Notes from the 2024 ASU+GSV Summit and AIR Show
We came, we saw, and it conquered (again). This year’s sold-out ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego did not disappoint in providing a window to a brave new future with education at its core. Over 7,000 attendees from 143 countries and 900 startups coalesced over three days.
Michael Moe, founder of GSV, kicked off the summit by sharing a riveting and uber-informative 40-minute snapshot of the changing seasons of education, workforce, technologies, and international markets. He eloquently surmised the changing landscape, new opportunities, capital impact, and what it will take to survive and thrive. (I highly encourage everyone to view the YouTube video of this session at least once)
Enlightening panel discussions, keynotes, relevant exhibits, demos, and workshops, ushered by the who’s who of education, technology, and workforce, were carried on in a tremendous ASU+GSV Summit-like fashion. This was my fifth of fifteen ASU+GSVs, so I knew the drill. However, something was very different and unique this year. Artificial intelligence (AI) has catalyzed education’s next seismic transformation. Its ubiquitous impact on learning was, undoubtedly, top-of-mind and tongue among event participants. ASU+GSV intelligently punctuated this with an accompanying event, the ASU+GSV AIR Show (AI Revolution in EDU), tacked on as a weekend prefix to the Summit and held in the convention center just two blocks down West Harbor Drive.
AIR Show’s format included immersive, hands-on exhibits, continuously featured keynotes, and inclusive breakouts from the world’s most ambitious AI learning innovators, influencers, decision-makers, and thought leaders. It was AI + Education’s time to flex, mingle, share, learn, and collectively vibe. It, too, did not disappoint.
Throughout the conference, I had to ask myself, will AI be the ecosystem’s most significant tipping point of our lifetime? With all the excitement, wonder, and exchange around this new disruptive technology, its presence was definitive – with new problems to solve, uncertainty to address, innovations to make, and applications to implement. In these early stages, it is still anyone and everyone’s clay to shape. And, given the pace of developments, it can quickly feel as if we are collectively building the plane as we are flying it. Nonetheless, at the ASU+GSV Summit and Airshow, stakeholders would consummately share, learn, collaborate, and partner to take on new challenges and opportunities of this brave, new future. Will this inevitable change support more immersive, engaging, and effective education at scale? What consequences, outcomes, and sacrifices will be part of the inherent disruption? How will this new technology and its use or misuse impact business, growth, and human resources? What solutions will ultimately win? And are we really just at the beginning and simply scratching the surface?
Through my socializing, I was put at ease. I quickly reminded myself that we, the education and workforce ecosystem, are ultimately a resilient, innovative, pragmatic group deeply driven by purpose and passion to create a better future through teaching and learning.
To this end, I had the great privilege of meeting with several notable executives at the event to get a first-hand crystal ball view of the current and future states of education, workforce, and technology. Here are some conversation highlights:
- Strong leaders will be even more important to steering the ship. I caught up with Charlie Schilling, President of Emeritus’ Enterprise Business (Americas and Europe), a company committed to the skilling and upskilling of leaders. They are specifically future-proofing this audience for change through exposing, experimenting with, and implementing new technologies, focusing on a change mindset. I couldn’t agree more with addressing this urgent need.
- According to Brian Hogue, Chief Product Officer, catering to the essence of learning, more profound insight into student progress, content usage, and learning gains are areas where Vital Source’s CoachMe platform continues to add value. It was fascinating to learn how they continue to serve as a critical adhesive partner in the value chain of student success.
- Connecting the education and workforce dots will remain critical for securing a bright future. As Ryan Lufkin, VP of Global Academic Strategy, shares, Instructure is proud of its defining value: unlocking career success across the lifelong learning journey. The company remains committed to open systems that facilitate collaboration, solve different problems with innovation to overcome fears, and ensure equitable access to tools like AI, which remain at the core of everything it
- Higher education institutions will play a key role in bridging K12 and the workforce and advancing innovation using technology. I enjoyed spending time with Kyle Bowen, CTO of Arizona State University, who pointed out several creative ways they empower their faculty to achieve more outstanding student outcomes utilizing AI. One example included history professors creating real storied accounts of ‘ordinary people’ through AI-enabled voice and images, providing a comprehensive immersion in the subject. When asked about his vision for teaching, learning, and technology, Mr. Bowen responded by seeing it through a lens of unbound creativity and inclusivity. Supporting that mindset among faculty and students gives me great confidence to advance in the experience of learning and its inherent outcomes.
- Andrew Scivally, CEO of eLearning Brothers, which has experienced tremendous growth over the past several years, shared with me his company’s unwavering attention to providing engaging learning experiences, given its depth and breadth of products and services, as well as how it has built and continues to deliver exceptional support and technologies to achieve
- Most of those I spoke with shared the theme of inclusion, equity, and access to advanced learning for all. UnboundEd’s CEO, Lacey Robinson, is a strong community voice in this area. UnboundEd is solving for educator support with improved instruction, especially for marginalized students. Ms. Robinson summed up her vision for the future of learning as intentionally inclusive, hyper-responsive/high-quality, and evolving relevancy.
- How will a skills knowledge-based economy look like a few years from now, and how will that be supported? BYU-Pathway Worldwide President Brian Ashton is addressing that by innovating the college degree. Their recent introduction of a 3-year degree program is being rolled out to keep student costs low and accelerate time to earning careers.
From my conversations, a few things became evident. For one, we have great leaders at the helm, each with superpowers for navigating our education and workforce ecosystem. I was surprised that, despite the AI-frenzy, the core focus on what matters, or core values of success for outcomes, engagement, the learning experience, access and inclusivity, relevance, and creativity, have not changed. It’s a clear vision, with a focus on purpose—call it the leadership human skills—WITH a systemic literacy for new tools and technologies—that will allow the greatest opportunity to solve new and existing problems more efficiently, with greater precision, and with higher outcomes. For that reason, I believe we are in good hands. This brings me back to Michael Moe’s parting keynote thought of what matters… “finding meaning through learning and purpose through work,” encouraging us all to “make our dash count.”
Until next year, amazing awaits.
About the author
Angelo Biasi is an EdTech/WorkforceTech Leader/Founder/Coach who has committed most of his career to transforming teaching and learning on a global scale. He recently acquired the award-winning Solvably, a collaborative, creative problem-solving platform for lifelong learners. He released AI Centers of Excellence for K12, Higher Ed, and Corporate Talent to support “AI Literacy for ALL.” For more information, visit www.angelobiasi.com and www.solvably.com.
