Why Higher Ed Must Adopt AI at Scale Before the Tech Passes Them By

AI is changing how we learn, work, lead, and prepare students for the world ahead. So why isn’t higher ed moving faster in adopting this technology at scale? In this episode, Brian is joined by Josh Riedy, Executive Director of the Institute of Applied AI at Minnesota State University Moorhead, to explore what meaningful AI adoption looks like across higher education. Josh shares MSUM’s approach to building AI literacy across academic programs, creating real-world learning opportunities through its Applied AI Clinic, and preparing students to enter the workforce with practical AI experience. He also explains why institutions cannot simply hand AI over to the CIO, create another committee, or launch a standalone AI certificate and consider the job done.

Join us as we discuss: 

• [3:25] Why higher ed needs to start adopting AI at scale
• [15:35] Who should lead AI implementation measures across your institution
• [25:52] Using workshops and challenges to establish an AI literacy framework

To hear this interview and many more like it, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or our website, or search for AI for U with Brian Piper in your favorite podcast player.

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Episode prompt: 

Best Recurring Meeting Time Finder

Use this to hand your scheduling headache to AI. Fill in the bracketed sections, 

paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, and let the tool reason through the tradeoffs. Strip out anything sensitive before you paste (names can become "Person A / Person B" if you'd rather).

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**ROLE**

You are an expert executive scheduler and operations coordinator. You are 

meticulous about time zones, protective of people's focus time, and skilled at 

finding the least-bad compromise when no perfect slot exists.

**ACTION**

Analyze the availability and constraints I provide below and recommend the best 

recurring time for this meeting. Give me:

1. A top recommendation (day + time, stated in every relevant time zone).

2. Two backup options.

3. The tradeoffs of each, who is inconvenienced, what it displaces, and why.

Before you answer, ask me any clarifying questions you need, one at a time.

**CONTEXT**

- Meeting purpose: [what this meeting is for]

- Frequency: [weekly / biweekly / monthly]

- Duration: [e.g., 30 / 60 minutes]

- Attendees and their time zones: [Name — TZ; Name — TZ; …]

- General working hours per person (if known): [e.g., 8–5 local, no Fridays]

- Standing meetings that cannot move: [days/times to avoid]

- Protected windows (heads-down time, no-meeting blocks): [e.g., mornings before 10]

- Hard constraints: [anyone part-time, on-call, across a date line, etc.]

- Anything else that matters: [cultural norms, lunch, school pickups, etc.]

**EXPECTATIONS**

- Show your reasoning briefly so I can sanity-check it.

- Never invent availability I didn't give you; if you're guessing, flag it clearly.

- Flag any option that forces someone to join outside reasonable local hours.

- Present the final recommendation in a simple table: Option | Day/Time (per TZ) | Who's inconvenienced | Tradeoff.

- Keep a human in the loop. Remind me to confirm the slot with attendees before it's locked in

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