In many Australian schools, AI continues to be used in different ways to engage young people and streamline administrative tasks, yet many educators and leaders are still flying blind. A key reason for this is a glaring lack of quality professional learning in this rapidly evolving space.
With workloads already stretched thin, Australia’s educators are calling for targeted training to ensure they can use this technology to make a meaningful impact on the learning outcomes of the children they teach.
This week, Toddle is hosting a virtual event that brings together more than 5,000 school leaders, educators, and innovators across Australia and New Zealand. The ‘AI in Action: Future-Ready Schools’ event will explore how AI is revolutionising education in and how school leaders can harness these technologies to enhance learning, improve operations, and prepare students for the future.
The event is hearing from keynote speakers including Jan Owen, Chair and Founder of Learning Creates Australia; Toby Walsh, ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW; Adrian Cotterell, director of AI & Assessment Solutions; and Chris Bush, a Churchill Fellow, AI consultant and secondary school leader with over a decade of experience in Melbourne.
Another speaker at the event is Dr Nici Sweaney, a globally recognised AI consultant and thought leader, combines nearly two decades of expertise as an academic scientist and data strategist. As the Founder and Director of Ai Her Way, Dr Sweaney and her team have worked with over 20 industries to deliver AI strategies that not only drive results but also align with company values.
In an interview with The Educator, Dr Sweaney said AI is reshaping leadership because it is reshaping what schools do and how they do it.
“In the next 12–24 months, school leaders will find themselves making strategic decisions not just about tech adoption, but about culture change,” Dr Sweaney told The Educator.
“It will be their role to create safe, supported environments where staff can experiment, learn, and embed AI meaningfully – without fear, guilt, or overload.”
Dr Sweaney said school leaders will also become “curators of capability.”
“This doesn’t mean leaders need to be AI experts themselves… but they do need to be confident enough to ask good questions, evaluate tools, and protect their communities,” she said. “Increasingly, they’ll be asked to define the ‘why’ behind their AI choices, not just the ‘what’.”
It’s also a trust shift, Dr Sweaney points out, saying students and parents are looking to leaders to demonstrate both innovation and responsibility.
“Getting this balance right is going to be a defining factor in what leadership looks like in education in the coming years.”
Dr Sweaney said while some educators might feel like they’re not “catching up” with their more tech savvy peers in AI, it’s important to remember that no one feels completely up to date.
“If you’re actively thinking about AI and having discussions, you’re right on time,” she said.
“The pace of change can feel relentless, but the most important thing is not to adopt everything – it’s to adopt what matters and to find meaningful reasons to adopt AI, rather than for the sake of shiny object syndrome.”
Dr Sweaney said her work is never about pushing tools for the sake of it.
“It’s about helping good people do good work, with a bit more ease and space to breathe,” she said. “Educators already have the most important skills: critical thinking, care, communication, adaptability.”
AI doesn’t replace those skills – it extends them, Dr Sweaney says.
“If you’re feeling overwhelmed, start small. Ask: ‘What’s one task that drains time and energy from my day?’ That’s usually where the best AI entry point is,” she said.
“You don’t have to know everything to get started, you just have to be open to learning. And you don’t have to do it alone. Communities like this event exist to support, not shame.”
Looking ahead, Dr Sweaney said her hope is that the ‘AI in Action: Future-Ready Schools’ event gives schools “permission to lead with purpose, not panic.”
“I want to see schools move from feeling reactive to becoming proactive. I want them to feel emboldened to set the terms of how AI fits their values, their pedagogy, and their communities,” she said.
“That means building confidence internally, being transparent with stakeholders, and thinking longer-term than the next shiny tool.”
Dr Sweaney said she also hopes schools start recognising AI as part of a much bigger conversation: about equity, about student agency, about teacher wellbeing, and about the future of learning design.
“If this event prompts school leaders to make just one intentional, ethical, well-supported move with AI – that’s progress. That’s leadership,” she said.
“Remember, simply ‘using AI’ is not the goal. Leveraging AI systems to create time, trust, and impact – that’s the goal.”