Brought to you by:
SentinelOne—Learn how SentinelOne empowers this state to stay secure.
Verizon Frontline—The advanced network that keeps first responders connected when it matters most.
Carahsoft—The Trusted Public Sector IT Solutions Provider™, supports government agencies and education/healthcare markets. Contact your Carahsoft rep today to access special discount pricing exclusively through the TechTables + Carahsoft partnership!
Featuring:
Josh Bright, CIO and Associate Vice Chancellor for IT at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB)
Kyle Bowen, Deputy CIO at Arizona State University (ASU)
Charles Elliott, Field CTO for Public Sector at Google
What You’ll Learn:
High-Impact AI Strategies
ASU's language learning: German professor developed a custom AI tool that breaks free from "arcane phrases like 'where is the library'" to enable personalized conversational practice that adapts to student interests and provides immediate feedback
UCSB's data-driven approach: Five strategic AI pilots generating concrete metrics to inform new leadership's investment decisions during chancellor transition, ensuring continuity of innovation
Google Cloud's Rapid Innovation Team delivers accelerated proof-of-concepts through enhanced user story collaboration, allowing universities to quickly transform ideas into working prototypes
Technology Infrastructure Innovations
ASU's "Create AI Platform" unifies multiple LLMs into a single environment where faculty, researchers and students can rapidly prototype solutions to real-world problems, creating an agile development ecosystem
Google's migration of Collaboratory to cloud infrastructure gives educational institutions both seamless collaboration features and enterprise-scale computing power for complex research workloads
UCSB's partnership with Goldstein yielded comprehensive consensus from 200+ stakeholders including 70+ faculty members, creating what Josh calls "a fantastic engagement" leading to unified campus IT direction
Transformative Leadership & Organizational Development
UCSB's immersive five-day on-site "conference" reconnected hybrid workers with campus mission after 5-year absence for some staff, yielding emotional breakthrough: "We didn't know we needed this"
UCSB's year-long MOR Associates Leadership Program builds shared language among senior IT leaders while requiring all central IT staff to achieve Yellow Belt certification in Lean Six Sigma
ASU's competitive AI Innovation Challenge framework creates structured experimentation that simultaneously explores possibilities and identifies governance issues: "It helps us put in place the kind of guidelines or processes to help mitigate them in the future"
Cross-Institutional Partnership Models
Google Cloud's advanced multimodal capabilities enable universities to process diverse inputs—"video, audio, geometry assignments, you name it"—creating richer educational experiences for students
ASU's operational success applying AI to incident communications demonstrates how technical teams can "translate and help communicate about what's happening in technology environments to provide better messaging, faster"
UCSB's campus-wide mentorship program connects IT professionals across organizational boundaries, currently in its second cohort and delivering "really fantastic outcomes, just helping people to see, partner with those who are a little further along the road"
Timestamps
(01:15) ASU's three-pillar AI strategy: Education/Community, Technology, Experimentation
(02:00) Real-world AI applications at ASU: German language learning and incident response
(03:00) UCSB's campus IT strategy development with 200+ stakeholders
(06:00) UCSB's Enterprise AI pilots for gathering implementation data
(08:00) Leadership development initiatives at UCSB
(12:30) ASU's AI Innovation Challenge framework
(15:00) UCSB's transformative five-day on-site experience for remote staff
(18:00) Leadership advice for technology leaders in Higher Ed
Connect
🤝 Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtoste/
🐦 Connect on Twitter: https://x.com/thejoetoste
🏛️ Follow on LinkedIn Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techtables/
📽️ Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/@techtables
Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways you can connect with TechTables:
1. 📬 The TechTables Newsletter: Join our thriving community of senior technology leaders by subscribing to the TechTables Newsletter. Gain early access to the latest episodes, industry insights, and exclusive event updates.
Join now: https://www.techtables.com/
2. 🤝 The Collaboratory: The Exclusive Peer Network for Senior Technology Leaders in Public Sector, nationwide. The Collaboratory is a 100% Public Sector, Vendor-Free Private Community where you can connect, share strategies, and drive innovation alongside peers through monthly virtual meetings and our annual national event.
CXOs Only Join Now: The Collaboratory: https://www.techtables.com/collaboratory
3. 🤝 The Better Together Series: a virtual podcast series where TechTables partners with leading CXOs and vendor partners for candid conversations that showcase real-world solutions, spark innovation, and drive industry action. Email me at joe@techtables.com
