The 5 pillars of institutional AI readiness
The 23 domains remain the working map. The five pillars make that map easy to discuss with leadership, committees, and boards — so you can open the conversation in a single meeting and drill into the detail where it matters most.
Governance, Risk & Compliance
The trust layer the rest of the institution rests on.
- D1 Governance & Org Structure
- D2 Policy & Acceptable Use
- D3 Data Governance for AI
- D4 Security & Risk
- D12 Ethics, Equity & Bias
- D13 Compliance & Legal
- D18 Vendor Management
- D22 Board Governance
Academic Mission & Learning
Classrooms, syllabi, scholarship, agentic learners.
- D5 Teaching & Learning
- D6 Assessment & Academic Integrity
- D10 Faculty & Staff Development
- D14 Research & Scholarship
- D19 Agentic AI
Student Lifecycle & Success
Prospect → graduate → alum.
- D7 Student Success & Support
- D8 Enrollment Management & Marketing
- D15 Enrollment-to-Career Lifecycle
- D21 Advancement & Fundraising
Operations & Infrastructure
Running the institution.
- D9 Administrative Operations & Efficiency
- D11 Infrastructure & Technology
- D17 Financial Planning & Sustainability
Strategy, Culture & Positioning
How the institution shows up — inside and out.
- D16 Communications, Culture & Change
- D20 Community, Partnerships & External Relations
- D23 Emerging & Future Considerations
Built by a practitioner, not a consultant
Every domain reflects 30+ years working every level of higher ed — from the registrar's office to Chief Data Officer — not theoretical best practices borrowed from a corporate AI playbook. Higher ed is different. This framework knows that.
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