AI and Automation in School Business Operations

Automation and AI are quickly becoming powerful tools for school business leaders, transforming how high-performing trusts run estates and operations and link this data to budget-setting.  AI can bring together information from finance, estates, staffing and pupil numbers, highlight patterns and risks, and provide fast, reliable insight when decisions need to be made.

This session shows how schools and trusts can use AI in a practical, affordable and responsible way to improve forecasting, strengthen budget and estates planning, and support clearer, quicker conversations with SLT, governors and trustees.  Focused on real trust-level use cases, it cuts through the hype to show what is already working and how to adopt it without expensive systems or complex implementation.

In this session we explore

Connecting finance, estates and operations data to reveal trends and pressure points

Using real-time insight to model budgets, pupil movement and estates demand

Scenario planning for growth, contraction and changing pupil profiles

Turning complex data into clear options for decision makers

Strengthening budget-setting using estates and operational insight

Reducing workload through streamlined audits, planning and compliance

Using AI dashboards to answer leadership questions quickly

Protecting institutional knowledge and avoiding unnecessary software spend

Making “more with less” work at scale

Take home points

How AI can reduce admin and improve decision making

Practical uses of AI in budgeting, forecasting and planning

Faster, evidence-based responses to leadership questions

Confidence to adopt AI in a way that saves time and supports sustainability

This session is for

School business leaders, COOs, CFOs, estates and operations leads, and central teams in MATs and maintained schools seeking practical ways to use AI to connect data and drive smarter decisions.

Vickie Keeling