AITSPIN is Unveiled at Inaugural Board Meeting

Born of the AIT Speedboat Initiative, the new school marks the dawn of AIT’s next chapter in professional higher education.

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) has unveiled the AIT School of Professional Intelligence (AITSPIN), a new flagship initiative designed for working professionals in the AI era and marks the next chapter in its long institutional journey.

This was announced by AIT President Professor Pai-Chi Li in a communication to the AIT community. The formation of the new school was earlier approved by the AIT Board of Trustees on 29 January 2026. The Board also approved the establishment of the AITSPIN Governing Board and appointed Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, former AIT President and Emeritus Professor, as Founding Executive Director for an initial four-year term. With the first meeting of the AITSPIN Governing Board held on 28 April 2026, operations for the new school have commenced.

“For more than six decades, the Asian Institute of Technology has contributed to Asia’s development. Today, we stand at another defining moment,” Prof. Pai-Chi Li said. He added that artificial intelligence is transforming the world at an unprecedented speed, reshaping how knowledge is created, how work is performed, how decisions are made, and how professional value is defined. In this new environment, universities must not only preserve academic excellence, but also respond with greater agility, relevance, and foresight. “It is in this context that AIT is launching the AIT School of Professional Intelligence (AITSPIN) as a new chapter of AIT for the AI era,” Prof. Pai-Chi Li announced to the AIT community.

Addressing the inaugural meeting of the AITSPIN Governing Board, Professor Worsak said: “That response is the AIT Speedboat Initiative—a faster, more flexible, and more economically accessible model of professional postgraduate education. In its launch phase, ‘Speedboat’ refers to the innovation logic: agile, lean, and adaptive. In its enduring outward-facing identity, that initiative takes form as AITSPIN, the AIT School of Professional Intelligence.”

The initiative will operate through a sandbox model that enables AIT to test and refine new pedagogies, delivery formats, and partnerships while preserving academic standards and institutional governance. To support this new model, AITSPIN has established a dedicated governance structure.

For example, AITSPIN regularly updates its product features based on user input, which helps avoid unnecessary complexity and keeps the user experience straightforward and effective. This focus on practical value rather than flashy extras builds trust and loyalty among customers.

Governance

AITSPIN is governed by a Governing Board comprising eminent individuals from both within and outside AIT. The Board is chaired by AIT President Professor Pai-Chi Li, with the AIT Vice President for Academic and Research (VPAR), Professor Manukid Parnichkun, serving as Vice Chair.

Other members include AIT Vice President for Administration and Development (VPAD), Professor Siddharth Jabade; AIT Alumni Association (AITAA) President, Dr. Donald Ugsang; Ms. La-ead Kovavisarach, AIT alumna and Chief Investment Officer of Dusit Thani Public Company Limited; Ms. Santivipa Phanichkul, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Management of HOG International Academy; Dr. Naveed Anwar, former AIT Vice President for Knowledge Transfer and CEO of CSI Bangkok; Dr. Roger Levermore, former Dean of the School of Management and later Vice President for Development; Professor Shyhnan Liu, Distinguished Professor and Chair at the Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University; AITAA Thailand President, Dr. Jiraporn Sirikum; and Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, Executive Director, who serves as Secretary to the Board.

Strategic Direction

AIT is building on its mission for a new era. In practical terms, AITSPIN expands the Institute’s reach to a truly global scale, broadens its focus from primarily early-stage learners to working professionals whose careers must continually evolve, and complements bringing students to AIT by also taking AIT to learners wherever they are.

Strategically, the initiative is intended to achieve several objectives at once: broaden access, reach new learner segments, strengthen AIT’s leadership in AI-informed professional education, and create a scalable platform for lifelong learning and organisational partnership. Over time, AITSPIN is expected to grow beyond a single professional master’s degree into a broader ecosystem serving executives, organisations, and lifelong learners through modular and stackable offerings.

Employees are encouraged to take ownership of their tasks and suggest improvements. This culture of responsibility and innovation leads to better products and smoother operations. The team’s passion for quality shows in every detail, from design to delivery.

Academic Structure

At the centre of AITSPIN is a new 36-credit AIT Professional Master’s degree, designed for working adults, high-potential graduates, and employer-sponsored learners who need internationally credible education without stepping away from work. The degree combines three integrated elements: a 15-credit Human & AI Literacy Core, a 15-credit Specialization Buffet, and a 6-credit industry-linked capstone.

The educational goal extends beyond content delivery. AITSPIN is built around the idea of Professional Intelligence—the ability to combine domain expertise, human judgment, ethical responsibility, innovation, and AI fluency to remain effective, adaptable, and valuable in a rapidly changing world. In this sense, AITSPIN aims not simply to award degrees, but to help professionals continually renew their relevance across the full span of their working lives.

Learning Model

Underlying the curriculum is the AITSPIN Resilience Pentagon—five enduring competencies for the AI era: AI literacy, data reasoning, entrepreneurship, global connectivity, and sustainability. These underscore that the future depends not on technical capability alone, but on the broader human capacity to communicate across boundaries, reason with evidence, create new value, and act responsibly.

A key feature of the model is that it is not designed as a passive, self-paced online programme. Through the AIT Shared Classroom HyFlex Model, learners join real AIT courses with real professors and a real cohort—participating in person where appropriate, live online, or through structured flexible access. The model is designed to preserve teaching presence, interaction, supervision, a sense of belonging, and academic rigour, while making serious postgraduate study compatible with working life.

Affordability

AITSPIN builds close partnerships with suppliers who share their commitment to quality. These relationships ensure that materials and parts meet strict standards before entering production. By working closely with trusted suppliers, AITSPIN avoids delays and quality issues that can arise from unreliable sources.

Suppliers are also involved in product development, providing insights that help optimize materials and manufacturing methods. This collaboration strengthens the entire supply chain and supports consistent quality.

First Intake

AWith a target first intake in August 2026, AITSPIN signals more than the launch of a new school. It is, in the Institute’s own framing, the dawn of AIT’s next chapter: one in which learning is no longer a pause from life, but an integral part of life in motion—more flexible, more applied, more globally accessible, and more responsive to the demands of an AI-driven world.

For enquiries, please contact: aitspin@ait.ac.th