Nick McIntosh speaking at ACCA Hanoi 2024
Learning Futurist · Ho Chi Minh City · Asia-Pacific

Not a university
talking to itself.

Most thinking on AI in higher education travels in one direction — from Western institutions outward. This isn't that.

2.5M
Nobel Prize Dialogue viewers
900+
AI CoP members · 3 continents
$180k
Competitive innovation grants
2,500+
Newsletter subscribers across LinkedIn and Teams
01 Writing
Full archive →
Shadow Governance 16 Mar 2026

The Governance Gap: Who Captures the Value?

Universities are generating enormous AI capability. The governance structures to capture and protect that value don't exist yet.

Read
The Missing Rung 2 Mar 2026

An AI Agent Just Logged Into Canvas and Did Your Degree

The assessment model isn't under pressure. It's over.

Read
When AI Hurts 10 Nov 2025

When AI Becomes a Suicide Coach: OpenAI Faces the Reckoning

Engagement-optimised AI meeting vulnerable users is a predictable collision. What duty of care do institutions carry?

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Shadow Governance
AI capability accumulating in the gap between policy and practice. Who controls it. Who's accountable when it fails.
The Missing Rung
AI automating the entry-level work that builds expertise. The pipeline problem nobody is naming.
Don't Outsource Your Brain
Cognitive offloading, AI dependency, and what gets lost when speed is mistaken for intelligence.

Research with receipts.

I'm not writing about this from the outside. I'm inside a complex institution — across three continents, fifteen thousand staff, a hundred thousand students — trying to make it actually work.

Based in Vietnam, connected to Australia, Spain, and Southeast Asia. Most thinking about AI in higher education travels from Western institutions outward. This isn't that.

I lead the Learning Futures team at RMIT University Vietnam. Ralph McIntosh Award — RMIT's highest professional staff honour. SFHEA. Published in Times Higher Education and the LSE Higher Education Blog.

2.5M
Nobel Prize Dialogue viewers — AI and the Future of Learning
900+
AI Community of Practice members across Australia, Vietnam, Spain
$180k+
Strategic innovation grants — competitive awards, two rounds
100k
Students across the institution where the research lives
02 Podcast
Listen on Spotify →
Weekly · Season 2 · Co-hosted with Dale Leszczynski
Adjunct Intelligence.
Deep dives and interviews on AI in learning and teaching. Guests include Sean McMinn (HKUST) and Danny Liu (University of Sydney).
Latest Sycophancy Kills: What Happens When AI Is Optimised for Engagement
03 Projects
Annual · 3rd Edition · 2026
HE Horizons

Southeast Asia's premier HE innovation summit. Government, industry, and academia in the same room. Building toward the ASCILITE 2027 bid — the society's first Southeast Asian conference outside Singapore.

Founder · Programme Chair · Ho Chi Minh City
Building · Grant-funded
The Imaginarium

Innovation infrastructure at RMIT Vietnam where emerging technology — AR, VR, haptics, biometrics, neurotechnology — meets pedagogy before it reaches classrooms. Built with Adobe, Apple, and others.

Director · RMIT University Vietnam
Active · 900+ Members
AI Community of Practice

International community spanning Australia, Vietnam, and Spain. Founded 2023, grown from 10 to 900+ members. Research site for published work on shadow governance and AI change management.

Founder · Lead · Australia · Vietnam · Spain
Active · Ethics approved
Research Programme

Three papers in progress on AI governance gaps, strategic sensemaking, and cross-cultural AI pedagogy across Australia, Vietnam, and Spain. Target: Q1 journals 2026–27.

Lead Researcher · Multiple institutions
04 Speaking & Publications
Enquire →
2025
Nobel Prize Dialogue — Ho Chi Minh City
Moderator · Estimated global audience 2.5M
2025
PIE Live Asia Pacific — Gold Coast
Featured speaker
2025
Governor General of Australia — RMIT Vietnam
Presenter
2025
HE Horizons — Ho Chi Minh City
Organiser & presenter · 3rd edition 2026
2024
ASCILITE — Melbourne
Presenter
2024
ACCA — Main stage, Hanoi
Featured speaker
2024
HE Horizons — Ho Chi Minh City
Organiser & presenter
2023
ASCILITE — Christchurch
Presenter
2023–2025
Vietnam National CoP for HE in the Digital Age — Hanoi & HCMC
Founder & lead, AI strand · 50+ universities · Ministry of Education
Publication
Times Higher Education
Co-authored with Sean McMinn (HKUST)
Publication
LSE Higher Education Blog
Contributed piece
In progress
3 research papers · Q1 journals
AI governance · strategic sensemaking · cross-cultural pedagogy
Newsletter
AI and the Future of HE
2,500+ subscribers across LinkedIn and Teams · 30%+ open rate · Adopted across all New Zealand universities and polytechnics.
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