Issuu

2026 CONFERENCE

Agentic AI

Student Experience

and the

PROGRAM GUIDE OCTOBER 20 - 22, 2026

SHAPE THE FUTURE

Step into the age of

agentic AI AI is accelerating, and higher education must lead the way. Agentic AI and the Student Experience brings together education and industry leaders who are committed to designing AI systems that enhance human agency, expand access and strengthen learning in meaningful ways. Over the next three days, participants will explore how agentic AI is transforming the student journey from recruitment through lifelong learning. This year, we're building on the momentum of last year's sold-out debut with an expanded program and more opportunities to impact the future of learning in an AI-driven world.

Agentic AI

Student Experience

and the

Table of contents Conference essentials

Dreamscape Experience

Event Map

Agenda

Mainstage

Conference workshops

Agenda

Mainstage

Morning breakout sessions

Day two

Afternoon workshops

38 48

Wed, Oct. 21

Afternoon breakout sessions

Agenda

Mainstage

Morning workshops

Day three

Morning breakout sessions

80 82

Thurs, Oct. 22

Afternoon breakout sessions

100

Event information

Sponsored conference workshops 11:30 AM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

Hands-on with ASU’s CreateAI: Building agentic AI for education

SALT RIVER BALLROOM

Presented by Enterprise Technology at ASU Speakers: Roger Kohler, Douglas Jennewein, Ayat Sweid, John Bevell, Kofi Wood, Siddharth Jain

The agentic AI shift in campus innovation

BALLROOM 7

Presented by Titanium Sponsor, AWS Speakers: Arun Arunachalam, Colleen Schwab, Sandrah Bosire, Arti Javkar, Aaditya Jindal, Nishit Patel, Sreeram Saravana Prasad, John Rome

The missing ingredient in campus AI: Institutional context

BALLROOM 1

Presented by Platinum Sponsor, Instructure Speakers: Arohi Desai, Daniel Guillot, Kyle Bowen

Zoom AI on Campus: From Prep to Post-Class: Build Agents, Cut the Busy Work, and Teach Smarter

BALLROOM 2

Presented by Gold sponsor, Zoom Speakers: Lance Ford, Alexander Kim, Sankritya Thakur, Richitha Rekula, Vishnuvardhana Reddy Devi Reddy, Neha Kashyap, Amanda Federico, Bonnie Wilde

Full session descriptions for sponsored conference workshops on pages 20–24

Main stage DAY ONE: TUESDAY, OCT 20 12

Keynote & Fireside chats Start strong with big ideas and real-world insight. These speakers explore how we lead through uncertainty, spark innovation and shape the future of higher education. 13

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

2:05 PM

MAINSTAGE

Welcome Chris Howard opens the conference with a provocative question: if we were designing the university today, knowing what we know about AI, would we design the student experience the way it currently exists? As generative AI gives way to agentic AI — systems that don't just answer, but act — Howard reframes today's conversation around what that shift makes possible for learner agency, access, and success.

WELCOME SPEAKER

Chris Howard Chief Operating Officer, Arizona State University

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

2:20 PM

MAINSTAGE

Human artistry in the age of AI Join acclaimed artist Amy Kurzweil for a keynote exploring what it means to create in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Drawing on her own creative practice, Kurzweil will reflect on the enduring value of human artistry, imagination, and storytelling, and what stays uniquely human even as technology continues to evolve.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Amy Kurzweil Cartoonist and author of Artificial: A Love Story

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

2:45 PM

MAINSTAGE

Fireside chat Amy Kurzweil, author of Artificial: A Love Story, joins ASU's Renee Cheng, Senior Vice Provost and Dean of the Herberger Institute, for a conversation on creativity, storytelling, and technology. They'll explore why art and design matter more than ever in the age of AI.

FIRESIDE CHAT SPEAKER

Amy Kurzweil Cartoonist and author of Artificial: A Love Story

FIRESIDE CHAT SPEAKER

Renee Cheng Senior Vice Provost, Dean and Professor, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

3:30PM

MAINSTAGE

Fireside chat Renowned musician, technology founder and ASU professor of practice will.i.am sits down for a fireside chat with ASU President Michael Crow to explore creativity, technology, entrepreneurship and education and what it means to explore your Agentic Self.

FIRESIDE CHAT SPEAKER

Michael M. Crow President, Arizona State University

FIRESIDE CHAT SPEAKER

will.i.am CEO & Founder, FYI.Al, Professor of Practice, Arizona State University AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

4:00PM

MAINSTAGE

The Agentic Self course panel Join Grammy-winning artist, entrepreneur, and technologist will.i.am for a candid fireside conversation with an ASU executive on "The Agentic Self" - exploring what it means to build identity, creativity, and agency in an AI-driven world. The conversation will be followed by a student panel, offering attendees a chance to hear perspectives from ASU students on how these ideas apply to their own lives and futures. PANELIST

will.i.am CEO & Founder, FYI.Al, Professor of Practice, Arizona State University PANELIST

Dhruv Patel Product and AI Research Intern, FYI PANELIST

Celia Coochwytewa Assistant Director, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University

MODERATOR

Chris Howard Chief Operating Officer, Arizona State University AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

11:30AM

Sponsored conference workshops DAY ONE: TUESDAY, OCT 20 20

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

11:30 AM

SALT RIVER BALLROOM

Hands-on with ASU’s CreateAI: Building agentic AI for education Step into the role of an AI creator in this interactive workshop, hosted by the AI Acceleration team at ASU. This workshop introduces participants to CreateAI Builder, ASU’s in-house platform for designing and deploying agentic AI experiences. The session begins with a strategy-level overview of the platform’s capabilities, including its evaluation framework for fairness and safety, granular data controls, access to more than 40 models, knowledgebase features, and agentic workflow tools. After the overview, attendees will engage in a hands-on lab where they rotate through stations to build and test AI agents such as a syllabot, a tutoring assistant, a medical case generator, and an interactive avatar. By the end, participants will gain both practical skills and a deeper understanding of how universities can shape the future of AI responsibly. SPEAKERS & HOST ROGER KOHLER Director AI Solutions & Architecture, Enterprise Technology, ASU

DOUGLAS JENNEWEIN Executive Director, Knowledge Enterprise, ASU

AYAT SWEID Head of AI Product, AI Acceleration, Enterprise Technology, ASU

JOHN BEVELL Senior AI Product Manager, Enterprise Technology, ASU

KOFI WOOD Technical Product Manager, Enterprise Technology, ASU

SIDDHARTH JAIN Engineering Lead, Enterprise Technology, ASU

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 7

The agentic AI shift in campus innovation Join Titanium sponsor AWS and ASU’s AI Cloud Innovation Center for a practical look at how agentic AI is advancing scalable AI platform development, accelerating idea creation and helping institutions “fight AI with AI.” Through real-world examples shared through the student voice, this session will show how open-source solutions can help colleges and universities deliver more personalized, efficient and scalable experiences for students, faculty and administrators. Attendees will explore the foundational infrastructure needed to support agentic AI and see customizable open-source solutions in action. Participants will leave with practical insights, access to code and a clearer sense of how their institutions can think bigger about using AI to improve the student experience.

SPEAKERS & HOST ARUN ARUNACHALAM

AADITYA JINDAL

Senior Solutions Architect, AWS

Cloud Developer

COLLEEN SCHWAB

NISHIT PATEL

Global Innovation Strategist, AWS

Cloud Developer

SANDRAH BOSIRE

SREERAM SARAVANA PRASAD

UI/UX

Cloud Developer

ARTI JAVKAR

JOHN ROME

UI/UX

Deputy CIO, ASU Enterprise Technology

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 1

The missing ingredient in campus AI: Institutional context AI tools have become remarkably capable, but most still work in isolation. They do not know what a student is working on, how an instructor has structured a course, or what an institution’s policies allow. As a result, users are forced to fill in the gaps by copying grades into chat windows, uploading syllabi, and re-explaining the same context again and again. This session steps back to ask a bigger question: what changes when AI has meaningful context about courses, learners, and institutions? We’ll explore the concept of context-aware AI, including the role of Model Context Protocol (MCP), and spend focused time on governance: what questions should institutions ask before granting any AI tool access to their data? Participants will leave with a practical framework for evaluating context, permissions, and risk, not just a product demo. We’ll also show where Instructure is headed, including IgniteAI Agent, available today, and Canvas MCP, coming next year, as one example of this shift in practice.

