Tech Explained: Inside WSU’s first Global Summit on AI, technology, and the future of higher education | WSU Insider in Simple Terms

Artificial intelligence is no longer an emerging trend in higher education; it is a structural shift reshaping how institutions teach, advise, conduct research, and prepare students for a workforce evolving in real time.

Rather than reacting to that shift, Washington State University is choosing to lead.

On March 12–13, WSU will host its inaugural Global Summit, convening national technology leaders, higher education innovators, faculty, students, and policymakers to examine what this moment demands and to ask a central question: What can we do at WSU?

“When higher education faces structural change, we choose to lead. The Global Summit brings our community together to examine what this moment demands — and how WSU can shape what comes next,” said WSU President Betsy Cantwell. “As Washington’s land-grant university, we will examine how AI is reshaping learning, research, and public service, and forge our path forward together.” Faculty, staff, and students interested in attending can register to attend and find additional details at globalsummit.wsu.edu.

Rethinking higher education in the age of AI

Sally Amoruso, chief partner officer at EAB, is a featured panelist at the summit’s Excellence Exchange session on March 13, providing her expertise on the impact of AI in higher education. She believes higher education institutions should not approach AI by simply adding tools to existing systems. It should be about rethinking operations.

“AI gives higher education a reason to reexamine structures that haven’t changed in a long time, like how we teach, advise, organize work on campus, support research, and measure value,” she said. “We now have tools that can personalize learning at scale, provide tutoring and feedback outside traditional constraints, accelerate research cycles, and reduce administrative burden.”

“Used well, that frees up human energy for the work that matters most — mentorship, intellectual inquiry, collaboration, creativity.”

Even when implemented thoughtfully, institutions should expect disruptions before meaningful gains materialize.

Amoruso describes this as the “J-curve.”

“Most general-purpose technologies produce uneven results at first. There’s experimentation, disruption, and a productivity dip before gains materialize,” she said. “The upside comes after institutions redesign around the technology. We are in that transition phase now. The question is whether we use this period to rethink structures — curriculum, advising models, workflows, governance — or whether we simply layer AI onto legacy systems and (erroneously) declare progress.”

The question is whether we use this period to rethink structures — curriculum, advising models, workflows, governance — or whether we simply layer AI onto legacy systems and (erroneously) declare progress.

Sally Amoruso
Chief Partner Officer
EAB

Amoruso also outlined actions that WSU and other institutions can take to maximize the positive impact of AI implementation.

“Meaningful gains follow redesign, not quick pilots,” she said. “Build capability deliberately and connect AI initiatives to clear outcomes — student success, research productivity, operational efficiency, financial sustainability, etc.”

“AI represents a structural shift. Institutions that approach it with discipline and clarity will shape how it integrates into higher education rather than reacting to it.”

Technological advancement: A research perspective

While institutional redesign is one dimension of the AI shift, leaders at the forefront of research see equally significant changes underway.

Doug Burger, Technical Fellow and a corporate vice president at Microsoft, will serve as a panelist during the summit’s “Building the Future-Ready WSU” session. He offers insight into how advances in artificial intelligence are accelerating research, transforming productivity, and reshaping expectations across industries.

“We’re entering a new era that may be as profound a shift as the industrial revolution or the information revolution. This ‘intelligence revolution’ will change both what students need to learn, and the methodologies by which they learn,” he shares.

“While universities are often described as slow-moving institutions, that deliberateness is also a strength, and they can provide rigor, context, and ethical grounding at a time of rapid technological change. But as intelligent systems, digital tools, and knowledge creation accelerate, universities also have a unique opportunity to lead — to reimagine curricula, advance research, and help society make sense of these transformations. Higher-learning institutions can shape this moment by preparing students, examining the breath of the technologies’ impact across many fields of study, and setting the intellectual and moral compass for the intelligence era ahead.”

As managing director of Microsoft Research’s worldwide research labs, Burger is closely connected to cutting-edge AI research and its implications. According to him, the influence higher education has on society generates a huge opportunity, as well as a serious responsibility.

We’re entering a new era that may be as profound a shift as the industrial revolution or the information revolution.

Doug Burger
Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Research
Microsoft

“The core capabilities of AI are advancing so rapidly, and in such a distributed way, that affecting AI’s development is an unlikely proposition,” he said. “What universities can and should do is ingest current capabilities, extrapolate where they are likely headed, and determine responsible uses across fields of study and across higher education itself.” “Our biggest challenge is imagination, because the boundary of what is achievable has expanded so fast,” said Burger. “I hope that the summit sparks discussions of how we want the world to be, and what are the best outcomes for higher education, given the anticipated trajectory of AI capabilities.”

Setting in motion a direction for the future

“A key purpose of the summit is to define a human-centered focus for how WSU moves forward,” said Dave Cillay, WSU Global Campus Chancellor. “Technology should increase access and support for students, freeing up time for mentorship and deeper engagement.

“The goal is better student outcomes, not just efficiency.”

Chancellor Cillay was appointed by President Cantwell to chair the inaugural event with Co-Chair, Kerri Davidson, Vice President of Institutional Affairs and Chief Administrative Officer for the WSU system.

As higher education navigates rapid technological change, WSU’s Global Summit moves beyond observation toward intention — bringing together the voices needed to shape a coordinated response.

The question isn’t whether AI will change higher education; it’s how institutions choose to respond.

“AI will continue to transform higher education and our daily lives. Our responsibility is to ensure that transformation strengthens access, deepens learning, and advances research in service of Washington and our students,” said WSU President Betsy Cantwell. “At WSU, we will define how this transformation shapes our future.”