Artificial Intelligence (AI) in higher education is transforming the teaching–learning process and student performance. This research explores the effect of AI on the learning outcome of university students. This study is mainly intended to investigate the extent of AI usage, measure the academic performance of students and predict the academic performance with the help of AI. Descriptive and inferential statistics have been employed to analyse data gathered by using standard scales of AI and academic achievement from 200 postgraduate students of University of Burdwan. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation, regression analysis and t-test. The findings indicated that the participants have a moderate level of AI usage (M=3.42) and a moderate level of academic achievement (M=3.58). There was a significant positive association (r=0.62, p<0.01) between AI usage and academic performance. Regression analysis showed that AI use significantly predicted academic success (β = 0.62, R² = 0.38). There were no significant gender differences in AI use. The discussion emphasizes that AI improves learning by personalized support, engagement and academic support efficiency, while the usage is moderate because of such reasons as digital literacy and pedagogical integration. The research finds that AI has a great impact on the tertiary student’s academic performance, suggesting in turn that it is a very effective solution in raising the efficacy of teaching and learning.