Why does artificial intelligence require a fundamentally different approach to university leadership? Higher education has repeatedly adapted to technological change – from the printing press and industrialisation to computers, the internet, and online learning. Each transformation reshaped how universities operated, yet none fundamentally altered their intellectual purpose. But artificial intelligence poses a challenge unlike any university leaders have faced before. Unlike previous technologies that expanded access to knowledge, AI expands participation in intellectual work. That distinction reshapes the nature of university leadership. Many universities are responding with familiar institutional mechanisms – drafting policies, investing in platforms, revising curricula, and updating academic integrity policies. These responses are necessary, but they risk misidentifying the challenge.