How To Begin Implementing AI in Your Higher Education Institution

Gonick, Enterprise Chief Information Officer at Arizona State University, offers practical advice for leaders unsure where to begin with AI; he stresses that no university can buy its way into transformation but that AI strategy must be designed from the ground up, rooted in mission, values, and people. 

So the first piece of advice is actually to engage in the design process. There is no way to buy your AI strategy in the marketplace, notwithstanding all the press releases that are bombarding us every day. Through that design process, you can decide your short term, medium term, and long term plan. And from that, you can decide the right mix of buying something, building something, or a hybrid model that meets those short term, mid-range and longer term goals that are out there.

And the invitation for all university leaders is to bring on board a strategic technology leader who who can help translate all of the AI speak, and all of the techno mumbo jumbo not only into English, but into the kind of language that actually is reflective of the mission and the charters of the institutions that we are all here to serve and to support.

That is the first step.