SPEAKERS & HOST AROHI DESAI Director of Product Management, Instructure

DANIEL GUILLOT Solutions Engineer, Instructure

KYLE BOWEN Introduction, Deputy CIO, ASU

DAY ONE TUES, OCT 20

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 2

Zoom AI on campus: From prep to post-class: Build agents, cut the busy work, and teach smarter The work starts long before anyone enters a classroom or opens a support ticket. In this hands-on workshop, explore how the AI features built into Zoom for Education can save time across the teaching and campus operations lifecycle. Before class, use Zoom AI and Zoom My Notes to build agendas, generate prompts, organize learning management systems and Whiteboards, and create reusable templates. During class, use Zoom AI, Whiteboards, breakout rooms and polls to support engagement and capture ideas in real time. After class, see how Zoom AI can turn lectures into polished summaries and push content back into learning management systems. For administrators, explore how ZoomMate, Zoom’s agentic AI assistant, can automate workflows across help desk, enrollment, admissions, advising and campus operations. The workshop also features ASU’s Zoom Fellows, student innovators building projects with Zoom’s Real-Time Media Streams (RTMS) application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs). They’ll demonstrate projects ranging from transcription overlays to AIpowered classroom analytics, showing what’s possible when educators build their own AI-driven experiences. SPEAKERS & HOST LANCE FORD

NEHA KASHYAP

Zoom Room Educator

Zoom Fellow

ALEXANDER KIM

VISHNUVARDHANA REDDY DEVI REDDY

Zoom Fellow

SANKRITYA THAKUR

AMANDA FEDERICO

Zoom Fellow

Next Lab Manager, Arizona State University

RICHITHA REKULA

BONNIE WILDE

Zoom Fellow

Executive Director, Enterprise Technology

Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

2026 AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE 26

2026 CONFERENCE

DAY TWO WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21

Day Two Agenda WEDNESDAY MORNING Time 7:30 AM

Event Brewing ideas with Box

Location SUN DEVIL LAWN

Coffee and ideas with sponsor, Box

8:00 AM

Doors open

ATRIUM

Breakfast in Atrium, seating in Mainstage Ballroom.

9:15 AM

Feature keynote

MAINSTAGE

President Michael M. Crow

9:45 AM

Leading in the age of AI: Insights from university presidents

MAINSTAGE

Michael M. Crow, Mark Milliron, Amy Diaz, Stacy Leeds, Jeff Selingo

10:35 AM

Fireside chat

MAINSTAGE

Michael Moe, John Markoff, Sethuraman Panchanathan

11:20 AM

Exclusive book signing

ATRIUM

John Markoff, Machines of Loving Grace

11:30 AM

12:15 PM

Morning breakout sessions See page 38 for more information.

Lunch Lunch in the Atrium, seating in Mainstage ballroom.

ATRIUM

Day Two Agenda WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON Time

Location

Event

12:45 PM

Amazon Web Services feature keynote + fireside chat

MAINSTAGE

Jeff Barr, VP and Chief Evangelist

1:45 PM

Afternoon workshops + breakout sessions begin

CHOOSE YOUR AFTERNOON EXPERIENCE Select one track for the afternoon. Both options run from 1:45 - 3:30PM.

Workshops

Breakout Sessions

1:45 - 3:30 PM

1:45 - 2:30 PM Breakout session 1

OR See page 48 for workshop descriptions

3:45 PM

2:45 - 3:30 PM Breakout session 2 See page 54 for breakout descriptions

Designing a connected student experience beyond the chatbot

MAINSTAGE

Valerie Singer, Arohi Desai, Deirdre Quarnstrom

4:30 PM

Closing remarks

MAINSTAGE

Mainstage DAY TWO: WEDNESDAY, OCT 21 30

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

9:15 AM

MAINSTAGE

Keynote For decades, universities have long played an important role in the development of AI systems. Today, with the rapid emergence of agentic AI, higher education leaders have a responsibility to approach this technology as a catalyst to reimagine how, where and for whom education works. A vocal advocate for the transformative potential of technology, ASU President Michael Crow will share his bold vision for the future of higher education, exploring how emerging technology can empower learners to drive their own journeys. Drawing from ASU's leadership in innovation, he'll discuss how new approaches can help dismantle traditional barriers to education, enable more personalized learning experiences, and expand access at scale.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Michael M. Crow President, Arizona State University

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

9:45 AM

MAINSTAGE

Leading in the age of AI: Insights from university presidents

Join a distinguished panel of higher education leaders for a conversation on the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of learning. Presidents from across higher education will share perspectives from their respective institutions, discussing how leadership, innovation, and strategy come together to guide higher education forward. The panel will be moderated by Jeff Selingo, a New York Times bestselling author and higher education journalist whose reporting on the intersection of education and work has made him a trusted voice for both campus leaders and the public navigating what's next for higher ed.

SPEAKER

Michael M. Crow

Amy Diaz

President, Arizona State University

President, GateWay Community College

SPEAKER

Stacy Leeds

Mark Milliron

President and Trustees Professor, The University of Tulsa

President, National University

MODERATED BY JEFF SELINGO, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND HIGHER EDUCATION JOURNALIST

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

10:35 AM

MAINSTAGE

Covering the AI revolution Join renowned author and Pulitzer-prize journalist John Markoff for a fireside conversation with Sethuraman "Panch" Panchanathan, University Professor of Technology and Innovation at Arizona State University and former Director of the National Science Foundation. Drawing on decades of reporting and research at the frontier of technology, the two will discuss the forces shaping innovation today and what they mean for the future ahead moderated by Michael Moe. MODERATOR

Michael Moe Founder & CEO GSV SPEAKER

Sethuraman Panchanathan University Professor of Technology and Innovation, ASU Former Director, U.S. National Science Foundation SPEAKER

John Markoff Author and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

12:45 PM

MAINSTAGE

Amazon Web Services

Building the future of student experience in the age of agentic AI Join Jeff Barr, Vice President and Chief Evangelist at AWS, for a practical look at what generative and agentic AI mean for higher education and the future of the student experience. Drawing from recent talks with global developer audiences, Jeff will explore how AI is changing the way applications are imagined, built, tested and improved. As institutions consider AI-enabled tools, agents and services, teams will need to think differently about how they design applications, connect data, support users and build responsibly at scale. Jeff will discuss how AI is reshaping developer roles, team workflows, data strategies and the relationship between technology builders and the people they serve, with a focus on what this shift means for universities preparing for a more intelligent, adaptive and student-centered digital future.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Jeff Barr Vice President & Chief Evangelist, AWS

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:00 PM

MAINSTAGE

Amazon Web Services

Building the future of student experience in the age of agentic AI, con’t. Following Jeff’s keynote, ASU Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick will host a fireside chat with Jeff Barr and Valerie Singer, General Manager of AWS Global Education. Together, the group will explore how institutions can turn emerging technologies into meaningful action, foster a culture of innovation and create new possibilities across the university experience. SPEAKER

SPEAKER

Jeff Barr

Valerie Singer

Vice President & Chief Evangelist, AWS

General Manager, Global Education, AWS

MODERATOR

Lev Gonick Chief Information Officer, ASU

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

3:45 PM

MAINSTAGE

Designing a connected student experience beyond the chatbot In a single day, a student might submit an assignment in Canvas, message a study group in Teams, ask a support portal about financial aid and chat with a campus AI agent. They won't think about which company built each tool. What they'll notice is whether their university feels connected and whether someone is there when they need them. This panel brings AWS, Instructure and Microsoft to the same stage to take on questions none of them can answer alone: Is the campus front door already lost to consumer AI? What should follow a student from one system to the next, and who decides what gets shared? When should an agent stop helping and hand them over to a person? The panelists will also address the interoperability problems they still need to solve together. Attendees will leave with practical design principles for building a student experience that feels connected and human, across every platform they use.

