Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is expanding beyond teaching and learning into academic management, institutional planning, and decision-making. Successful integration, however, depends on institutional readiness, workforce capability, governance, and clearly prioritised development needs. This study examined readiness and priority needs for AI integration in academic management across Thailand’s Rajamangala University of Technology (RMUT) system. Quantitative data were collected from 400 purposively recruited academic staff using a validated 64-item questionnaire covering eight domains of academic management. Analyses included descriptive statistics, the modified Priority Needs Index (PNI-modified), independent-samples t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and effect sizes. Qualitative data from 16 key informants were integrated to explain the quantitative findings. Planning and administrative management showed the highest priority need (PNI = 0.187), followed by teaching and learning management (PNI = 0.135) and resource and support management (PNI = 0.134). The most urgent operational needs were AI for work scheduling (PNI = 0.2311) and learning activity design (PNI = 0.2139). Only 17.2% of items fell within urgent categories, supporting phased rather than system-wide implementation. Age differences were statistically significant but small (η² = .040), whereas gender differences were non-significant and negligible (d = 0.09). The findings position AI adoption as an institutional development and governance challenge and provide evidence-based guidance for capability building, policy prioritisation, and responsible phased implementation in Thai and comparable Asia-Pacific higher education contexts.
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APA 7th edition
In-text citation: (Tuanpusa et al., 2026)
Reference: Tuanpusa, S., Sritragarn, T., Kaewthongyai, Y., & Tuenpusa, P. (2026). AI integration readiness in academic management: Evidence from Thailand.
Asia Pacific Journal of Education and Society, 14(2), Article 12.
https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/19941
AMA 10th edition
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Tuanpusa S, Sritragarn T, Kaewthongyai Y, Tuenpusa P. AI integration readiness in academic management: Evidence from Thailand.
Asia Pacific Journal of Education and Society. 2026;14(2), 12.
https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/19941
Chicago
In-text citation: (Tuanpusa et al., 2026)
Reference: Tuanpusa, Svangnabha, Thongdee Sritragarn, Yudthavee Kaewthongyai, and Pongpith Tuenpusa. "AI integration readiness in academic management: Evidence from Thailand".
Asia Pacific Journal of Education and Society 2026 14 no. 2 (2026): 12.
https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/19941
Harvard
In-text citation: (Tuanpusa et al., 2026)
Reference: Tuanpusa, S., Sritragarn, T., Kaewthongyai, Y., and Tuenpusa, P. (2026). AI integration readiness in academic management: Evidence from Thailand.
Asia Pacific Journal of Education and Society, 14(2), 12.
https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/19941
MLA
In-text citation: (Tuanpusa et al., 2026)
Reference: Tuanpusa, Svangnabha et al. "AI integration readiness in academic management: Evidence from Thailand".
Asia Pacific Journal of Education and Society, vol. 14, no. 2, 2026, 12.
https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/19941
Vancouver
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Tuanpusa S, Sritragarn T, Kaewthongyai Y, Tuenpusa P. AI integration readiness in academic management: Evidence from Thailand. Asia Pacific Journal of Education and Society. 2026;14(2):12.
https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/19941