As artificial intelligence transforms economies, industries and the way people work, universities face a more fundamental question: how should the university itself evolve for the Intelligent Age?
Business and Technology University (BTU) is responding by developing a human-centred, AI-enabled university model that transforms not only teaching and learning, but research, institutional operations and global collaboration. The approach is influenced by Professor Klaus Schwab’s vision in Universities, Professors and Students in the Intelligent Age, which he later explored directly with the BTU academic community during an online lecture.
At the centre of BTU’s transformation is a Metacampus model, connecting the physical university with virtual and AI-powered environments into one integrated ecosystem. Much of this transformation is already in practice. Personalized and data-driven learning is being introduced across the academic experience; professors are becoming AI-assisted educators; new AI tools are supporting research and innovation; and university operations are becoming increasingly AI-enabled. The new semester will launch with more than 250 professor AI agents, marking one of the most visible steps in moving the model from strategy into everyday university life.
The transformation is designed around a human-centred principle: AI should expand human capabilities rather than replace them. AI literacy, Prompt Engineering and Vibe Coding are being integrated into education, while ethics, safety, data protection and human responsibility are embedded across the model.
As a young and agile university, BTU can move rapidly from ideas to implementation, test new approaches and measure their impact. This creates an opportunity to turn BTU into a real-world case for how universities can adapt to the Intelligent Age – and a model that can be shared and replicated globally.
In October, BTU will bring together leading European universities for an International Staff Week on the future of universities in the Intelligent Age, sharing its strategy, governance framework, KPIs and lessons from implementation. The wider ambition is to extend this dialogue beyond academia to technology companies, policymakers, international organizations and other actors shaping the Intelligent Age.
The goal is not simply to introduce AI into the university we already know. It is to demonstrate, in practice, what a human-centred university of the Intelligent Age can become and to contribute that experience to the global transformation of higher education.
S
