Pat Norman
DR. Pat Norman

Dr Pat Norman is the Research and Development Lead for Sydney Executive Plus, a leadership upskilling initiative at the University of Sydney Business School, where he teaches the AI dexterity sprint.

Pat co-authors the Skills Horizon, an annual, world-renowned research report that explores what leaders need to know next. The report features practical insights drawn from conversations with hundreds of executives and leaders—from prime ministers to pilots to CPOs—about our changing world.

Pat's doctoral research explored professional identity, ethics, and education policy enactment in the context of neoliberalism. His research interests include professional identity and practical wisdom, AI, the future of work and management, and approaches to flourishing under neoliberalism.

Pat collaborates on the delivery of programs related to megatrends and the future of work, corporate foresight and strategy, changing management practices, AI fluency, and innovation in business. He also writes on pop culture and social theory, and has published research in Critical Studies in Education, the Australian Educational Researcher, and Teaching in Higher Education.

Keynote Session

Day 3 — 12.00

The Skills Horizon: what educational leaders need to know next?

The ground is shifting under educational leadership. AI is reshaping what students learn and how, trust in institutions is fraying, and leaders need to hold steady while everything around them moves. What capabilities does this moment actually demand?

Drawing on research and insights from the annual Skills Horizon report, this session maps the shifts redrawing the leadership landscape and what each means for those leading schools and systems. The session will explore how to read complexity, work across difference, and lead with judgement and taste in this changing context.

The session will be interactive and reflective: leadership is all about bringing curiosity and focus, even in the audience! The session invites you to locate yourself on the horizon, as a grounded leader, and to leave with a sharper sense of where to focus next.

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