I put AI in its place, so schools can keep theirs.

Deputy Principal | AI & Leadership Strategist | Speaker

Helping schools and leaders move beyond shortcuts to build human-centered innovation that matters.

About Laurietta

Laurietta Goosen

Laurietta Goosen is Deputy Principal at Assumption Convent School in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she leads academic strategy, innovation, and staff development for an all-girls high school.

As a published LinkedIn voice on AI in education, she has been invited to speak at various educational conferences. She challenges leaders to see AI not as a tool for efficiency, but as a catalyst for deeper questions about trust, equity, and what schools choose to protect.

Her work is grounded in a simple conviction: AI should not be the disruption. Our redesign should be. She believes schools must move beyond policy and detection to ask harder questions about what learning is for, what leadership requires, and what it means to remain deeply human in a world becoming increasingly automated.

Keynote Speaking

"AI as a Mirror, Not a Shortcut: Leading with Purpose in an Age of Disruption"

This keynote moves beyond tools and tactics to explore the deeper leadership questions AI forces us to confront. Through the lenses of Time, Trust, and Equity, Laurietta challenges school leaders to see AI not as a productivity hack, but as a mirror reflecting where our systems prioritize speed over substance, polish over depth, and efficiency over human connection.

Designed for educational leaders navigating uncertainty, this talk offers frameworks for making strategic decisions about AI that align with institutional values, protect what matters most, and prepare schools to lead change rather than react to it.

Other Speaking Topics

Redesigning Learning for an AI-Enabled World

Moving beyond detection and policy to create classrooms where students choose thinking over shortcuts because the work matters.

Leading Through Identity Crisis

Why schools need clarity about who they are before they can decide how AI should be used, and what must remain non-negotiable.

Building Human-Centered Innovation in Schools

How school leaders can use AI to reduce administrative burden while protecting the relationships, judgment, and courage that technology cannot replace.

Thought Leadership

Published articles exploring AI, leadership, learning, and what schools must protect and redesign.

AI in the hands of a school leader: small shifts, big wins

While many educators are cautiously exploring what AI means for the classroom, school leaders have a responsibility to use these tools to improve how schools run. When used thoughtfully, AI can reduce administrative burden, improve communication, and give leaders more time to focus on strategy and relationships.

Read on LinkedIn →

Schools are facing an identity crisis

When redesign is driven by urgency rather than clarity, it becomes reactive and fragmented. The schools that will thrive in the years ahead will not be the ones with the most tools. They will be the ones with the clearest sense of who they are.

Read on LinkedIn →

The AI Interview

Before AI gets a role in your school, it should be interviewed. An impressive candidate is not the same as the right appointment. This is how school leaders decide.

The candidate

Applicant Artificial intelligence
Claims to Draft, summarise, translate, organise, predict and produce, at remarkable speed.
Does not Know your learners. Feel the tension in a staffroom. Notice when a child has gone quiet. Carry the responsibility beneath a consequential decision.
Status Not yet appointed.

AI is not the disruption. The choices schools make around AI are.

The complete protocol is built around eight questions. The two below are where the interview begins.

01What job are you applying for?
02What must you never do?

Get the complete protocol

Join the Leading with AI community and receive:

  • The full eight-question appointment process
  • A printable AI Interview Card for leadership meetings
  • A 45-minute format for working through a proposed AI role as a team

You will receive the full protocol, the printable leadership card and occasional practical notes from Leading with AI. No noise, and you can leave at any time.

Let's Connect

Interested in booking a keynote, exploring consulting opportunities, or continuing the conversation?