Anticipatory governance and leadership for AI implementation in higher education: A scoping review

Abstract As the education sector attempts to address rapid changes caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI), it becomes crucial to examine approaches to leadership at the organizational and system levels. This scoping review explores how anticipatory models of governance are conceptualised and operationalised globally within higher education settings in the context of AI-related transformations. Using a scoping review design, academic and grey literature published between 2020 and 2025 was searched across Scopus, EBSCOhost, ERIC, Google Scholar, and ProQuest. Nineteen sources were selected based on clear inclusion and exclusion criteria and analysed thematically. Findings revealed that while AI offers promising opportunities to transform governance in higher education, the ability of institutions to leverage these opportunities depends on adopting anticipatory governance models that emphasize foresight and stakeholder engagement, as well as adopting changes to the traditional role of both leaders and educators to become data literate, inclusive, collaborative, and forward-thinking. However, a gap between theory and implementation remains evident, particularly due to weak policy frameworks and limited digital infrastructure in the Global South, including the Arab world, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.