AGENT-BASED TRANSFORMATION OF BUSINESS PROCESSES IN ACADEMIC INSTITUTION
Abstract
The article substantiates the concept of agent-based transformation of business processes in academic institutions as the next stage of their digital maturity in the context of artificial intelligence and multi-agent systems development. It is argued that traditional automation approaches based on ERP, LMS, and electronic document management systems mainly ensure formalization and procedural regulation but do not provide sufficient adaptability, personalization, and rapid responsiveness to dynamic changes in the external environment and the increasingly competitive global educational market. An agent-oriented approach is proposed, according to which business processes are modeled as dynamic networks of cooperating intelligent agents capable of autonomous decision-making, coordination, learning from data, and context-aware adaptation. A comparative analysis of BPM/BPMN, IDEF0, CMMN, SOA, and the agent-oriented approach is conducted, highlighting their limitations in the academic environment characterized by multi-actor interaction and weakly formalized processes. The essence of an agent-based business process is revealed as an evolution of classical workflow toward decentralized choreography with goal-oriented behavior, proactivity, and built-in support for uncertainty management. Practical cases of agent-based transformation of administrative and managerial processes in higher education institutions are presented, including a digital admissions office, a decentralized intelligent resource planning system, and a smart campus concept with self-organizing infrastructure. UML component and activity diagrams are used to formalize agent interaction and architectural logic. It is concluded that the implementation of agent-based business processes creates the foundation for a cognitive university model, where management relies on advanced data analytics and predictive insights, and educational trajectories become personalized, adaptive, and strategically aligned with sustainable innovative development goals and long-term institutional competitiveness.
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