Universities occupy a unique position at the intersection of knowledge creation and societal transformation. As connectors between academia, industry and government, they possess unparalleled capacity to drive innovation through world-class talent and research infrastructure. Yet championing innovation within these traditionally conservative institutions requires more than incremental change – it demands bold vision, strategic planning and, above all, leadership teams with diverse experiences and global perspectives.
These themes took centre stage at a round-table discussion, held in partnership with global leadership advisory firm Perrett Laver, during the 2025 THE World Academic Summit. The discussion brought together experts from across the global higher education sector to examine how universities can evolve from institutional inertia to become genuine innovation catalysts.
The global imperative for diverse leadership
Drawing on their experience working with leading institutions across six continents, Perrett Laver’s global partners emphasised that the challenges facing higher education are increasingly borderless – and so too must be the solutions. “Perrett Laver began 25 years ago in London, but now we have 17 offices around the world,” noted Thomas Weinberg, global managing partner at Perrett Laver. “Despite how peculiar different contexts are, diverse experience in senior teams greatly strengthens any university,” Weinberg added.
This global perspective reveals a fundamental truth: diversity of perspective isn’t merely aspirational – it’s an operational necessity. Emma Stone, managing partner for the United Arab Emirates at Perrett Laver, articulated this principle clearly: “Leadership is about the complementarity of skills – the sense of direction, the alignment on direction and bringing different ideas and experiences to help form a plan and to implement that strategy.”
Structural innovation: creating agile institutions
Several institutions are pioneering structural reforms to embed innovation into their core operations. Wendy Larner, president and vice-chancellor of Cardiff University in the UK, described how her institution is leveraging its role as an anchor institution in Wales. “We’re thinking about how we incentivise innovation-related activities,” Larner said. The university is spinning out a fully owned subsidiary designed to drive innovation work, enabling greater agility and responsiveness to industry needs while maintaining academic integrity.
Similarly, Vlado Perkovic, provost at the University of New South Wales in Australia, discussed the creation of a university-wide innovation institute. “In our strategy now, we’re asking the institute to help us convert our existing structures and processes to more directly address some of the problems we have,” Perkovic explained.
Reimagining the educational model
The shift from inertia to innovation is clearly evident in pedagogical transformation. David Garza Salazar, president of Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico, described his institution’s fundamental restructuring: “Years ago, we ended up revamping our educational model from a lecture-based model to a challenge-based one, where students gain experience learning with external bodies.”
This shift reflects a broader recognition that universities must prepare students for rapidly evolving economies. However, Garza Salazar emphasised the importance of mutual value creation: "We still need to play the role of catalyst for any innovation partnership, but we have to make it clear to the other stakeholders what the value is for them when participating in this relationship."
The talent challenge
For smaller or emerging institutions, the talent challenge is particularly acute. Shu Guang Zhang, rector of City University of Macau, articulated a pragmatic approach: “What seems to be working for us is finding leaders in a particular field, and they can attract young talent to form a team. If you are lacking a leader in a particular area, you are not going to have the glue to attract others. You need to consider what it takes to have a leader – that’s the investment.”
The Asian innovation wave
Significant shifts are underway in Asian higher education, where universities are recalibrating their strategies around innovation, partnership building and talent acquisition. Bing Han, managing partner for China at Perrett Laver, observed that institutions are increasingly prioritising applied research through industry collaboration and pursuing global talent with greater intentionality.
AI has emerged as both a challenge and an opportunity in this transformation. “AI is rapidly reshaping the job market,” Han noted. “If you are not adaptive, you’re not an active learner, and you’re saying goodbye to future success.” For universities, this means not only integrating AI into research and teaching but also cultivating adaptive, lifelong learning mindsets in students and faculty alike.
From theory to impact
Ultimately, universities aspiring to be innovation catalysts must bridge the gap between cutting-edge ideas and real-world impact. This requires institutional structures that support agility, leadership teams that bring diverse global perspectives, educational models that emphasise experiential learning and partnerships grounded in mutual value creation.
Those institutions that invest in exceptional, diverse leadership teams – with support from experienced advisors who understand both the global landscape and local contexts – will be best positioned to drive meaningful global impact in the decades ahead.
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