78,000 Students, One Bold AI Ambition- Leigh Williams

In this episode of AI in Education, Dan and Ray sit down with Leigh Williams, CIO of Brisbane Catholic Education, to dive into one of the most ambitious AI rollouts in Australian schools. With 78,000 students and 13,000 staff, Leigh and her team implemented Microsoft Copilot at scale—reducing teacher workloads by 9+ hours per week and even boosting teacher recruitment.

But it’s not just about efficiency. Leigh shares how AI is reshaping learning, tackling the digital divide, and even reducing student stress. We also explore the ethics of AI in education, Brisbane Catholic Education’s commitment to the Vatican’s "Rome Call" for AI ethics, and why gender balance in AI leadership still has a long way to go.

We also have a fascinating discussion about other ways that they are using technology to support learning, including FisherOne, their online school.

Training resources Leigh talks extensively about the effort they have put into training and support for their teachers and students, and we wanted to share some of the Microsoft resources we know are useful if you're rolling out Copilot to your school:

Microsoft Learn: Enhance teaching and learning with Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Adopt: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat resources for education