Data-Driven Leadership and Artificial Intelligence as Catalysts for Economic Transformation in Nigeria’s Higher Education

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has changed the way leadership and administration gets conducted in higher education; it makes possible the ability to use data to make decisions and engage in strategic planning. Nevertheless, within the context of Nigerian higher education, administrative and leadership inefficiencies remain a persistent problem that still constrains performance and economic contributions of these institutions. This paper seeks to examine the impact of AI-driven leadership and data-driven administration on institutional efficiency and the role of economic restructuring in geopolitical regions of Nigeria, with the purpose of establishing a sample of both public and privatized universities. The survey conducted on 200 academic staff, administrative personnel, and senior undergraduate students utilizes the use of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analyses in SPSS. Findings indicate that AI-based leadership is a significant predictor of institutional effectiveness (β = 0.32, p < .001), whereas data-driven administrative practices are key predictors of decision quality (β = 0.29, p < .001). Results of economic transformation are also heavily predicted by AI-enabled leadership (0β = 0.30, p < .001). The connection between the AI-enabled leadership and economic transformation is substantially mediated by institutional effectiveness (indirect effect = 0.10, 95% CI [0.06, 0.15]) and explains the mean effect of about 34% of the overall effect. The research finds that AI-assisted leadership and administrative paradigms have the potential to rebrand the Nigerian institutions of higher learning as agents of human capital and economic competitiveness at the global level.