SPEAKER

Deirdre Quarnstrom

Arohi Desai

VP of Education, Microsoft

Director of Product Management, Instructure

SPEAKER

MODERATOR

Valerie Singer

Bonnie Wilde

General Manager, Global Education, AWS

Executive Director, ASU Enterprise Technology

Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

11:30AM

Morning breakout sessions WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2026 38

Morning

Breakout sessions 11:30AM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

DAY TWO, WED OCT 21

The agentic athletic department: A new operating model for college sports

MAINSTAGE

Lisa Young, Jeffrey Kunowski, JJ Van Neil, Michael Cohn, Brandon Buser

Learning 3.0: Experiments in agentic learning personalization at scale

BRONZE

Julia Sabin, Adam King, Daniel Gruber

Reimagining the student portal experience using AI

CRIMSON

Jack Suess, Roger Kohler

Scaling AI across the institution: University of California, Irvine’s story

TERRACOTTA

Xanat Hernandez, Sarkis Daglian, Sherwynn Umali, Dominic Slauson, Kristin Hersant

Building AI-ready pathways for learning across our lifetimes

BALLROOM 6

Julie Morgenthal, Janel White-Taylor, Tessa Jones, Marco Serrato

Stop automating broken processes: Building AI-native universities from the ground up

BALLROOM 7

Mary Strain, Tara Roberts, Colleen Schwab

Two tools, two colleges: Designing AI experiences for the classroom

BALLROOM 1

Kevin Beyer, Vivek Gupta, Tyler Kilbourne

Who owns the agent? Accountability for AI that acts

BALLROOM 2

Kim Channpraseut, Brad Gobby, Abhishek Singh, Amy Pate

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

MAINSTAGE

The agentic athletic department: A new operating model for college sports College athletic departments are among the most complex operating environments inside a university — simultaneously running a sports organization, media business, live-events operation, fundraising enterprise and student-support system. What happens when that entire organization begins to operate differently because of AI? Sun Devil Athletics is becoming a real-world laboratory for that question. Building on Arizona State University's broader investment in agentic AI, the department is exploring how AI can move beyond individual productivity tools to become part of its operating model — connecting information, automating workflows, supporting revenue generation and helping people make better decisions across an increasingly complex enterprise. This session will explore what it actually means to build an agentic athletic department: where agents can act rather than simply answer, where humans move from executing routine processes to directing and judging them, and where institutional knowledge becomes available across traditional organizational silos. SPEAKERS & HOST LISA YOUNG Deputy Athletic Director and Chief Operating Officer, Sun Devil Athletics

JEFFREY KUNOWSKI Founding Director, SPORTx Arizona State University

JJ VAN NIEL Head Coach Volleyball, ASU

MICHAEL COHN Co-Founder, GSV Sports

BRANDON BUSER Senior Director, Sun Devil Athletics Business Insights

40 MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

BRONZE

Learning 3.0: Experiments in agentic learning personalization at scale What does truly personalized learning actually require, and what's possible right now? At Gies College of Business, we've been running a series of experiments we call Learning 3.0: using agentic AI to test adaptive explanations, personalized video, custom practice, and individualized feedback at scale. We built this work with a team of Gies Disruption Lab students and recent graduates, keeping real learners at the center of the design process. This session is an honest account of what we tried, what surprised us, and what a genuinely dynamic, student-responsive course looks like, and what it takes to get there.

SPEAKERS & HOST JULIA SABIN Senior Manager of Academic Innovation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

ADAM KING Director of Innovation and Transformation, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

DANIEL GRUBER Associate Dean, W. P. Carey School of Business

MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

CRIMSON

Reimagining the student portal experience using AI In March 2025, we launched an AI tool in our portal search bar (myUMBC). For students, the tool has access to their most important data and they can ask either generic or personalized questions. If I ask how to register for classes, the answer will explain the registration process, identify my assigned advisor, detail how to schedule an appointment and name my academic advocate for assistance. Additionally, if the system assigns me a registration appointment, it tells me the date and time I can register for classes. This kind of personalized AI search is now being extended to integrate with our service management platform in the event a human needs to be involved in servicing their question. This tool is now evolving beyond supporting students to supporting staff and faculty.

SPEAKERS & HOST JACK SUESS Vice President of Information Technology & Chief Information Officer, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

ROGER KOHLER Director AI Solutions and Architecture, Enterprise Technology

42 MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

TERRACOTTA

Scaling AI across the institution: University of California, Irvine’s story Moving from AI pilots to enterprise adoption requires more than technology. Leaders from the University of California, Irvine will share how they built an AI ecosystem serving more than 30,000 users through scalable infrastructure, flexible architecture and intentional adoption strategies. Learn how institutional ownership, governance, training and community engagement are helping move AI from experimentation to sustainable, campus-wide impact.

SPEAKERS & HOST XANAT HERNANDEZ Director of Communications, University of California, Irvine

SARKIS DAGLIAN Director of AI, Cloud and Client Solutions, University of California, Irvine

SHERWYNN UMALI Deputy Chief of Staff for Student Affairs, University of California, Irvine

DOMINIC SLAUSON Generative AI Specialist on the ZotGPT team within the University of California

KRISTIN HERSANT Global Marketing Officer, ASU Learning Enterprise

MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 6

Building AI-ready pathways for learning across our lifetimes Preparing learners for an AI-enabled future cannot begin at college graduation or end with a single degree. This session explores how Arizona State University is developing a connected approach to AI readiness across the learner lifecycle: from K-12 (ASU Prep Academies) to career transitions (ASU for Life). Discussions will range from designing AI literacy and student agency for K12 students to helping adult learners understand their skills, identify relevant credentials and navigate evolving career opportunities. Attendees will leave with insights into designing responsible AI-enabled pathways that connect school, higher education, skills development, and lifelong career mobility.

SPEAKERS & HOST JULIE MORGENTHAL Chief Technology Officer, Preparatory Academy, Arizona State University

JANEL WHITE-TAYLOR Associate Director of Intelligent Learning Systems, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation, Arizona State University

TESSA JONES Director of Product, Learning Enterprise, Arizona State University

MARCO SERRATO Vice President, Learning Enterprise , Arizona State University

44 MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 7

Stop automating broken processes: Building AInative universities from the ground up As AI becomes embedded across higher education, institutions face a critical strategy challenge: layering chatbots and AI agents onto legacy workflows will only produce incremental gains. True transformation requires an AI-native mindset that reimagines processes from the ground up, rather than automating the status quo. This presentation will share transformational AI use cases, including agentic AI, and show how process mapping can help institutions redesign how work moves across admissions, advising, research administration, student services, and operations. By mapping current-state processes, institutions can identify redundancies, handoff failures, and decision bottlenecks that no single chatbot or agent can solve alone. The real opportunity is to redesign these processes with AI agents woven into core logic, data pathways, and decision points, creating new operating models that improve student outcomes, reduce administrative burden, and help universities adapt as AI continues to evolve. SPEAKERS & HOST MARY STRAIN AI and Machine Learning Strategist, AWS

TARA ROBERTS Senior Director, Student Success and Service Delivery, Financial Aid and Scholarship Services, ASU

COLLEEN SCHWAB Global Innovation Strategist, AWS

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 1

Two tools, two colleges: Designing AI experiences for the classroom In today’s classroom, AI is doing more than generating content. This session brings together two faculty members from two colleges at Arizona State University to showcase how they’ve designed AI experiences that support meaningful classroom dialogue, interactive learning and transparent assessment. The presenters will demonstrate how VibeCheck supports student-teacher dialogue and responsive instruction, while IntegrityShield and GamED.AI promote assessment transparency, academic integrity, and gamified learning. Attendees will get a first-hand look at tools that use AI to strengthen classroom dialogue, authentic assessment, student engagement, and trust.

