Digital Leadership Skills of Academic Leaders in the Age of AI Agents: Toward a Human-to Algorithmic Leadership Transition Framework
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20489749Keywords:
academic leaders; AI agentic systems; digital leadership skills; HALT Framework; transformational leadershipAbstract
The emergence of AI agentic systems disrupts academic leadership theory fundamentals. Strategic leadership frameworks—Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Bass & Avolio, 2000), Dynamic Managerial Capabilities (Helfat & Martin, 2015), and Upper Echelons Theory (Hambrick & Mason, 1984)—were developed for human-directed environments and do not address behavioral requirements when AI agents autonomously perform academic functions. Academic leaders increasingly govern AI-integrated environments without validated theoretical frameworks. This study employs a PRISMA-informed Systematic Literature Review across Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar examining how digital leadership skills must evolve under AI agentic conditions in higher education. Four literature bodies were analyzed: strategic/academic leadership theory, AI agentic integration in higher education, digital leadership approaches, and agency theory/governance architecture. Three theoretical gaps are identified—Digital Leadership Behavior Gap, Academic Managerial Capability Gap, and Institutional Outcomes Gap—and the Human-to-Algorithmic Leadership Transition (HALT) Framework is proposed, specifying how academic leaders must transition from administrative direction to algorithmic orchestration. Evidence from Philippine public sector digital leadership contexts further grounds the framework in locally relevant governance realities.
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