Sophia WONG

Abstract: As universities expand recruitment across Asia-Pacific, they are adopting AI to improve outreach, reporting, market analysis and operational efficiency. Yet for institutions recruiting outside their home markets, effective strategy still depends on something AI cannot replace: locally grounded human insight. Regulations, school ecosystems, family expectations, communication norms and partner credibility are often understood most accurately through trusted inmarket relationships and professional judgement. This panel brings together university, in-market and sector perspectives to examine how non-local institutions can combine local presence, institutional expertise and AI-enabled tools to make better recruitment decisions. Speakers will explore how on-the-ground insight supports market prioritisation, message adaptation, partner identification, school engagement and relationship management, while helping institutions respond to changes in policy, competition and student behaviour. The session will also consider what effective representation requires beyond information and efficiency: in-country teams interpret institutional priorities, translate them into market-facing action, and train representatives accordingly. While AI can strengthen preparation, workflow efficiency and reporting, it cannot independently replicate the human judgement required to understand intentions, read context and represent an institution credibly in-market. Participants will leave with frameworks for combining AI with local expertise to support recruitment strategy across the Asia-Pacific. Learning objectives: By the end of the session, participants will be able to: - Explain how local in-market expertise strengthens recruitment planning, partner development and communication across Asia-Pacific contexts. - Identify where AI can improve recruitment workflows, market intelligence, reporting and preparation, and where human judgement remains essential. - Assess how in-country teams interpret institutional priorities, translate them into market-facing activity, and train representatives to reflect institutional expectations in local markets. - Apply practical approaches for combining institutional strategy, local insight and AI-enabled tools to support more effective recruitment planning, engagement and decision-making. Target audience: International recruitment leaders, admissions and marketing professionals, partnership managers, international office staff and institutional decision-makers seeking practical, Asia-Pacific-focused approaches to combining local market insight, relationship-led engagement and AI-enabled tools in student recruitment.