IBA Karachi, Aga Khan University and Habib University Join Hands to Advance AI-Driven Teaching and Learning, MoU Signed at Karachi Symposium

KARACHI: AI-driven teaching learning is the ground on which three of Karachi’s best-known universities have decided to stand together. IBA Karachi, the Aga Khan University and Habib University have signed a memorandum of understanding on artificial-intelligence-driven teaching and learning, choosing one coordinated platform over three separate experiments.

Signed at a symposium built around the question

The MoU was the centrepiece of the Annual Teaching and Learning Symposium 2026, themed “AI in Pedagogy” and hosted at IBA’s Main Campus. It was signed by IBA Karachi Executive Director Dr S Akbar Zaidi, Aga Khan University President Dr Sulaiman Shahabuddin and Habib University President Wasif Rizvi. Conference chair Dr Sana Tauseef, who heads IBA’s Office of Academic Quality and Excellence, opened the day by stressing that no single institution can work through AI’s impact on education alone. Dr Farid Panjwani, dean of AKU’s Institute for Educational Development, called the gathering a significant milestone for teaching and learning through collective effort.

Stop, start, continue

A leadership panel moderated by Dr Zaidi — with Dr Shahabuddin, Wasif Rizvi, Durbeen chief executive Salma Aslam and Beaconhouse National University Vice Chancellor Dr Moeed W Yusuf — took up a blunt question: in the AI era, what should universities stop, start and continue? The keynote came from University of Oslo professor Dr Fazilat Siddiq, who argued that when a machine can produce the answer, critical thinking and learner agency become the real curriculum.

What happens next

The symposium also carried interactive sessions, an EdTech innovation showcase and a student performance. The MoU itself is a commitment on paper; its worth will be measured in classrooms — in how Karachi’s teachers are trained, and in what its students are still asked to think through for themselves.