The Role of Educational Leaders in Navigating AI Integration: Implications for Creativity and Critical Thinking

The fast rate of growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education has led to the disruption of all the normal practices within the academic sphere, and this leads to both challenges and opportunities among the institution's leadership. This review paper critically examines the question of the successful AI integration management by educational leaders and the preservation of crucial cognitive skills like creativity and critical thinking. Based on the existing leadership paradigms, such as the Transformational, Distributed, and the Technology-Organisation-Environment (TOE) framework, and new directions, such as Ethical Adaptive Leadership, the article integrates theoretical and empirical studies in order to consider the applied aspects of leadership, AI, and student cognition. It outlines some of the critical issues concerning the leaders, such as ethical issues, excessive automation, institutional readiness, and the threat of reduced student agency. The results reveal the necessity of implementing strategic leadership techniques supportive of responsible AI use, constant faculty enrichment, and balanced pedagogical strategies. The review ends with the conclusion that educational leaders need to take on a transformational and ethically-informed role to see that AI technologies improve rather than derail the intellectual and creative growth of students in the era of digitalization.