Even with AI, education agents have a critical role in an increasingly complex environment and amidst rising student needs
Like many other big life decisions, students and parents now have the benefit of using large language models and generative AI to navigate the large number of options and wide variety of considerations.
The latest Navitas Agent Perception Survey asked respondents to reflect on developments in AI, particularly over the past 12 months. With the ubiquity of access to AI, unsurprisingly 78 per cent of agents agree that, “Students are doing more independent research using AI before approaching an education agent”.
At the same time, education agents are not convinced that AI advice has completely supplanted their role as advisors and counsellors and 80 per cent agree that “Students still rely on education agents to validate or interpret information they find using AI”.
Do students still need agents? Most say yes in a world of worries
To further interrogate the extent of AI’s impact on the role of education agents, the Navitas Agent Perception Survey also asked, “In your experience, have AI tools changed the way students engage with you as an agent?”
About 28 per cent of respondents conceded that students have slightly/much less reliance on them as education agents as a result of AI tools. Conversely 43 per cent of respondents were of the view that students have in fact slightly/much more reliance on the agent as a result of AI advice.
The increased or stable reliance on education agents may not be a purely self-serving point of view, especially in light of the increasingly complex policy, geopolitical and economic landscape.
Updated additional questions in the Navitas Agent Perception Survey 2026 show the wide array of issues that students and parents are concerned/very concerned about, including risk of sudden changes in visa rules, exchange rate volatility, risk of travel disruption, and a breakdown in country-to-country relations.
In addition, agents are continuing to recognise that students have increased needs. In 2026, the proportion of education agents that agree that students have increased for academic support rose from 68 per cent to 78 per cent. The proportion that agree that students have increased needs for social and mental health support also rose from 71 per cent to 82 per cent.
From “the best possible” to “the best fit”
This highlights the critical role that education agents must continue to play in identifying such needs and ensuring that students are enrolled in the programs and institutions that can best serve their needs. The focus for students and parents is likely shifting from getting into “the best possible” course and institution, to finding and selecting “the best fit” pathway and team that will provide each student the specific support they are likely to require.
AI is of course weighing heavily on the minds of would-be international students. Agents rightly identify that, “Students are concerned about the impact of AI on their careers”. This poses another fast-changing area where education agents will be relied upon for tailored guidance and advice.