Agentic AI and the Student Experience with Lev Gonick

Send us Fan MailWhat if AI actually made college more human—more supportive, more accessible, and more affordable? We sat down with Arizona State University CIO Lev Gonick to unpack how agentic AI, low-code tools, and faculty communities are transforming the student journey from recruitment to graduation.Lev takes us inside “Agentic AI and the Student Experience,” a standing-room-only event that drew 650+ attendees from 25 countries. The focus wasn’t jargon; it was outcomes. We talk about “Experience AI” as a design principle that keeps value visible: faster curriculum design with human-in-the-loop checks, assessment aligned to skills and competencies, and agents that scout resources, research, and opportunities while faculty sleep. You’ll hear how ASU empowers staff and instructors through CreateAI, a low-code platform that moves innovation closer to the work, and why the university is replacing data silos with “data rivers” that support learners end to end.We also dive deep on trust. Privacy, IP protection, and security aren’t footnotes; they’re the foundation. Lev explains how ASU differentiates its environment from consumer platforms, educates students and faculty on how AI engines operate, and uses principled innovation to set ethical guardrails. The result is a culture that scales experimentation without abandoning accountability. On the access front, we explore how agentic, multimodal recruiting tools help first-gen and low-income students discover pathways, compare programs, and get timely guidance that used to be out of reach.If you care about student success, equity, or the future of learning, this conversation offers a clear, usable playbook: build communities of practice, define your trust posture, pilot targeted use cases, and scale what proves value. Enjoy the episode, share it with a colleague, and if it resonates, subscribe and leave a review so more educators and leaders can find it.https://ai.asu.edu/[email protected]