SPEAKERS & HOST KEVIN BEYER Executive Director of Information Technology, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University

VIVEK GUPTA Assistant Professor, School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, Arizona State University

TYLER KILBOURNE Assistant Director, Information Technology, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University

46 MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

11:30 AM

BALLROOM 2

Who owns the agent? Accountability for AI that acts As AI moves from isolated experimentation to taking action within teaching, learning and core university systems, higher education faces a consequential question: Who determines how an agent behaves, on what evidence and in whose interests? This session explores how institutions can retain ownership of the pedagogical layer even when the underlying models are controlled by technology vendors. Drawing on emerging work to build agents guided by curated teaching-and-learning evidence, panelists will examine who should select and authorize that evidence, how agent decisions can be made transparent and auditable, and how instructors and students should participate in the design process. The conversation will also address unresolved questions about effectiveness, student trust and accountability when an agent’s decisions shape the learning experience.

SPEAKERS & HOST KIM CHANNPRASEUT Director of Student Enterprise Applications Systems, University of Wisconsin-Madison

BRAD GOBBY Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University, Australia

ABHISHEK SINGH Chief Technology and Security Officer, Adelaide University

AMY PATE Director of Learning Technology, Office of the University Provost

MORNING BREAKOUT SESSION

1:45 - 3:30 PM

Afternoon workshops Workshops are your chance to dig deeper. These interactive sessions take a more hands-on approach, giving you time to explore challenges, work through solutions and leave with practical ideas you can put into action.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2026 48

Afternoon workshops 1:45 - 3:30 PM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

DAY TWO, WED OCT 21

The institutions that move first with AI will define the student experience: A what, how and build workshop by NiCE

BALLROOM 7

Paola Doebel, Justin Poteet, Bill De Dufour, Vince Vaugn, Gigi Speaks

Beyond chatbots: Designing connected AI agent experiences for education

BALLROOM 1

Juliano Menegazzo, Lizzy Hanna, Jess Masciarelli, Greg Alcorn

From policy to student experience in an agentic AI world

BALLROOM 2

Shauna Chung, Dan Armstrong, Stuart Rice

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

BALLROOM 7

The institutions that move first with AI will define the student experience: A what, how and build workshop by NiCE In this workshop, attendees will experience two major sessions back-toback. First, a 40-minute fireside chat bringing the perspective of Arizona State University, Accenture and NiCE experts, sharing what actually happens when agentic AI gets deployed for the student experience — the vision, the wins, the friction points, and more. This is followed by a 50-minute demo and build-your-own-agent session, where attendees work in small groups to build their own AI agent live, guided by NiCE experts. Attendees will leave with a working agent, practical takeaways, and greater confidence to adapt to what they built for their own campuses.

SPEAKERS & HOST PAOLA DOEBEL Senior Vice President and General Manager, CX Americas, NiCE

JUSTIN POTEET Public Sector AI Transformation Leader, Accenture

BILL DE DUFOUR Director, Pre-Sales Engineering, NiCE

GIGI SPEAKS Senior Director, Experience Center, Arizona State University

VINCE VAUGN Account Executive, Higher Ed

50 AFTERNOON WORKSHOP

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

BALLROOM 1

Beyond chatbots: Designing connected AI agent experiences for education Explore how AI agents can help institutions create more personalized, responsive and scalable student experiences across advising, learning support, retention, campus services and career readiness. This guided learning session will move beyond the chatbot conversation and examine how agentic AI can provide more contextual, action-oriented support for students. Through practical examples and discussion, participants will learn education-focused agent design patterns, connected-agent concepts and responsible implementation approaches that can help institutions plan for AI-enabled services with clarity, care and confidence. This session is designed for learning and discussion, rather than hands-on technical building.

SPEAKERS & HOST JULIANO MENEGAZZO Principal Product Manager, Microsoft Education

LIZZY HANNA Solution Engineer, AI, Microsoft

JESS MASCIARELLI Director Research and Advanced Computing, SLED, Microsoft

GREG ALCORN Director, Solutions Consulting and Support, Enterprise Technology

AFTERNOON WORKSHOP

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

BALLROOM 2

From policy to student experience in an agentic AI world AI policies provide important guidance, but their impact comes to life through the student experience. In this workshop, participants will experience the same learning journey we hope students take in an AI-enabled world, moving from comprehension to judgment to creation. Through hands-on activities, attendees will explore how AI Assistants can support learning, accelerate understanding, and enable new forms of creation, while keeping human agency, critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making at the center of the experience. SPEAKERS & HOST SHAUNA CHUNG Senior Strategic Development Manager for Higher Education, Adobe

DAN ARMSTRONG Senior Education Solutions Consultant, Adobe

STUART RICE Executive Director of Learning Experience, Enterprise Technology

52 AFTERNOON WORKSHOP

Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Afternoon breakout Sessions Breakout sessions are your chance to explore, connect and go deeper into the ideas shaping agentic AI. Pick a session that sparks your curiosity and jump in.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2026 54

Session 1 1:45 - 2:30 PM

Session 2 2:45 - 3:30 PM

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS 55

Afternoon

breakout session 1 1:45 - 2:30 PM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

Who owns AI on campus? Part 1

DAY TWO, WED OCT 21

MAINSTAGE

Mike Kennedy, Anupam Joshi, Bridget Burns, Christopher Smudde

Designing agent-ready data and AI infrastructure

BRONZE

Allen Karns, Jena Zangs, John Rome

Governing what we don't yet understand: Why AI demands we rethink the rules

CRIMSON

Melissa Vito, Angela Gunder, Amy Pate

Agents in the classroom: What four campuses are learning about AI and the student experience

TERRACOTTA

Ryan Lufkin, Kyle Bowen

Leading the AI-ready university, from the CIO perspective Ed Clark, Josh Roberts, Nick Gilbert, Beth Myers, Lev Gonick

BALLROOM 6

Afternoon

breakout session 2 2:45 - 3:30 PM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

DAY TWO, WED OCT 21

Future-ready pathways: Leading institutional transformation in an AI-shaped economy | Part 2

MAINSTAGE

Peyton Burgess, Beth Myers, Jason Keith, Bridget Burns, Christopher Smudde

How agentic and adaptive AI supports personalized pathways and student success

BRONZE

Brian Davis, Phillip Miller, Auryan Ratliff

Aligning curriculum, skills and the future of work to develop AI-ready graduates

CRIMSON

Helen Chen, Kathleen deLaski, Sukhwant Jhaj

Insights on AI and the future of business schools

TERRACOTTA

Raghu Santanam, Daniel Gruber

When the meter stops running: Local AI and the economics of agentic workloads

BALLROOM 6

Melanie Wood, Casey Hill, Neil Misak, Jenn Greenberg

Afternoon breakout session 1 1:45 - 2:30 PM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2026 58

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

MAINSTAGE

Who owns AI on campus? Part 1 As colleges and universities rapidly adopt AI tools, many institutions find no clear answer to who actually "owns" AI strategy, governance, procurement, implementation, or risk management. Is AI led by IT, academic affairs, research, libraries, teaching and learning centers, innovation offices, or executive leadership? This panel explores how campuses are navigating fragmented decision-making, shared governance, faculty concerns, student expectations, and cross-functional coordination in real time. Panelists will share emerging governance models, lessons learned, and practical approaches for leading through uncertainty while balancing innovation, trust, and institutional responsibility.

SPEAKERS & HOST MIKE KENNEDY Deputy Chief Information Officer, University of California, Riverside

ANUPAM JOSHI Vice Provost and Chief AI Officer, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

BRIDGET BURNS Chief Executive Officer, University Innovation Alliance

CHRISTOPHER SMUDDE Innovation Fellow for Honors Talent Development, Barrett Honors College

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 1

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

BRONZE

Designing agent-ready data and AI infrastructure As universities begin deploying agents that can access data and take action, they need an institutional foundation that supports both trusted information and increasingly complex AI workflows. This session brings together two complementary approaches to building that foundation. Presenters from Vanderbilt University and the University of St. Thomas will show how governed data products and extensible multiagent architecture can work together to move institutions beyond fragmented pilots toward enterprise AI systems designed for real operational and academic needs.

