About the Episode
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About the Episode:
In this premiere episode of the 2026 season, Dustin welcomes back Taran Lent, now CTO of the soon to be rebranded Illumia (formerly Transact + CBORD), for a candid conversation about the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation in higher ed. They dig into the rationale behind the rebrand, the creation of the Higher Ed Innovation Index report, and how institutions can sustainably modernize their operations while staying student-centric.
From embracing AI to fostering digital upskilling, Taran offers grounded advice from the frontlines of transformation—advice shaped by both internal change and direct collaboration with campuses nationwide.
Listen to Taran’s previous episode on the podcast here!
Key Takeaways
- Digital transformation in higher education is less about tools and more about leadership vision, strategic alignment, and cross-campus buy-in.
- Transact (soon to be Lumia) launched the Higher Ed Innovation Index to benchmark institutional innovation and guide digital strategy across campuses.
- AI in higher education is delivering tangible results by automating “high toil, low joy” work, freeing up staff to focus on more strategic initiatives.
- Leadership buy-in and upfront clarity around project goals are key to successful system modernization and digital upskilling initiatives.
- Institutions must find the balance between student-centric design and operational efficiency when modernizing systems or implementing new edtech.
- Upskilling internal teams and fostering change management is as important as the technology itself.
- AI agents and analytics platforms are emerging as powerful tools for back-end operations and real-time insights, creating new efficiencies across departments.
Episode Summary
1. What is the Higher Ed Innovation Index, and why was it created?
Transact launched the Higher Ed Innovation Index to gather data-driven insights into how institutions are managing digital transformation, modernizing tech stacks, and experimenting with AI. With a wide client base and years of institutional experience, the team felt a responsibility to aggregate collective wisdom and benchmark innovation across the higher ed sector. The Index helps schools evaluate their digital maturity, prioritize initiatives, and compare themselves to peer institutions—all while contributing to industry-wide progress.
2. Why is leadership buy-in critical to digital transformation?
Taran emphasized that successful transformation starts with strong leadership that clearly defines the vision, articulates what success looks like, and creates space for teams to focus. Without executive sponsorship, digital initiatives often lack the momentum and alignment needed to overcome operational inertia. Leaders play a pivotal role in establishing priorities, making trade-offs, and ensuring projects aren’t just layered on top of already maxed-out teams.
3. How should institutions approach digital upskilling?
Digital upskilling isn’t just the responsibility of IT—it’s a cross-functional effort. While tech teams may lead implementation, learning and development teams, HR, and department heads must collaborate to ensure staff can confidently adopt new tools. Upskilling also includes change management, iterative training, and sometimes, piloting tools with specific campus groups to build conviction and buy-in before scaling broadly.
4. How can schools balance operational efficiency with student-centered design?
It’s not either/or—it’s both. Institutions must approach digital experience design with a dual mandate: improve internal efficiencies while delivering modern, intuitive tools that students expect. Students, faculty, and staff all deserve streamlined systems that reduce friction. Taran shared that user experience (UX) design is a non-negotiable priority in their mobile and platform development, with iterative feedback loops driving continuous improvement.
5. Where should institutions begin their digital transformation journey?
Start with a clear, shared vision. Taran stressed the importance of foundational alignment: understanding current challenges, defining success, and building a roadmap around shared goals. Once this groundwork is laid, leaders can explore cloud migration, enterprise system upgrades, or AI enhancements with greater confidence and less resistance.
6. How is AI transforming higher education operations?
AI is delivering fast wins by targeting “high toil, low joy” tasks like reconciliation, ticket triage, or 24/7 data monitoring. Transact is building AI agents to identify operational anomalies, surface trends, and reduce manual review, freeing up institutional staff for more strategic, high-impact work. From fraud detection in payment systems to custom dashboards for campus analytics, AI isn’t just hype—it’s becoming a vital part of back-end operations.
7. What can higher ed leaders learn from enterprise-level change?
Transact’s own journey—merging with Seaboard, rebranding to Lumia, and modernizing its tech stack—mirrors many of the same challenges colleges face: integrating cultures, building scalable systems, and leading through change. Taran encouraged institutions to lean into bold change, stay transparent with stakeholders, and bring end-users into the design process early and often. It’s not about disruption for its own sake—it’s about sustainability, better service delivery, and future-proofing.
About the Show: The Higher Ed Geek Podcast explores the impact of edtech on the student experience by speaking with diverse leaders from institutions, companies, and nonprofit organizations. Each week we aim to provide an engaging, fun, and relevant dose of professional development that honors the wide range of work happening all across the higher ed ecosystem. Come geek out with us! The Higher Ed Geek Podcast is hosted by Dustin Ramsdell and is a proud member of the Enrollify Podcast Network.
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Dustin Ramsdell
Enrollify is produced by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.
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