HEDx is focussed on the changing landscape of higher education. The podcast investigates global innovations, opinions, strategies and experiences across the sector. Episodes have a range of guests in academic and other leaders as the sector moves through unprecedented times. A regular series within HEDx is about the student experience.
EP226. From Curriculum to Career: Are Students Ready for AI?
Valerie Singer leads the Global Education Team at Amazon Web Services, working with universities across more than 200 countries. In this episode, she and Martin talk about the gap between what employers need and what graduates actually bring, why 53% of employers say AI skills are their biggest hiring challenge, and what universities can do right now, this semester, to start closing it. A conversation about applied learning, institutional courage, and what higher education needs to look like in 2030.
1 Oct 2026
EP225. From disruption to construction: what comes next
Two days of conversations about AI, disruption, and the future of higher education. This is where it ends — and where the real question begins. Did we just talk, or did something actually change? Martin gets put on the spot, Sam says what most people won't about public universities, Sean proposes replacing disruption with construction, and two students close the whole series with something simple: change shouldn't wait until graduation.
24 Sept 2026
EP224. The student perspective: heard but not always listened to
Episode 9 of The AI Inflection Point — the last conversation on the student experience.
Most universities will tell you they listen to their students. But listening and actually responding are two very different things.
Jasmine Johnston moderates a panel that gets honest about that gap.
Ghazal Duggal, nursing student at USQ and student representative, on what it feels like to carry the concerns of a whole cohort.
Neave Nagel, President of NUS 2026 and UTS Students Association, on why two students on a university council isn't enough to represent 20,000 people.
Taryn Jones, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Macquarie, on what 8,800 students said when asked not about their classes — but about their lives. Loneliness came up more than anyone expected.
And Michael Henderson from Monash on why student voice only means something if it actually changes decisions.
What is a university without its students? That question sits underneath everything in this episode.
Who has been a guest on HEDx
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Professor Duncan Ivison
Verity Firth
Alphia Possamai-Inesedy
Sally Curtain
Andrea Burrows
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
4.7 / 5
10 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 43 / 100
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