SPEAKERS & HOST ALLEN KARNS Chief AI & Technology Officer, Vanderbilt University

JENA ZANGS Chief Data & AI Officer, University of St. Thomas

JOHN ROME Deputy Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology

60 AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 1

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

CRIMSON

Governing what we don't yet understand: Why AI demands we rethink the rules Institutional governance was built for stability: committees deliberate, policies are approved, and structures hold until the next review cycle. That model has worked for decades. And now, AI has broken it. These systems act, adapt, and decide at a velocity no governance process can match, leaving institutions writing policies for a technology that has already moved on. This challenge also creates an opportunity. Agentic AI is surfacing what has always been true: structures built for stability are fragile when they meet velocity. The institutions that will navigate this moment are the ones willing to build governance that is fluid, resilient, and human-centered. A global study on AI literacies and governance spanning six continents, funded by WCET, is revealing how leaders actually make these decisions and where AI literacies development strengthens governance capacity. This panel shares what the research is finding and what it means for institutions ready to govern differently.

SPEAKERS & HOST MELISSA VITO Vice Provost of Academic Innovation, The University of Texas at San Antonio

ANGELA GUNDER Founder & CEO, Opened Culture

AMY PATE Director of Learning Technology, Office of the University Provost

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 1

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

TERRACOTTA

Agents in the classroom: What four campuses are learning about AI and the student experience A handful of campuses are moving beyond general AI chat tools and building agents directly into Canvas by Instructure, changing how students learn, receive feedback and reflect on their growth. This session will explore four examples: a multi-session leadership simulation at Utah State University, where AI identifies students’ leadership styles and coaches them throughout the semester; no-code, faculty-built interactive learning apps at the University of Sydney; a real-time coding assistant at the University of Florida that gives students feedback as they write, with faculty controlling the rubric and prompts; and a two-year, measurement-driven pilot at the University of Notre Dame that used student prompts to reveal where understanding begins to break down. Participants will learn what these campuses measured, what surprised them and what their work suggests for the future of assignments and assessments in an agentic AI world. SPEAKERS & HOST RYAN LUFKIN Vice President of Global Academic Strategy, Instructure

KYLE BOWEN Deputy Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology

62 AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 1

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

1:45 PM

BALLROOM 6

Leading the AI-ready university, from the CIO perspective Agentic AI is creating new opportunities to transform the student experience, strengthen institutional operations and expand access. Global leaders from the California State University Office of the Chancellor, University of Sydney and Arizona State University will share how they are leading AI transformation at scale through enterprise strategy, governance, cybersecurity, workforce readiness and responsible innovation. Join this executive conversation to learn how technology leaders are building trusted, AI-ready institutions.

SPEAKERS & HOST ED CLARK Chief Information Officer, California State University

JOSH ROBERTS Chief Information and Digital Officer, University of Sydney

NICK GILBERT Chief Information Officer, The London School of Economics and Political Science

BETH MYERS Associate Vice Chancellor and CIO, University of Colorado

LEV GONICK Chief Information Officer, Arizona State University

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 1

Afternoon breakout session 2 2:45 - 3:30 PM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2026 64

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

2:45 PM

MAINSTAGE

Future-ready pathways: Leading institutional transformation in an AIshaped economy | Part 2 As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes the workforce, colleges and universities face a dual challenge: preparing students for an evolving labor market while simultaneously adapting their own institutions in real time. This conversation will explore how higher education leaders are navigating AI implementation across teaching and learning, student support, operations, workforce preparation, and institutional governance. Panelists will discuss emerging approaches to embedding AI fluency, career readiness, and durable skills across disciplines, while also addressing the organizational realities leaders face as policies, technologies, faculty expectations, employer demands, and student behaviors shift at unprecedented speed. SPEAKERS & HOST PEYTON BURGESS AI & Emerging Technologies Program Manager, Virginia Commonwealth University

BETH MYERS Chief Information Officer and Associate Vice Chancellor, University of Colorado

JASON KEITH Senior Vice President and Provost, Iowa State University

BRIDGET BURNS Chief Executive Officer, University Innovation Alliance

CHRISTOPHER SMUDDE Innovation Fellow for Honors Talent Development, Barrett Honors College

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 2

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

2:45 PM

BRONZE

How agentic and adaptive AI supports personalized pathways and student success Agentic and adaptive AI is finally making it possible to deliver on learning's long-standing promise of personalized pathways at scale to support student engagement. By automating the creation of tailored scenarios, skill assessments, and feedback loops, AI dramatically reduces the time and cost of developing truly adaptive courseware and other agents critical in supporting student success. This panel brings together a technology leader driving AI strategy across 9 campuses and one of the largest online programs, collectively supporting over 55,000 students, and an adaptive learning platform CEO to explore how agentic AI can personalize the student experience. Attendees will learn how agentic and adaptive AI can accelerate course design, integrate adaptive and immersive elements within existing institutional infrastructure, and capture skills data that proves student mastery, not just completion.

SPEAKERS & HOST BRIAN DAVIS Executive Director, Strategic & Academic Tech, Louisiana State University

PHILLIP MILLER Chief Executive Officer, Skillwell

AURYAN RATLIFF Director of Creative and Emerging Technologies, EdPlus

66 AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 2

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

2:45 PM

CRIMSON

Aligning curriculum, skills and the future of work to develop AI-ready graduates As AI reshapes entry-level work, higher education must reconsider how it prepares graduates for the workforce. Some of the challenges include developing AI fluency and helping learners build the judgment and adaptability needed to use these tools well. This session will explore how colleges and universities can connect workforce signals more directly to curriculum and course design. Drawing on several institutional approaches, speakers will examine how to identify where programs need to evolve and create learning experiences that better reflect the demands of an AI-influenced workplace.

SPEAKERS & HOST HELEN CHEN Professor of Computer Science and Former Senior Vice Provost for Academic Strategy and Innovation, North Carolina State University

KATHLEEN DELASKI Author, Professor, Founder, and Board Chair, Education Design Lab/George Mason University/Harvard Project on Workforce

SUKHWANT JHAJ Vice Provost, Office of the University Provost

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 2

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

2:45 PM

TERRACOTTA

Insights on AI and the future of business schools As generative and agentic AI reshape how people learn and work, business schools have an opportunity to create more active, adaptive experiences that encourage learners to test ideas, make decisions, build connections and apply new knowledge in real time. Drawing on emerging work Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, the largest business school in the United States, this session will explore how agentic AI can support more personalized and self-directed learning journeys.

SPEAKERS & HOST RAGHU SANTANAM Senior Associate Dean, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University

DANIEL GRUBER Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning and Clinical Professor, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University

68 AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 2

DAY TWO WED, OCT 21

2:45 PM

BALLROOM 6

When the meter stops running: Local AI and the economics of agentic workloads Agentic AI can loop: calling tools, checking its own work and trying again. That makes consumption hard to forecast and makes “let staff, faculty and students use it freely” a difficult sentence for any CFO to hear. This session examines which AI workloads institutions can move onto devices, how local processing can change the cost curve and where the cloud remains the right answer. The session will include a live demonstration of hybrid local-and-cloud inference on current hardware.

SPEAKERS & HOST MELANIE WOOD Director, Microsoft Surface

CASEY HILL Strategic Advisor, Microsoft Surface

NEIL MISAK AI Architect, Microsoft Surface Engineering

JENN GREENBERG Associate Director of Strategic Engagements

AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSION 2

2026 AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE 70

2026 CONFERENCE

DAY THREE THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

Day Three Agenda THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 Time

Event

8:00 AM

Doors open

Location ATRIUM

Breakfast in Atrium, seating in Mainstage Ballroom.

9:00 AM

MAINSTAGE

Welcome Grace Kossia, Emcee Geno Ploeger, ASU Student and AGT Runner-Up

9:10 AM

Findings on global assessment in the AI-era

MAINSTAGE

Danny Bielik, Alphia Possamai-Inesedy, Annie Hale

9:45 AM

MAINSTAGE

2026 Impact Award Paula Starr, Cherokee Nation

CHOOSE YOUR MORNING EXPERIENCE Select one track for the morning. Both options run from 10:15AM - 12:00PM.

