Artificial intelligence in school leadership: a structured literature review of organisational benefits and ethical challenges

Purpose This study investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) integrates into school leadership by examining organisational benefits and ethical challenges. As AI permeates educational administration, school leaders must navigate risks and opportunities in data privacy, fairness, and accountability. Design/methodology/approach A PRISMA-aligned structured literature review was conducted on publications from 2019 to 2025. Searches were performed in Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, and Google Scholar, focussing on K–12 school leadership, with selective higher education sources included only for transferable governance mechanisms (e.g. policy, procurement, documentation/explainability, and auditability). Studies were screened for leadership relevance and ethical-legal engagement. Findings were synthesised using reflexive thematic analysis and conceptual mapping, yielding a final corpus of 50 publications. Findings AI affords benefits for school leadership, including administrative efficiency, decision support and, under data governance, more equitable resource allocation. However, adoption introduces ethical-legal challenges. Key concerns include algorithmic bias, opacity in decision-making, and diffuse accountability. Many systems lack robust oversight, clear roles, and targeted training for ethical implementation. Practical implications School leaders should embed AI in distributed leadership, mandate explainability and audits in procurement, invest in privacy/data literacy, and align analytics with instructional priorities to secure equity, lawful processing, and reviewable accountability. A one-page governance map (Leaders' Governance Guide) is provided, mapping use cases to risks, safeguards, and an equity note. Originality/value The review links benefits and risks to accountability and legal implications, proposing a leadership governance frame to support equitable, transparent AI in schools.