Insights from our AI in Education Webinar - exploring AI’s impact across the educational ecosystem

AI in Education: A Universal Platform to Recruit, Retain and Educate

AI is no longer a future ambition for education; it’s today’s opportunity. In our recent webinar, “AI in Education: A unified platform for student success,” we explored how institutions are embracing AI to recruit more effectively, retain students longer, and enhance the learning experience through live demonstrations and real-world case studies.

This comprehensive session featured live demonstrations of ICS.AI's SMART: Copilot platform alongside insights from two forward-thinking institutions that are putting AI into action. Attendees witnessed firsthand how AI can transform educational operations while hearing success stories from Coleg Y Cymoedd and Nottingham Trent University (NTU).

The Hidden Challenge: AI Fragmentation in Higher Education

Many institutions struggle with the complexity of managing multiple AI tools, with ChatGPT for one use case and Claude for another, separate platforms for different departments. This fragmentation creates budget strain, operational chaos, and inconsistent experiences for students and staff. Rather than managing separate subscriptions for recruitment AI, student services solutions, and teaching tools, forward-thinking institutions are moving toward comprehensive AI capabilities through a single platform and vendor relationship.

Closing the AI Adoption Gap in Education

ICS.AI CEO Martin Neale opened the session by highlighting a growing challenge: the AI adoption gap. As students increasingly turn to AI in their everyday lives, institutions must move fast to avoid falling behind.

"You don’t have years to wait. Students are already using AI. Institutions must act now." 

Martin Neale, CEO, ICS.AI

With 92% of students already using AI, institutions can't afford the 3-5 years that custom AI development typically requires. The competitive pressure is real, colleges and universities need solutions that deliver comprehensive functionality in months, not years.

Our response? A SMART: universal AI platform that enables multiple use cases, across recruitment, services, and teaching, under a single, compliant, multi-LLM infrastructure.

Coleg Y Cymoedd: From Enquiry to Enrolment with Arny

Rory Meredith, Assistant Principal CTO at Coleg Y Cymoedd, shared the story behind Arny, their student recruitment AI assistant. Developed with ICS.AI and supported by Welsh Government funding, Arny provides 24/7 support and guidance for prospective students in both Welsh & English.

The impact has been outstanding:

• 10.3% increase in enrolment

• 5% increase in application to enrolment conversion rate

• 4,400% ROI, delivering £3 million in financial benefits from a £68,000 investment

• Nearly 50% of queries handled by Arny are outside normal working hours

"Arny represents more than technology. It reflects our commitment to learner success and innovation in education." 

Rory Meredith, Coleg Y Cymoedd

Nottingham Trent University: Scalable Student Support with Trent

Tony Green, Head of Software Development and Architecture at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), described their journey from an early AI pilot to a fully deployed student services assistant, Trent. Initially launched to support graduation queries, Trent now handles thousands of service requests, automatically resolving 95% of them.

"We built Trent to scale. Our small team couldn’t handle 40,000 students without it. AI is now our first line of support." 

Tony Green, NTU

NTU also used Generative AI to transform internal knowledge resources, automating the creation of over 700 AI intents in a single afternoon, versus months of manual authoring.

Both Coleg Y Cymoedd and NTU demonstrate the power of a unified approach. Instead of juggling multiple AI vendor relationships, separate training programs, and fragmented user experiences across different departments, they've achieved comprehensive AI capabilities through a single platform. This consolidation eliminates the exponential cost escalation and operational complexity that plague institutions trying to manage multiple AI tools across teaching, services, and administration.

AI in Teaching & Learning with SMART Platform

With recruitment and services seeing strong results, institutions like Coleg Y Cymoedd are piloting ICS.AI's SMART: Teaching and Learning copilots, demonstrating the growing adoption of unified AI platforms across UK higher education.

The webinar featured live demonstrations of ICS.AI's SMART: Copilot platform, showcasing how AI can revolutionise the classroom experience. Attendees saw firsthand how institutions like Coleg Y Cymoedd are piloting these innovative teaching and learning copilots, with the college leading with bilingual AI assistants built to support learners and educators alike.

The live demonstrations highlighted key platform features:

• Ask & Understand: Conversational AI trained solely on course content, demonstrated with real student queries

• Test Me: Auto-generated quizzes for student self-assessment, shown creating instant assessments

• Educator Copilot: Resource creation, lesson planning, and student analytics in action

• Multilingual Support: Live switching between English, Welsh, and other languages

"We’ve built a system that helps students test their understanding in real-time, and helps educators spot gaps in learning before they become problems." 

Rory Meredith, Coleg Y Cymoedd

The Strategic Imperative: Why Unified Platforms Matter

The success stories from Coleg Y Cymoedd and NTU represent more than individual wins, they exemplify the fundamental shift toward unified AI platforms that UK higher education requires. This isn't just about adopting AI tools; it's about the strategic imperative to provide comprehensive AI capabilities without the fragmentation, cost escalation, and operational complexity that multiple vendor relationships create. The institutions that recognise and act on this imperative will define the future of AI-enabled education.

ICS.AI: AI for All

From recruitment assistants like Arny, to student support with Trent and the teaching and learning copilots demonstrated live during our webinar, our platform is built to serve the entire education journey.

We work closely with each institution to ensure AI adoption is thought out, compliant, and delivers measurable value from day one. Whether you’re just starting or ready to scale, we’re here to help.

AI for Students. AI for Educators. AI for Institutions.

Want to Learn More?

Watch the webinar recording and view the presentation slides.

Ready to explore what's possible for your institution? If you'd like to discover how our SMART: Platform can help you recruit, retain and educate students, let’s have a chat.

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