ICP Intelligence February 2026: Higher Education

What are Higher Education leaders prioritizing as sales cycles extend? The Higher Education sector is experiencing a notable pivot towards strategic engagement and data-driven decision-making, particularly as traditional sales challenges persist. We observe significant increases in focus on Narrative (+0.64) and Data (+1.22) factors over the past six months, even as Technology focus dipped by -0.24. Growth (4.64/5) and Stakeholder (4.79/5) factors remain critically high, indicating an ongoing emphasis on executive-level deal closing and understanding prospect personality. This population exhibits a clear split into two behavioral clusters: 50% High-Data/High-Technology and 50% Low-Data/Low-Technology, suggesting a growing internal divide in operational maturity that could impact sales strategies. The sustained top pain point of "getting ghosted later in the sales process" underscores the urgency for providers to adapt to these evolving internal dynamics and cater to segmented needs.

AI-generated summary · February 11, 2026