About Inara

Inara Scott is a scholar, speaker, and strategist working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, higher education, pedagogy, and ethical leadership. With a career spanning corporate law, regulatory affairs, and academia, she brings a rare combination of practical experience, scholarly depth, and institutional leadership to questions about how organizations respond to technological change.

Inara currently serves as Professor of Business Law and Senior Advisor for Strategy and Innovation at Oregon State University’s College of Business, where she leads mission-driven initiatives in strategic planning, AI integration, and organizational change. Her work focuses on helping institutions move through complexity with care, clarity, and a sustained commitment to student learning. Her thinking on AI in higher education has been featured in outlets including NPR and Inside Higher Ed. She also serves on the advisory board of AI Convergence. She previously served on the Oregon State University Board of Trustees.

Inara’s AI consulting work is grounded in three core strengths:

Legal and ethical rigor
Rooted in her J.D. and over a decade of legal practice.

Pedagogical insight
Developed through deep experience as a professor, teacher-scholar, and academic leader.

Strategic clarity
Built through extensive leadership in mission, vision, systems redesign, and institutional innovation.

She is a speaker, facilitator, and thought partner for colleges, universities, and other organizations seeking to:

Integrate AI into teaching, learning, curriculum, or strategic operations;

Navigate questions of governance, policy, academic integrity, and responsible AI adoption;

Build institutional cultures that keep human judgment, learning, and trust at the center.