Increasing adoption of AI in academic settings necessitates understanding AI’s impact on learning, teaching, and academic integrity. Currently, Kenyan universities lack clear policies on AI usage which poses risks such as academic dishonesty. This study therefore seeks to explore the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within Kenyan Universities and to establish guidelines for the ethical use of AI for academic purposes. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) provide the theoretical framework. TAM identifies AI adoption factors such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. IDT complements TAM by providing additional factors such as AI’s relative advantage and compatibility with existing values and practices. To guide the development of data collection instruments, a rapid review of literature on AI literacy was conducted. The study views AI literacy as the ability to properly identify, communicate with, use, and evaluate AI-related products under the premise of ethical standards. AI literacy thus involves four key competencies: the ability to identify appropriate AI tools for different tasks (awareness), use selected AI tools effectively (application), critically assess their outputs (evaluation), and adhere to ethical guidelines (ethics). Verification of these expectations will be through a mixed-methods approach involving the concurrent collection of qualitative and quantitative data from academic staff and students from a Kenyan university. Findings from the study will inform the development of AI training programs for educators and students, while also informing discussions on ethical and practical integration of AI in Kenya’s higher education sector.