Reflections from Tribal Empower 2025: Empowering the Core 

Tribal’s Empower Conference was a fantastic opportunity to connect with university leaders, system owners, and service professionals from across the UK, Ireland, and even further afield, with delegates joining from Malaysia and beyond. The energy, openness, and collective drive to deliver meaningful change was inspiring. 

I had the opportunity to deliver a breakout session entitled Connecting the Dots: Change Management Masterclass. More than a week on, I’ve found a few minutes to reflect on the conversations I had with both existing and new connections, as well as the feedback from our session. 

Accepting the New Normal 

The theme of every conversation I had centred around a shared truth: the sector needs to change, and fast. 

That’s not a new sentiment. We’ve been talking about a changing, more demanding higher education environment for years. But this time, the conversations felt different. There was a shift from speculation to acceptance. No longer were people holding out hope for new government funding models or the easing of international visa restrictions. There was a calm, sober recognition that the higher education landscape has fundamentally shifted and now the question is simply: 

“What are we going to do about it?” 

That acceptance is powerful. It frees institutions from wishful thinking and creates the mental space needed to think creatively, pragmatically, and collaboratively. 

The Technology Trap 

One topic that came up time and again was technology. Everyone I spoke with acknowledged its potential, especially in areas like AI, automation, and data integration, but also its constraints. People are eager to innovate, but feel held back by crumbling legacy infrastructure. Many IT and Systems teams are so consumed with “keeping the lights on” that they have little time or headspace to look forward. 

This creates a strategic dilemma. On the one hand, institutions want to improve efficiency, student experience, and insight. On the other, they’re overwhelmed by reactive system maintenance and technical debt. Without modern platforms and integrated data, the path to transformation is blocked before it begins. 

Why Change Really Fails 

In our breakout session, we asked attendees what they believed was the biggest reason change initiatives fail. The number one answer? 

“Insufficient resource.” 

It’s an answer I hear often, and one that deserves challenge. 

In my view, insufficient resource is not a cause of failure, it’s a symptom of poor planning. Good planning begins with an honest conversation about what is possible, aligned with strategic priorities. We can’t do everything at once. If an initiative doesn’t have the resource to succeed, it shouldn’t be started. 

Of course, some initiatives can’t wait, especially those tied to regulatory compliance, student safety, or data security. In these cases, institutions must explore alternative delivery models, including strategic partnerships. Encouragingly, many leaders I spoke with are already moving in this direction. 

Partnership as Strategy 

A clear theme emerging from Empower was the recognition that no single institution or supplier can do this alone. The scale and complexity of change ahead demands collaboration across the sector. 

Strategic partnerships aren’t just about filling resourcing gaps. Done well, they provide access to skills, experience, and fresh thinking that may be difficult or impossible to develop in-house. The sector has an opportunity to move beyond transactional procurement towards shared problem-solving. It’s a cultural shift and one that I believe will be essential to delivering sustainable change. 

People First: The Role of the First Adopters 

While planning, resourcing, and platforms matter deeply, successful change is still, and always will be, about people. 

In our session, we explored the power of the first adopters, the crucial 13% of your organisation who follow the innovators and quickly embrace new ways of working. These people aren’t just willing to try something new; they believe in the vision. When empowered, they become the catalysts for broader cultural and behavioural shifts. Once your early adopters get going, your general workforce population will follow. 

Institutions need to identify and invest in these individuals. They are your change champions and they will determine whether new behaviours, processes, systems, and technologies truly take hold or quietly fail in the background. 

The Risk of Standing Still 

It’s easy to focus on what change will cost. But it’s time we also asked: 

“What’s the cost of not changing?” 

For many institutions, the risk now isn’t that they don’t know what to do, it’s that they delay doing it. Or that they continue to go it alone, trying to solve every challenge with overstretched internal teams and outdated tools. 

If Empower 2025 showed us anything, it’s that the sector is ready to move and that collaboration, not competition, will be the engine of success. 

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going 

To those who joined our session or stopped by the PACT stand: thank you. Your insights and openness made the event so valuable. And if we didn’t get a chance to speak, I’d love to connect, especially if your university is planning or navigating change and would benefit from a sounding board, partner, or fresh perspective. 

Let’s make sure we don’t just acknowledge the need for transformation, let’s deliver it, together. 

Aaron Tyler
Co-Founder & Director
PACT Solutions