Workshop

Breakout sessions

10:15 AM - 12:00 PM

10:15 AM - 11:00 AM Breakout session 1

See page 80 for workshop descriptions

11:15 AM - 12:00 PM Breakout session 2 See page 82 for breakout descriptions

Day Three Agenda THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 Time 12:00 PM

Event

Location

Lunch

ATRIUM

Lunch in the Atrium, seating in Mainstage ballroom.

12:25 PM

Learning in real time: A student perspective

MAINSTAGE

Raquel Castellanos, Mabel Tsadia, Paul Gonzalez, Bensonn Anspach

1:15 PM

Afternoon breakout sessions

2:15 PM

How AI is powering the GAME School at ASU

MAINSTAGE

Pavan Turaga

2:45 PM

Closing remarks

MAINSTAGE

Grace Kossia, Emcee

Mainstage THURSDAY, OCT 22 74

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

9:10 AM

MAINSTAGE

Findings on global assessment in the AI-era This panel brings together perspectives from academic innovation, systemlevel technology leadership and digital education research to explore how institutions can move beyond evaluating completed products and toward assessment practices that make learning processes visible. Speakers will discuss the opportunities of AI-assisted grading, approaches to assessment for and as learning, and the institutional strategies needed to implement new models responsibly and at scale. Gain practical ideas for designing more authentic learning experiences, improving feedback and preserving trust in assessment.

MODERATOR

Annie Hale Chief Research and Data Officer Action Lab, EdPlus, ASU SPEAKER

Alphia Possamai-Inesedy Pro Vice Chancellor of Student Success, Western Sydney University SPEAKER

Danny Bielik President, Digital Education Council 75

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

9:45 AM

MAINSTAGE

2026 Impact Award The Impact Award honors a remarkable individual whose work exemplifies the power of leadership, compassion and systems change – and reminds us that technology must always serve humans first. This year’s Impact Award will be presented to Paula Starr, Chief Information Officer for Cherokee Nation, to recognize her work to intertwine Cherokee values with cutting-edge IT solutions.

2026 IMPACT AWARD

Paula Starr Chief Information Officer for Cherokee Nation

PRESENTED BY

Traci Morris Executive Director, Tribal Nations Policy Institute, Arizona State University

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

12:25 PM

MAINSTAGE

Learning in real time: A student perspective Students are already living the future that higher education is still planning for. In this candid panel, students from community college, public university, and ASU share how they use AI to study, create, and prepare for careers. They'll discuss what works, what doesn't, and where they wish their institutions would listen more closely. Panelists will speak to how agentic AI is shaping their daily learning, what support and guardrails they want from faculty and campus leaders, and how they think about building skills and staying in command of their own work in an AI-driven world. Attendees will leave with a clearer picture of the student experience as it is today, plus practical ideas for designing AI tools and policies with students rather than for them. Moderated by Grace Kossia. SPEAKER

SPEAKER

Raquel Castellanos

Mabel Tsadia

Business Administration Student, Pima Community College

AI Acceleration Analyst and Quality Assurance Engineer, Arizona State University

SPEAKER

Paul Gonzalez

Bensonn Anspach

Student Ambassador for Academic Innovation, The University of Texas at San Antonio

The University of Virginia

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

2:15 PM

MAINSTAGE

How AI is powering the GAME School at ASU The GAME School is one of the newest and most exciting units at ASU. As the games and entertainment industries grapple with AI and universities explore how to build AI fluency within creative disciplines, the GAME School is helping lead the way through innovative courses such as Creating Games with AI and Machine Learning for Media Arts, as well as courses that integrate AI with related topics, including motion capture through Martial Arts and Motion Capture. The session will feature student feedback and visuals offering a glimpse into these courses and the student experience. Presenters will also highlight the GAME School’s partnership with the Ultimate Endgamers League, including an AI-powered leaderboard that has resulted in ASU’s first esports scholarship opportunity. The session will conclude with a brief look at AI research underway within the School, including work in 3D generative AI for games and other emerging areas.

SPEAKER

Pavan Turaga Founding Director of The GAME School at Arizona State University

Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

10:15 AM

Morning workshop Workshops are your chance to dig deeper. These interactive sessions take a more hands-on approach, giving you time to explore challenges, work through solutions and leave with practical ideas you can put into action.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 80

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

10:15 AM

BALLROOM 1

Data foundations for agentic AI: Inventory, trust, and accountability in the age of autonomous agents As universities move from experimenting with AI to deploying agentic systems that can act independently, the stakes around data access are rising. These agents may reach into student records, research data, and campus systems, yet many institutions still lack a clear picture of what agents can access and whether that data is properly protected. Led by Cyera, this session explores the foundational work higher education institutions need before granting meaningful access to AI agents, including how to build a living inventory of enterprise data, classify FERPA-regulated records, research IP, and operational data, and evaluate whether existing controls, such as data loss prevention (DLP), can withstand agentic use cases. The session will also examine barriers slowing agentic AI adoption and address a pressing governance question: when an AI agent acting under a person’s credentials makes a mistake, where does accountability sit? Attendees will leave with a practical framework for inventorying data, classifying risk, and assigning oversight across human and non-human actors. SPEAKERS & HOST EDDIE BORRERO Data & AI Security Officer, Cyera

LESTER GODSEY Chief Information Security Officer, Enterprise Technology

MORNING WORKSHOP

Morning breakout sessions Breakout sessions are your chance to explore, connect and go deeper into the ideas shaping agentic AI. Pick a session that sparks your curiosity and jump in.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 82

Session 1 10:15 - 11:00 AM

Session 2 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM

MORNING BREAKOUT SESSIONS 83

Morning

breakout session 1 10:15 - 11:00AM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

DAY THREE, THURS OCT 22

Life as a Chief AI Officer: What it takes to lead AI in higher ed

MAINSTAGE

Allen Karns, Elizabeth Reilley, Aaron Driver, George Siemens, Kyle Bowen

From days to seconds: Building AI-supported transfer credit evaluation

BRONZE

Anne Jones, Gemma Garcia

Building trusted campus AI in a global context

CRIMSON

Özgür Yılmazel, Gabriela Galindo, Bobby Gray

Applying agentic AI to identity resolution in higher education

TERRACOTTA

Eric Hansen, Jonathan Lee

Global insights on AI for teaching and learning Sergiy Tytenko, Anna Mariela Preciado Leyva, Pablo Ruiz Aguirre, Emiliano Diez, Julia Rosen

BALLROOM 6

Morning

breakout session 2 11:15AM–12:00PM

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS DAY THREE, THURS OCT 22

MAINSTAGE

From generative to agentic: The next shift in teaching and learning Brandon Rich, Ayham Boucher, Jennifer Gebelein, Kimberly Arnold, Kyle Bowen

Equipping educators with AI systems: Lessons on teaching and faculty empowerment from AI use cases

BRONZE

Karen Vignare, Nancy Gonzales

Community colleges leading AI innovation

CRIMSON

Tony Sovak, Kody Stimpson, Vivek Vyas, Daniel Corr

From generation to evaluation: Building trustworthy AI-generated questions

TERRACOTTA

Peixia Shao, Katerina Christhilf Sabino, Yu (Terry) Tian, Danielle McNamara

AI, grading and the human-in-the-loop

BALLROOM 6

Marjory Marshall, Yixuan He, Catheryn Reardon

AI and the next era of video learning

BALLROOM 7

Ian Paice, Amanda Parks

Morning breakout session 1 10:15 - 11:00 A.M. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 86

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

10:15 AM

MAINSTAGE

Life as a Chief AI Officer: What it takes to lead AI in higher ed Someone has to be first. Across higher ed, a new role, Chief AI Officers, is tasked with preparing universities for AI adoption and use. Navigating daily signals of AI progress, faculty governance, student and institutional data, academic freedom, and the need for a strategy yesterday, is a complex task for which there is no predecessor and no playbook. Moderated by George Siemens, Chief AI Transformation Officer at Southern New Hampshire University and a founding convener of the Chief AI Officer Network (CAION), this session brings together three sitting higher-ed CAIOs from across the network. The conversation will focus on what these leaders wish someone had with them on day one about managing strategic, technical, and relationship aspects of AI. This is an honest, unscripted discussion about what the role really looks like, the wins, the policies that had to be rewritten after rapid changes, and the skills that turned out to matter more than anyone expected. Whether you're building this role at your institution, considering stepping into one, or just want to understand who's steering AI on campuses across the country and internationally, you'll leave with a clearer, more encouraging picture of what's required to be successful in this role (and with fewer illusions about what it takes to get there!).

