Episode Summary
In this episode, Mark Roman and Carlos Thomas from Info-Tech break down the enrollment cliff, AI disruption, and cultural skepticism hitting Higher Ed - and why the CIO is the one best positioned to lead through it.
Featuring
Mark Roman is Managing Partner for the Education Business at Info-Tech Research Group - supporting universities, colleges, and K-12 institutions around the world, and a self-described electric guitar player (results may vary).
Carlos Thomas is an IT Executive Consultant at Info-Tech Research Group, entering his fifth year - a former CIO and university administrator with 21 years in Higher Ed, and who checked off his bucket list item of running a 1,600-pound-capacity barbecue operation before Info-Tech pulled him back in.
Timestamps
(1:45) What CIOs are excited about in Higher Ed - the question that flips the conversation
(3:20) AI, Agentic AI, and Bloom's Taxonomy - why the CIO is becoming a campus leader
(5:00) The CIO as technology-informed COO - Carlos on the elevation of the role
(6:30) The enrollment cliff and South Africa - how demographics are reshaping institutions worldwide
(9:00) CIO to COO - why the person who sees everything is the one who should run the organization
(11:00) The diplomat skillset - navigating faculty politics and getting things done
(13:00) The "edu-pocalypse" - DOGE, the Department of Education, and cultural skepticism toward Higher Ed
(15:00) AI token data - two-thirds of all AI tokens are being consumed in education
(19:00) The podcast topics they'd love to do next - students and responsible AI
Listen now: YouTube x Apple x Spotify
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