AI Works Podcast: How Leaders Use AI Now
AI Works Podcast: How Leaders Use AI Now
Podcast Description
Welcome to the AI Works Podcast, your essential resource for harnessing artificial intelligence to drive efficiency, innovation, and practical transformation across education, public sector, and business organisations. In each episode, we bring you:Real-world stories from leaders who have successfully integrated AI tools, overcoming common challenges.Practical insights and actionable strategies that translate cutting-edge AI into immediate operational improvements.Expert perspectives and trend analyses that demystify AI and make complex concepts clear and approachable.AI Works is designed specifically for leaders who want straightforward, high-impact ideas to unlock AI’s potential—without the hype.Join us to discover proven pathways to productivity, hear authentic experiences from your peers, and confidently navigate the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Subscribe and tune in to gain practical, accessible AI guidance that works.Produced by MKAI.works
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast focuses on themes surrounding AI integration in education, public sector, and business, with episodes that discuss topics such as overcoming challenges in AI adoption, creating effective AI strategies, and improving operational efficiency through technology. Notable episodes include conversations about AI transformations in further education with leaders like Keith Smith and Gillian May, who share firsthand experiences and detailed case studies.
Welcome to the AI Works Podcast, your essential resource for harnessing artificial intelligence to drive efficiency, innovation, and practical transformation across education, public sector, and business organisations. In each episode, we bring you:
- Real-world stories from leaders who have successfully integrated AI tools, overcoming common challenges.
- Practical insights and actionable strategies that translate cutting-edge AI into immediate operational improvements.
- Expert perspectives and trend analyses that demystify AI and make complex concepts clear and approachable.
AI Works is designed specifically for leaders who want straightforward, high-impact ideas to unlock AI’s potential—without the hype.
Join us to discover proven pathways to productivity, hear authentic experiences from your peers, and confidently navigate the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. Subscribe and tune in to gain practical, accessible AI guidance that works.
Produced by MKAI.works
🎧 Episode Title:
Bridging Policy and Practice: Leading AI Transformation with Keith Smith, CEO at HRUC
🎙️ Podcast:
The AI Works Podcast
Hosted by Richard Foster-Fletcher
Co-hosted by Kurt Hintz
🔍 Episode Overview
How can further education (FE) institutions turn national policy into meaningful practice when it comes to artificial intelligence? In this episode, Keith Smith—CEO at Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges (HRUC) and former senior leader at the Department for Education—joins us to share his perspective on sector leadership in an AI-integrated world. From building system-wide collaboration to preparing students and staff for the demands of a digital economy, this conversation explores what it takes to lead well through uncertainty, complexity, and rapid technological change.
Keith shares practical insights on:
- Creating an AI strategy at the organisational level
- Supporting staff through disruption with purpose and clarity
- Building communities of practice across the FE sector
- Partnerships that stretch thinking, including HRUC’s collaboration with MIT
Whether you’re in education, policy, or industry, this episode offers a grounded yet ambitious perspective on the leadership required to move from AI awareness to confident, inclusive action.
🧭 What We Cover
✔️ Embedding AI into FE strategy and operations
✔️ Staff development and psychological safety in times of change
✔️ Opportunities for AI to improve inclusion and neurodiverse learning
✔️ Sector-wide collaboration and the proposed AI community for FE
✔️ The future of AI in physical form: robotics, automation, and governance
✔️ Leadership lessons from policy to practice
👤 About Our Guest
Keith Smith is the Chief Executive of Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges. Prior to this role, he held senior leadership positions at the Department for Education, where he played a pivotal role in shaping national policy for the further education sector. He now leads one of the UK’s most forward-thinking college groups, with a focus on AI adoption, staff wellbeing, and system leadership.
🔗 Links & Mentions
- Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges: https://www.hruc.ac.uk
- MIT Industrial Liaison Program: https://ilp.mit.edu
- Connect with Keith Smith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-smith-1733b9140/
- Richard Foster-Fletcher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardfosterfletcher
- Kurt Hintz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kurt-hintz/
📬 Stay Connected
For updates, resources, and upcoming episodes, follow The AI Works Podcast and join the conversation on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mkai-works
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