Who Discovers the Future? AI, Power, and the New Architecture of Science

Recorded live at the 2026 ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego, this session featured Ronit Levani Morad, Senior Director & Chief of Staff for Google Research at Google; Lydia Logan, Vice President for Global Education and Workforce Development at IBM Corporate Social Responsibility; Dan Schneider, Enterprise Platform Product Specialist at NVIDIA; Matthew Rascoff, Vice Provost at Stanford University; and Bridget Burns, CEO at University Innovation Alliance.The speakers explored how AI is compressing the time between question and discovery, reshaping not only how research is conducted, but also who is prepared to participate in AI-enabled innovation. They examined how research is evolving, how researchers and students are being trained, and how universities and institutions must adapt as much of the traditional bench work can now be executed by algorithms.The session discussed the new mandate facing institutions: attracting and developing AI-fluent talent across disciplines, equipping students with the skills to operate within agentic and AI-enabled workflows, and ensuring that breakthrough research moves efficiently from lab to real-world application. The panel also explored how the architecture of science is changing, how the distinction between builders and users is blurring, and how curricula, incentives, and talent pipelines must evolve to produce a workforce capable not only of generating knowledge, but of applying it responsibly while translating it into economic opportunity, workforce mobility, and broader societal impact.