Agenda

The 2026 Notre Dame AI Forum brings higher education technology leaders, faculty, and staff together for two days of talks, peer-led discussions, and hands-on work. All sessions take place at the Morris Inn unless noted.

The agenda is still taking shape. Additional sessions and presenters will be announced as they are confirmed, and times are subject to change.

Monday, November 16

  • 7:30–9:30 p.m. · Morris Inn

    Welcome Reception

Tuesday, November 17

  • 7:00–8:00 a.m. · Morris Inn

    Breakfast and Registration

  • 8:00–8:15 a.m. · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Welcome

  • 8:15–9:15 a.m. · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Keynote

    Keynote speaker to be announced.

  • 9:15–10:00 a.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Personas Over Policies: What Actually Moves AI Adoption on Campus

    Emily Laird

    UW-Stout Polytechnic

  • 10:00–10:15 a.m.

    Break

  • 10:15–11:30 a.m. · Panel discussion · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Peer-Led Discussion: AI Governance

    Damian Doyle

    Deputy CIO, University of Virginia

    Jack Robbins

    AI Platform Engineer, University of Virginia

    Scott Genung

    Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and CIO, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  • 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. · Morris Inn, Salon A

    Lunch

  • 12:30–2:00 p.m. · 10-minute talks · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Lightning Round

    1. I Built a Voice Agent Without a Development Team
      Kevin Muller, Fordham University
    2. The Virtual Patient, the Real Decision
      LaKreese Johnson, Assistant Professor / Psych PA, Concordia University
    3. AI in Research Data Services: Supporting Large Dataset Publication
      Emma Jiren Wang, Library Data Strategist, Virginia Tech
    4. When AI Gets the Answer Right but the Decision Wrong: Teaching AI Judgment in Quantitative Courses
      Ashish Chandra, Illinois State University
    5. Automating Review of Faculty Appointment Packets
      Caela Kleber, Business Intelligence Specialist, University of Notre Dame
    6. More lightning talks to be announced.

  • 2:00–2:30 p.m.

    Break

  • 2:30–3:30 p.m. · Panel discussion · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Peer-Led Discussion: Cost Management and AI Impact

    Joe Buckhanan

    University of Notre Dame

    Additional panelists to be announced.

  • 3:30–4:15 p.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    AI vs. AI: Vulnerability Scanning Tools for Your Environment

    Presenters to be announced.

  • 4:15–5:00 p.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Securing Complex AI Environments

    Robbie Stricklin

    Director, Cloud and AI Security, Texas A&M University

  • 5:00–5:30 p.m.

    Break

  • 5:30–6:30 p.m. · Meet in the Morris Inn lobby

    Campus Tour

  • 6:30–8:30 p.m. · Foley’s, O’Neill Hall

    Happy Hour and Dinner

    Happy hour from 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:00 p.m.

Wednesday, November 18

  • 7:00–7:45 a.m. · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Breakfast

  • 7:45–8:00 a.m. · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Welcome Back

  • 8:00–8:45 a.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Beyond Access: Scaling AI Innovation at UW

    Wisdom Senolos

    AI Solutions Architect, University of Washington

    Jared Reimer

    Lead AI Architect, University of Washington

  • 8:45–9:45 a.m. · Peer-led discussion · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Everyone’s a Builder Now: Governing AI-Made Apps in Higher Ed

    Chas Grundy

    Senior AI Enablement Specialist, University of Notre Dame

    Shawn Munro

    TritonAI Service Owner, UC San Diego

    Chris Manly

    Program Manager, Internet2

  • 9:45–10:30 a.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Delivering Impactful AI-Enabled Innovation at Velocity

    Scott Genung

    Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and CIO, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

  • 10:30–10:45 a.m.

    Break

  • 10:45–11:30 a.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Beyond the Chatbot: Building Production-Grade Agentic AI Infrastructure

    Doug Bishop

    Director, AI Applications and Services, University of Dayton

    Rob Burghardt

    AI Systems Engineer and Architect Lead, University of Dayton

  • 11:30 a.m.–12:15 p.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    GenAI: What Research Software Engineers Want You to Know

    Christina Maimone

    Associate Director, Research Data Services, Northwestern University

  • 12:15–1:15 p.m. · Morris Inn, Salon A

    Lunch

  • 1:15–2:00 p.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    AI in Accessibility: Meeting Title II with Open Source Agents at UIC

    Blake Bertuccelli-Booth

    Assistant Director of Digital Accessibility Engineering, University of Illinois Chicago

    Jason Maslanka

    Chief Technology Officer, University of Illinois Chicago

  • 2:00–2:30 p.m. · Talk · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    From PoC to NOC: Building a Multi-Agent Network Troubleshooting Platform

    Karl Newell

    Lead Network Software Architect, Internet2

  • 2:30–2:45 p.m.

    Main Program Adjourns / Break

  • 2:45–5:00 p.m. · Workshop · Morris Inn, Salons B & C

    Peer-Led Workshop: Agentic AI

    An extended, hands-on session led by attendees for attendees. More details soon.

Past Forum Agendas