By Sophia Velastegui: C200 member, AI advisor for the National Science Foundation; Former Microsoft Chief AI Technology Officer and General Manager, AI Product; former Google/Alphabet and Apple, where she partnered with multiple universities and government entities around AI and emerging technology; Board Director at Blackline (NASDAQ); and member of Georgia Tech’s President’s Board. Read more on LinkedIn.
In the not so recent past, any tech breakthrough—like the creation of the internet—was the result of close collaborations between government and academia before transitioning to commercial applications.
Today, industry giants like Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI are in the driver’s seat, leaving academia to reconsider how to prepare students for a workforce increasingly defined by AI. I’ve seen firsthand how institutions are navigating this disruption and adapting to the demands of an AI-driven future. Graduates who are trained to understand and apply AI tools—not just in technical roles but in all aspects of their careers—will be instrumental in shaping the future of work.
Some institutions are embracing this challenge head-on. Georgia Tech offers a powerful case study on how universities can align with the realities of an AI-driven world. “At Georgia Tech, our faculty contributed to the research that made AI a reality and are leading the way in incorporating AI into every field. Now we need to help students leverage these tools in their learning as they will be central in their careers after they graduate,” says Ángel Cabrera, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. From allowing students to use AI chatbots for crafting admission essays to developing a supercomputing system in collaboration with NVIDIA—the first of its kind at a U.S. university—Georgia Tech is setting the standard for how higher education can embrace AI.
Democratizing Access to AI Tools
In a groundbreaking move, NVIDIA and Georgia Tech launched the first artificial intelligence supercomputer specifically designed for student use. This initiative represents a major leap in democratizing access to supercomputing resources, which are traditionally reserved for tech giants and cutting-edge startups. By making such advanced technology accessible to students, Georgia Tech underscores the importance of equipping the next-generation workforce with the skills and tools needed to lead in the AI era.
“We believe college students of all levels should participate in the AI revolution and the many ways it is changing the world,” notes Arijit Raychowdhury, chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The AI Makerspace, powered by this supercomputer, is available to Georgia Tech’s entire student body, regardless of discipline—a departure from the norm for such high-performance resources.
To ensure inclusivity and usability, a team of 60 students from diverse fields is developing tools and interfaces to simplify access. Their projects include StudyBuddy, an AI-powered tutoring system, and a virtual assistant chatbot, both aimed at helping peers make the most of the Makerspace’s capabilities.
“Just as it is important to have access to supercomputing resources, it is also important to have faculty with the expertise to provide guidance, AI-integrated curriculum, and research opportunities for students,” explains Raychowdhury.
Georgia Tech’s AI Makerspace serves as a pioneering model for how universities can break down barriers to advanced computing. By putting world-class AI technology in the hands of students, it ensures that the workforce of tomorrow is ready to shape the future of AI across industries.
Creating Interdisciplinary AI Expertise
Faculty across all fields are encouraged to update their curriculum with AI in mind, supported by teaching grants that incentivize creative uses of the AI Makerspace in courses. This initiative reinforces the larger trend that emphasizes that just as business strategy is AI strategy, the same holds true for education and upskilling.
To make AI education truly inclusive, Georgia Tech offers an AI minor open to all majors. Whether business students are exploring AI’s transformative role in finance or humanities majors are analyzing linguistic data, the program ensures that students from diverse backgrounds can integrate AI knowledge into their chosen fields.
Georgia Tech has also doubled down on its commitment to interdisciplinary AI education through significant investment in its AI Makerspace. Since its launch, the Institute has expanded the Makerspace’s computing capacity from 160 GPUs to more than 300, enabling even greater access for students. This focus on accessibility is paying off: during the Fall 2024 semester alone, the Makerspace delivered over 215,000 hours of GPU usage, a value exceeding $1 million if sourced externally through cloud services.
This interdisciplinary approach is yielding results on a national scale. A JLL report highlighted that the university graduated more AI professionals last year than any other U.S. institution. “The AI revolution is impacting every facet of our society and jobs,” says Raychowdhury. “Georgia Tech is proving that students are poised to be a part of that.”
Student-Driven AI Solutions: Shaping the Future
Georgia Tech’s AI Makerspace is already empowering students to tackle real-world challenges in healthcare, energy, and transportation, building a workforce ready to lead in an AI-driven world.
One standout project, PatchPals, developed by biomedical engineering students, uses injury images to automate foam cutting for wound care. Traditionally a manual process, PatchPals allows nurses to photograph a wound, outline it, and have the device cut foam to precise dimensions. “With the resources of the AI Makerspace, we were not only able to successfully train the model, but it was also much faster than if we had to use publicly available methods,” explains PatchPals team member Aya Samadi.
In the energy sector, students are addressing the sustainability challenges of AI. With data centers projected to consume nearly 10% of U.S. energy by the end of the decade, students are developing a digital twin of the AI Makerspace to analyze its energy consumption and environmental impact. “We essentially have a cutting-edge AI data-center testbed at our fingertips,” Assistant Professor Divya Mahajan points out. “It’s all-hands-on deck to solve these critical AI efficiency and sustainability problems. Students will be significantly impacted by these challenges, so they should be at the forefront of finding solutions.”
Students are also driving innovations in automotive technology, designing AI algorithms to improve the sustainability, safety, and performance of autonomous and electric vehicles. “Students want to deploy AI to improve the well-being of all humans,” noted Professor Ghassan AlRegib.
Upskilling for an AI-Driven World
AI is no longer a specialized skill; it has become a foundational tool for success in nearly every career. Programs that embed AI across disciplines ensure that students, regardless of their field of study, can understand and leverage this transformative technology.
Upskilling programs, such as Georgia Tech’s executive education offerings and similar initiatives at institutions like MIT, Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon, enable business leaders and their teams to stay ahead in an AI-driven world. These programs provide the tools to use AI’s potential for streamlining operations, enhancing decision-making, and solving complex challenges.
The impact on the business world is evident as these programs produce an AI-native workforce equipped with the technical expertise, interdisciplinary perspectives, and problem-solving abilities needed to drive the next wave of transformation. This new talent pool, combined with ongoing learning opportunities for existing employees, ensures that organizations are prepared to innovate, adapt, and thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace.
The collaboration between academia and industry is not just building better tools—it’s shaping a smarter, more agile workforce. Businesses that embrace this intersection of education and AI will be better positioned to address global challenges and thrive in a tech-driven world.
