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On April 15 and 16, the third annual ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú University AI Symposium welcomed inquiring minds, unique thinkers, and solutions engineers to learn more about generative artificial intelligence and how it’s changing our world.

The event showcased several key themes and discussion topics relating to generative AI, including innovation in the classroom, governance and institutional decision-making, and creative arts and the human experience. Each conference track invited folks to engage with presentations about these themes, and students, faculty, and staff members showed up to be part of the AI conversation.

Expert advice from expert speakers: Be the human in the loop

The symposium showcased several keynote presentations that offered advice and perspective from industry leaders.

“This year our keynotes explored the impact of AI, showed us the cutting edge of AI through the eyes of a Silicon Valley AI-native company employee, and reminded us of the value of our uniqueness and humanity," said CIO David Seidl.

Brian Baute, a higher education strategy lead for Amazon Web Services (AWS), spoke directly to students about AI being “the most powerful lever humanity has ever had,” and shared five “levers” that students can use right now to maintain humanity in an increasingly AI-native world. Throughout the talk, Baute referenced Archimedes’ Law of the Lever—the point being that we are at a fulcrum point, and AI, as the lever, will help us create the future. However, in order to create that future, we have to embrace adaptability and resilience to get the most out of this new trajectory.

The second keynote was just as stimulating. In the evening on April 15, folks crowded into Taylor Auditorium in the Farmer School of Business for the latest installment in the EY AI ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉúhip Series. This event invited alumni Steve Berg (‘89) and Noah Zender (‘22) to talk about AI adoption across industries and give advice on how students could prepare for their future careers in light of the growing use of AI in nearly every field.

As they said in their abstract: “The future is already here; it’s just not evenly distributed.”

Nearly 400 students, faculty, and staff gathered to hear Zender and Berg speak about their experiences in both the venture capital and investment side and the technical and deployment side of the AI coin. View the full conversation on .

In addition to the Wednesday keynotes, on Thursday morning, Liz Ngonzi, human-centered AI strategist and adjunct assistant professor at New York University, spoke about how human leadership is growing more essential as these systems come online. She engaged the audience and talked about her AI equation that she sees as a critical point in the narrative about how these tools impact—and inform—human creativity.

Much of Ngonzi’s talk focused on how humanity has to be central to everything we create with AI. Her work circles the idea of human agency and collective wisdom being in collaborative partnership with AI tools—after all, she says, tools are only as good as the people using them. Humans are informed by their experiences, which makes each individual perspective unique.

“The future is profoundly human,” Ngonzi said. “As much as we feel that this technology is replacing us, it truly can’t.”

Humanity and creativity remained a throughline of the symposium itself; though the tagline was “AI in Action,” many of the presenters throughout the two-day conference focused on making sure that while you’re using AI, you should remain the “human in the loop.”

AI in the field: Hackathon centers campus creativity in Hoyt Hall

Before the symposium, engaged faculty, staff, and students were encouraged to participate in the first-ever AI ‘hackathon,’ an event hosted by IT Services designed to bring university community members together in service of using AI tools for real, practical applications. The projects worked on during the event were then showcased in a lightning round presentation at the AI Symposium.

“The hackathon struck a strong balance between structure and openness,” said Jeff Toaddy, assistant director of project and portfolio management in IT Services and the driving force behind the pre-conference event. “We gave teams a real problem, and they ran with it in very different, meaningful directions. It also fostered new cross-divisional relationships, and celebrated thought-diversity with team members ranging from professional application developers to internal auditors to librarians.”

The hackathon, in the spirit of popular events that share the moniker, was a day-long event dedicated to solving real-world business problems with AI tools (without the constraints of current processes and toolsets) and collaborating on big ideas. A group of volunteers were given a set of data (from Parking Services) and asked to create solutions with that information. In a single day, participants produced working prototypes and thoughtful concepts that showed real potential to improve Parking Services through AI and systems thinking.

Building the future together

The success of the third annual ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú AI Symposium is a testament to the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú community’s appetite for information about AI. What’s also exciting was the symposium’s focus on action and agency when it comes to artificial intelligence.

"Three years ago, we built the first AI Symposium in 90 days,” said CIO David Seidl. “Now we have an annual event that brings faculty, staff, students, community members, and partners in to focus on all facets of AI. Our focus for 2026 was on using AI—a big change from the early themes of figuring out what AI was going to become."

And, of course, the event came together with the hard work and dedication of the planning committee and folks across campus who are excited about AI.

"We couldn't do this without a heavy lift from the Symposium committee, our behind the scenes staff of volunteers and IT Services staff members, our sponsors AWS and EY, and of course all of the presenters and attendees who made the conference a great event for all involved!" Seidl said.