From AI-powered tutoring and personalized learning to secure institutional AI platforms, breakthrough research and data-driven student success initiatives, higher education leaders are turning AI’s promise into meaningful institutional progress. 

CDO Magazine proudly announces the Top 30 Higher Education Data & AI Influencers 2026, recognizing senior leaders reshaping how North America’s colleges, universities and higher education systems harness data, analytics and AI to advance their missions. 

The honorees are driving major advances across the sector: developing university-wide AI platforms and custom AI agents, expanding AI literacy and access, modernizing enterprise data and technology foundations, strengthening institutional analytics, and establishing governance frameworks for responsible AI adoption.

Their impact reaches across teaching, learning, research and operations. AI-powered educational tools are creating new opportunities for personalized instruction, while data and analytics are helping institutions improve student pathways, evaluate outcomes, inform resource allocation and connect education with workforce needs.

The 2026 honorees represent a diverse cross-section of North American higher education, including the University of Michigan, Harvard University, Penn State University, the University of Utah, Georgia Tech, the University of North Carolina System, California Community Colleges, the North Carolina Community College System, the University of Toronto, Western University, Morgan State University and Meharry Medical College. Together, these institutions reflect the breadth of innovation across research universities, multi-campus systems, community colleges, historically Black institutions and specialized medical education. 

Their responsibilities are equally diverse, spanning Chief Data Officers, Chief AI Officers, Chief Information Officers, digital transformation executives, vice provosts, and leaders of institutional effectiveness and academic technology.

“Higher education is moving from exploring what AI can do to putting it to work across teaching, research and institutional operations,” says Anthony Losanno, Managing Director of CDO Magazine. “The leaders recognized in our Top 30 are building the technology, data foundations and governance needed to make that progress possible, while developing new ways to support students, faculty and institutional decision-making. Their work demonstrates the breadth of innovation taking place across North American higher education.”

Join us in celebrating the CDO Magazine Top 30 Higher Education Data & AI Influencers 2026 and explore the full list of honorees advancing what’s next for data and AI across higher education.