SPEAKERS & HOST ALLEN KARNS Chief AI Technology Officer - Center for Generative AI, Vanderbilt University

ELIZABETH REILLEY Vice President of Digital Transformation & Chief AI Officer, The University of North Carolina System

AARON DRIVER Chief AI Officer, University of New England

GEORGE SIEMENS Chief AI Transformation Officer at Southern New Hampshire University

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

10:15 AM

BRONZE

From days to seconds: Building AI-supported transfer credit evaluation Over 3,000 course catalogs. More than 4.8 million courses. Triangulator is a shared network that uses AI to gather and normalize those messy data and match likely equivalencies, with human reviewers in control of every decision. Explore why we built it, real use cases, and how to bring your institution into the network.

SPEAKERS & HOST ANNE JONES Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Office of the University Provost, Arizona State University

GEMMA GARCIA Executive Director, Office of the University Provost, Arizona State University

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

10:15 AM

CRIMSON

Building trusted campus AI in a global context Universities around the world are moving beyond early AI experiments toward systems that can support students across courses and institutional services. This session brings together initiatives from the United States and Mexico, pairing an institution-wide generative AI platform with an academic virtual assistant evolving into a more agentic learning companion The two examples offer a global perspective on what it takes to move from a promising AI tool to an institutionally supported system. Presenters will explore how local context shapes that work while highlighting the shared challenge of building AI infrastructure that students can trust and institutions can sustain.

SPEAKERS & HOST ÖZGÜR YILMAZEL Director of Data Core and a Senior Research Fellow, UMass Amherst

GABRIELA GALINDO Director of Technology Governance and Security at Tecnológico de Monterrey

BOBBY GRAY Senior Solutions Architect, ET Engineering

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

10:15 AM

TERRACOTTA

Applying agentic AI to identity resolution in higher education Higher education institutions struggle to understand the full student journey due to fragmented systems, inconsistent identifiers, and incomplete data. This session explores how Western Governors University is creating a unified and continuously improving view of the learner. By combining vector search, LLM-driven matching, and scalable data workflows, IRDA moves beyond static integration toward a more agentic model where systems improve match quality, adapt to new sources, and unlock real-time insight. Attendees will see how identity resolution becomes a foundational capability for student experience measurement, enabling more accurate analytics, targeted interventions, and reduced friction across the learner lifecycle.

SPEAKERS & HOST ERIC HANSEN Director, Student Journey Measurement, Western Governors University

JONATHAN LEE Senior Systems Architect, Knowledge Enterprise Research Technology Office

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

10:15 AM

BALLROOM 6

Global insights on AI for teaching and learning AI is reshaping higher education everywhere, but not in the same way. In this session, academic leaders from Ukraine, Mexico, and Ecuador compare notes on how their institutions are adopting AI for teaching and learning, and what's translating across borders and what isn't. Panelists will share how they're preparing faculty and students, what's working in their classrooms, and where local context, from infrastructure to culture to policy, shapes their approach. Attendees will leave with a broader view of the global AI landscape in higher education and practical ideas they can bring back to their own campuses.

SPEAKERS & HOST SERGIY TYTENKO Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Digital Technologies EPAM, American University Kyiv

ANNA MARIELA PRECIADO LEYVA Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara

PABLO RUIZ AGUIRRE Prorector, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador. Loja

EMILIANO DIEZ Chief Technology Officer and Global Managing Director of Products and Services at Cintana Education

JULIA ROSEN Vice President of Global Academic Initiatives, Office of the University Provost

Morning breakout session 2 11:15 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 92

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

11:15 AM

MAINSTAGE

From generative to agentic: The next shift in teaching and learning Higher education is entering a new phase of AI adoption. Institutions are moving beyond generative AI tools toward emerging forms of agentic AI capable of reshaping how students are experiencing learning. Yet many institutions are still grappling with foundational questions: what role should AI agents play? Where can they meaningfully support students without replacing human relationships, judgment, and care? And how do institutions move from isolated pilots toward intentional strategy? Grounded in recent research, this session will explore institutional approaches related to agentic AI in higher education. The discussion will focus on examining how institutions are beginning to use AI agents for a wide variety of course and student support. Panelists will share their perspectives about emerging practices, what tensions institutions are encountering, and where meaningful opportunities may exist.

SPEAKERS & HOST BRANDON RICH Director of AI Enablement, University of Notre Dame

AYHAM BOUCHER Director of AI Innovation Lab, Cornell University

JENNIFER GEBELEIN Director of AI Integration and Faculty Success, Florida International University

KIMBERLY ARNOLD Director of Teaching and Learning, EDUCAUSE

KYLE BOWEN Deputy Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

11:15 AM

BRONZE

Equipping educators with AI systems: Lessons on teaching and faculty empowerment from AI use cases As institutions move from AI experimentation to implementation, educators need practical ways to integrate advanced tools and assessment into learning ecosystems. This session argues that meaningful AI integration is an institutional responsibility, not just an individual effort, requiring structures, guidance, and support for effective and responsible use. APLU has begun collecting institutional examples, and presenters will highlight approaches for integrating AI into instructional design and faculty development. The session emphasizes that institutions must go beyond encouraging experimentation by establishing clear expectations, professional learning, and cross-functional support to enable intentional, pedagogically grounded use. Participants will leave with strategies to foster culture change, align AI with faculty needs and learning goals, and support sustainable teaching innovation.

SPEAKERS & HOST KAREN VIGNARE Vice President, Digital Transformation for Student Success, Association of Public and Landgrant Universities

NANCY GONZALES Executive Vice President and University Provost, Office of the University Provost

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

11:15 AM

CRIMSON

Community colleges leading AI innovation Across the United States, community colleges serve nearly 40% of undergraduate students. Today, these institutions are working to embed responsible AI systems that reduce friction, strengthen institutional readiness, and improve student persistence and success. In this session, leaders across three community colleges – Pima Community College, Merced College and Calbright College – come together to highlight their unique and shared experiences for designing human-centered AI systems.

SPEAKERS & HOST TONY SOVAK Director LMS & eLearning Quality, Pima Community College

KODY STIMPSON Dean of Innovation and Institutional Effectiveness, Merced College

VIVEK VYAS Chief Product Officer, Calbright College

DANIEL CORR Vice Provost for Academic Alliances at Arizona State University

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

11:15 AM

TERRACOTTA

From generation to evaluation: Building trustworthy AI-generated questions Agentic AI can generate learning content and assessment questions at unprecedented speed, but scale alone does not guarantee quality. Poorly constructed questions may confuse learners, reinforce bias, or fail to measure the intended knowledge and skills. This session introduces a practical, research-informed framework for evaluating AI-generated, scenario-based questions across multiple dimensions. Drawing on work with ReQUESTA, a multi-agent system for generating comprehension questions, speakers will demonstrate how expert rubrics, human review, and systematic comparisons can help educators and developers assess and refine AI outputs. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies for integrating quality evaluation into AI-enabled learning workflows while keeping educator expertise and student learning at the center.

