Tanveer Shaheed on 17 years at Macquarie, international education’s social licence, and AI’s next wave

We recorded this episode in Macquarie University’s central courtyard, a place that feels like home to both of us. Tanveer has spent 17 years here, through new vice-chancellors, rebuilt precincts and a metro line that now puts the campus 18 minutes from the CBD. He laughs that it feels like working for three or four different organisations, because the thinking and the work keep evolving. Then he tells me a sliding-doors story, the day he had a PhD interview and a university admissions interview at the same time. He flipped a coin, chose admissions, and never left international education.Tanveer takes us back to the fax era, thick stacks of paper and month-long turnarounds, then forward to StudyLink, online enrolment, and now generative AI. He is optimistic about AI in teaching and admin, as long as pedagogy and assessment adapt, with students brought onto campus for real project work and community. We get into social licence too. Too many people think international education is only about bringing students in. Tanveer argues the real story is broader, soft diplomacy, industry links, alumni impact, and community service. He shares two decades of fundraising for Cancer Council NSW’s Biggest Morning Tea, nearly half a million dollars raised with his community, and wonders whether institutions truly capture the impact staff make beyond the campus gates. We finish with a challenge close to his heart, training the profession. Counselors and advisers carry enormous responsibility for life-changing decisions, yet there is no robust, global training pathway. AI can help, he says, but it will take intent, not just tools.HighlightsFrom faxed offers to StudyLink to generative AI, how admissions and enrolment evolvedA campus transformed, from brutalist concrete to a green, people-first courtyard, new schools and a health precinct with its own hospitalThe metro changed everything for talent and students, frequent services and easy access creating a city-connected campusWhat AI is already changing in assignments and marking, and why universities will feel every shift firstThe policy temperature today, less heat, more stability, and why a modernised ESOS framework still mattersCommunity contribution as reputational capital, why volunteering and local ties build trustUntold success stories, from students earning on minimum wage to alumni building billion-dollar companies and giving backTraveller’s tales, a sleepless first night in Pakistan, a hotel booking in Iran made for the wrong year, and a wish list flight to AfricaWhy trust is the currency in student decision-making, and how to earn itA call for proper training for counsellors, onshore and offshore, to lift capability across the ecosystemA simple philosophy from his mum, dream big, then grow to the size of your dreamGlobal Horizons is a production of The Global Society, Australia’s Learning Abroad support company. Our editor is Len Zamora and our distribution specialist is Angelo Ablao. Rob Malicki is the executive editor and host. The podcast wouldn’t be possible without The Koala News, Australia’s international education news website. This episode is supported by Choosing Your Uni, Australia's unique, AI-powered platform that helps domestic and international students to find the right institution for them, and that helps Australian institutions to access new markets. For guest suggestions and feedback, email [email protected]