions focused less on technology itself and more on the organisational, financial and leadership challenges of delivering digital change.

Examples included perceptions among senior leaders of the scale of the task around digital transformation, competitive cultures, a perceived resistance to change, the constraints of existing infrastructure and a tendency to stick to established ways of working.

Growing pressure on sustainability and resilience

Delegates discussed how collective approaches could help address rising software and cloud costs, technical debt, and recruitment and retention challenges.

Participants also highlighted dependence on large software vendors and the importance of sector-wide licensing agreements negotiated by Jisc.

Inclusion remains a core consideration

Participants consistently linked digital transformation with inclusion. We continue to see concerns around digital poverty, inconsistent access to devices and broadband, and challenges around bilingual provision.

There was broad recognition that digital transformation must deliver benefits equitably across all learner groups, and that as the use of AI becomes increasingly common, there is a need to ensure that it benefits all learners.

AI is now embedded in every conversation

Speaking of AI, this featured across every workshop and theme. It was noticeable that the discussion is shifting from ‘Should we use AI?’ towards ‘How do we implement AI safely, effectively and consistently?’

The strongest overall message for me was that institutions aren't looking for AI evangelism. They are looking for practical support that helps them make defensible decisions in a rapidly changing environment, and they are concerned about both the risks of moving too slowly, and the risks of moving too quickly.

Effective use of AI depends on having good data across an organisation, and the challenges of data quality and readiness were part of the discussion here. The confidence of staff in using AI, the need for good policies and governance in this area, and the challenges AI brings to the effective assessment of students’ work were recurring topics.

There was also a recurring theme around Jisc acting as a trusted interpreter of a fragmented and often confusing AI landscape, alongside a strong desire for practical, trusted and sector-specific leadership rather than generic AI commentary.

Taken together, these discussions reinforce the importance of our role not only as a provider of services and expertise, but as a convenor, trusted adviser and implementation partner. Institutions are looking for support that helps them move from understanding challenges to delivering solutions, whether that is through collaboration, capability building, AI adoption or strengthening resilience.

This reflects our focus on developing and communicating guidance and resources, such as our AI maturity toolkit, to help institutions use the technology appropriately and productively.

The forum is a vital feedback loop

The annual forum remains an important opportunity for members to share challenges, influence priorities and provide feedback to us. Delegates praised the constructive discussions, the honesty of conversations, and the strong engagement from senior leaders.

We’ve listened to suggestions for future events, including a desire for more representation from HE leaders, more role-specific discussion opportunities, and thoughts about the length of the day.

The forum confirmed that Welsh institutions remain ambitious about their digital futures. The challenge facing many organisations is no longer understanding what needs to be done, but finding the capacity, capability and partnerships needed to deliver it.

The discussions from this year's forum will directly inform our priorities for Wales for 2026/27 as we continue working alongside members, Medr and partners across the tertiary sector.

Get in touch

Contact your relationship manager to discuss our support and priorities for Wales.