SPEAKERS & HOST PEIXIA SHAO Postdoctoral Scholar, Learning Engineering Institute, Arizona State University

KATERINA CHRISTHILF SABINO Graduate Service Assistant, Learning Engineering Institute, Arizona State University

YU (TERRY) TIAN Assistant Research Scientist, Learning Engineering Institute, Arizona State University

DANIELLE MCNAMARA Executive Director, Learning Engineering Institute

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

11:15 AM

BALLROOM 6

AI, grading and the humanin-the-loop AI offers the potential to provide timely, personalized feedback to thousands of learners, but responsible implementation requires more than generating scores and comments. This session examines the design, deployment and evaluation of human-in-the-loop AI feedback systems. A combination session with teams from ASU Learning Enterprise and ASU New College will examine how higher education can deliver timely, personalized AI-supported feedback at scale while preserving instructor oversight, transparency, fairness and student trust. From Timely Grader, a human-in-the-loop AI feedback system, to a multi-agent grading assistant designed to support 75,000 learner submissions, speakers will examine how higher education can deliver timely, personalized AIsupported feedback at scale while preserving instructor oversight, transparency, fairness, and student trust.

SPEAKERS & HOST MARJORY MARSHALL Senior Program Manager, Learning Enterprise, Arizona State University

YIXUAN HE Assistant Professor, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University

CATHERYN REARDON Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychology and AI Strategist for Psychology Digital Immersion Programs, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

11:15 AM

BALLROOM 7

AI and the next era of video learning Students already rely on video to learn. Now AI is changing what they expect video to do for them. This session unpacks new global research from Panopto and Hanover Research on how students are using video and AI today, where they encounter friction and what they want the experience to look like next. Based on a survey of 760 higher education students across the U.S., Europe, and Asia-Pacific, the research shows that students want more than access to course video. They want to find answers faster, jump to the exact moment that matters, work through difficult concepts, and use video as an active study tool. At the same time, many students are already turning to generative AI outside the learning environments their institutions provide, even when they have concerns about accuracy and reliability. The session will explore what these findings suggest about the next phase of video-based learning, including the gap between how students want to use video and what most learning environments support today, and where AI can realistically help. The discussion will also cover what institutions can do now to make video easier to search, navigate, review, and learn from while preserving the trust, context, and controls that matter in an academic environment. SPEAKERS & HOST IAN PAICE Chief Customer Officer, Panopto

AMANDA PARKS Strategic Engagement Director, Enterprise Technology

DAY THREE THUR, OCT 22

12:15 PM

SUN DEVIL BALLROOM

Women’s leaders lunch Invitation required Hosted by Nancy Gonzales, ASU Executive Vice President and University Provost, our Women’s Leaders Lunch will bring together an accomplished group of women from across higher education and industry for a chance to connect and reflect on what it means to lead through a period of transformational technology change. Over lunch, we'll also share a brief fireside chat, exploring the human side of leadership, the perspectives women bring to moments of change, and how we can create opportunities for the women who will lead next.

HOST

Nancy Gonzales Executive Vice President and University Provost, ASU

Afternoon breakout session 1:15 PM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2026 100

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

1:15 PM

MAINSTAGE

Shaping the future of health education Explore how human-centered AI is reshaping health education - from curriculum and student readiness to assessment and clinical learning. Discover a practical framework for developing AI-ready health professionals who can evaluate AI outputs, recognize bias and limitations, protect sensitive information, and preserve human judgment and empathy. Examine how AIenabled assessment tools can evaluate not only whether students reach the right answer, but also how they reason and perform throughout the learning process. Finally, learn how Avery, an agentic AI nurse assistant, is being evaluated as a learning partner and interprofessional teammate in educational and clinical settings.

SPEAKERS & HOST JUDITH KARSHMER Dean, Professor, & Chief Wellness Officer, Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Arizona State University

JULIE LISS Senior Associate Dean and Professor, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University

JEREMI SMITH Director, Assessment and Evaluation Services, John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, Arizona State University

101

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

1:15 PM

BRONZE

AI learning agents designed for scale AI learning agents are moving beyond standalone chatbots to become integrated parts of the course experience. This session explores two institutionally developed platforms that give instructors meaningful control over how AI supports learning, while reducing the need for complex prompt writing or technical configuration. Presenters Joshua Smith of the University of Utah and James Castle of the University of Georgia will examine what it takes to move these tools from individual course experiments to institutionally supported learning systems. Through two different models, the session will show how AI learning agents can scale without losing sight of instructional intent or institutional responsibility.

SPEAKERS & HOST JOSHUA SMITH Applications Architect, University of Utah

JAMES CASTLE Associate Director of Online Learning, University of Georgia

DOUGLAS JENNEWEIN Executive Director, Knowledge Enterprise Research Technology Office

102

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

1:15 PM

CRIMSON

A framework to empower students and faculty in the AI-era As generative AI becomes part of students’ everyday academic work, unclear expectations can lead to confusion, inconsistent grading, and accusations of misuse. National University’s RAISE 5 guidelines give faculty and students a clear, field-tested framework for when and how AI can be used. The session provides insights from both faculty and academic leadership perspectives on how institutions can communicate clear standards for acceptable AI use while redesigning assignments to evaluate how students direct, critique, validate, and document AI-generated work. Leave with strategies for reducing ambiguity, strengthening academic integrity, and shifting assessment toward student judgment, reflection and responsible human-AI collaboration.

SPEAKERS & HOST TORRENCE TEMPLE Academic Program Director of Single Subject Credential Program, National University

SHEILA HUNT Associate Director of Faculty Support & Development, National University

GEMMA GARCIA Executive Director, Office of the University Provost

103

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

1:15 PM

TERRACOTTA

Using AI to help professors start the conversations students avoid It started with a chatbot at ASU. Then, conversations with students changed what was being built. Students who are struggling often don’t ask for help, and the conversations they avoid may be the ones they need most. Professors face their own challenge: knowing who needs attention, when to reach out, and what to say. Academic integrity presents a similar challenge: identifying a potential problem is only the beginning. This session shares how human-centered, iterative research shifted ASU’s approach to AI. From academic struggles to potential cheating, it explores how AI can identify the moments that matter and help professors start conversations that might otherwise never happen.

SPEAKERS & HOST ELLIOTT HEDMAN UX & AI Experience Lead, Robots & Pencils

BEN MAYFIELD Sr Solutions Engineer, Honorlock

KIM BECKERT Assistant Vice Provost, Undergraduate Education, Arizona State University

JENN GREENBERG Associate Director, Strategic Engagements, Enterprise Technology

104

DAY THREE THURS, OCT 22

1:15 PM

BALLROOM 6

Scaling agentic AI across the student journey: Insights from an education–industry partnership Industry partnerships are helping education institutions move agentic AI from isolated pilots to institution-wide practice. This session offers a behindthe-scenes look at how institutions and technology partners are building AIenabled solutions that support learners across degree, online, and nondegree pathways. Topics will include what makes such partnerships work, the challenges that surface during implementation, and how cross-unit coordination, data, and governance decisions shape responsible scaling. Education leaders will leave with practical insight into turning emerging technology into connected, learner-centered solutions.

SPEAKERS & HOST MARGO MARTINEZ Vice President and General Manager of Education, Salesforce

FRANK MONTOYA Senior Product Manager, Arizona State University

105

Sponsors This event is made possible through the support of our sponsors. Their commitment to innovation and collaboration brings together leaders and visionaries who are shaping the future of AI.

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Our sponsors TITANIUM

PLATINUM

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

AI ALLEY PARTICIPANTS

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Conference information From schedule updates and Wi-Fi access to event photography and key acknowledgments, find the practical details you need for a smooth conference experience.

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Speakers and schedule We’ve worked carefully to craft a meaningful and engaging experience for all attendees. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, all sessions, speakers and times are subject to change without notice. We appreciate your understanding as we continue to curate the best possible experience.

Photo and video This event may be live-streamed, photographed or recorded. Photographers and videographers will be on site, capturing images for ASU to use for promotional or marketing purposes. By entering this event, you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or recorded for any ASU purposes.

Credits and shoutouts We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who helped make this event possible. A special thank you to our speakers for sharing their time and expertise, our volunteers for their energy and dedication, and the ASU staff and planning committee for their hard work behind the scenes. This event would not have been possible without your collective effort and commitment—thank you for making it a success.

Wi-Fi Access Wi-Fi is available on the asu-guest network. No password is required.

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Notes This space is yours. Jot down key takeaways, ideas, questions, and moments you want to remember throughout the conference.

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Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

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Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

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Notes

AGENTIC AI AND THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE

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