Lean Meets AI: Designing Practical AI Assistants for Higher Education Workflows (Separate registration is required.)

Many higher education professionals are experimenting with AI tools but struggle to translate that experimentation into practical, repeatable workflows. In this interactive workshop, participants will learn how to identify meaningful opportunities for AI within their work and build task-specific AI assistants to support those activities. Using simple Lean process improvement principles, participants will first examine a current workflow to identify where AI can add value. Through live demonstrations and guided activities, attendees will then build a functional AI assistant and test prompts that support real work such as drafting communications, summarizing documents, or analyzing materials. Participants will leave with both a working assistant and a repeatable approach for identifying and implementing additional AI-supported workflows within their teams.

Outcomes of this workshop:

• Analyze a current workflow using simple Lean principles to identify steps where AI assistance could meaningfully improve efficiency, clarity, or decision-making. 
• Design and build a functional AI assistant by defining a clear use case, writing effective instructions, and testing prompts that guide the assistant to produce reliable outputs. 
• Identify opportunities to introduce AI assistants within teams and departments while recognizing institutional considerations such as governance, data sensitivity, and responsible experimentation.

Note: Participants who successfully complete this preconference workshop will be eligible to receive an EDUCAUSE microcredential. To earn this digital badge, you must complete a brief workshop evaluation and share two key learning outcomes from your experience. All registered participants will receive an email on October 5 with instructions for completing these steps. Completion of both is required. To learn how to accept and make the most of your microcredential, visit the EDUCAUSE Microcredential website.