Sukaina Walji

Sukaina Walji is the Director of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she oversees digital, blended and online learning operations to support UCT’s teaching and learning ecosystem to create inclusive and equitable teaching and learning experiences for diverse student and staff needs.  Sukaina advises senior university leadership on digital transformation strategy and is recognised for her work building institutional frameworks and policy for digital education and educational innovation. 

From 2022-2025 she facilitated the collaborative development of UCT's Assessment Policy, Digital and Online Education Policy, and UCT’s AI in Education Framework and works on shaping implementation strategies in collaboration with key institutional stakeholders. She currently leads a University Capacity Development Project on Assessment and AI literacy, oversees UCT’s AI in Education Community of Practice and co-led the 2025 AI Teaching Innovation grants programme. Her work sits at the intersection of technology, innovation, equity and education, with a current focus on ensuring that AI developments in higher education serve diverse communities rather than deepen existing divides. Sukaina also contributes to institutional and sector conversations on rethinking assessment for the AI era: interrogating what it means to demonstrate knowledge and achievement when these tools are ubiquitous and ensuring that the ways we assess learning remain meaningful, fair and inclusive. 

Sukaina’s research interests include artificial intelligence in education, digital education strategy, MOOCs, higher education business models, and assessment practices. Sukaina holds a degree in Modern History from Oxford University and a Master's in Online and Distance Education from the Open University, UK. To connect with and follow Sukaina’s professional interests please contact her on LinkedIn.