University Business will host a 30-minute Ed Talk on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 2 p.m. ET, focused on how AI is helping higher education finance teams control costs and improve financial visibility. The session comes as colleges contend with rising operating costs, budget constraints, and funding uncertainty.
The moderated conversation will feature David Jewell, specialist at GTM Group, and Gilda Izad-Panahi, director of education and research at Huron Consulting. They will discuss practical examples of how colleges and universities are using AI and automation to reduce manual work and support better decision-making, freeing up finance teams to focus on higher-value priorities.
What the session will cover
The discussion will focus on five areas:
- Controlling costs with confidence: practical strategies for strengthening cost control amid ongoing budget pressures
- Putting AI to work: how AI is helping finance teams improve efficiency and reduce manual work
- Strengthening financial visibility: strategies to increase visibility into institutional spending for more informed decisions
- Improving financial governance: balancing stewardship, compliance, and user experience across the spend lifecycle
- Learning from early adopters: how higher education leaders are adopting AI to modernize financial operations
The session reflects a broader push to apply AI for Finance across higher education, where the goal is to cut manual work and give decision-makers better spending data. Finance leaders who want to go deeper on these topics can work through an AI Learning Path for CFOs that covers AI-driven financial strategy and cost management.
Why this matters for education leaders
For higher education finance leaders, the practical question is where AI can deliver measurable savings without adding compliance risk. This session addresses that directly: it covers how peer institutions are reducing manual work, improving visibility into spending, and balancing stewardship with user experience. The 30-minute format makes it a practical option for finance teams weighing how to apply AI to cost control.
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