Engage 2026
Let's Level Up Together
About Engage 2026
Created to inspire growth, encourage fresh thinking and strengthen connections across our organization, Engage brings the Enterprise Technology community together for a full day of learning, collaboration and discovery. Whether you're building new skills, exploring innovative initiatives or connecting with colleagues and leaders, Engage offers valuable experiences for every attendee.
We invite you to join us for Engage 2026, Enterprise Technology's premier professional development event. Spend the day with us on Wednesday, September 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Memorial Union on ASU's Tempe campus for a welcoming day of learning, networking and collaboration in a comfortable, spacious setting.
Get Involved
New This Year: Mentor Marketplace
Put Your Work in the Spotlight
This year, Engage introduces the Mentor Marketplace, an interactive evolution of the traditional Engage Expo that gives attendees the opportunity to learn directly from the experts driving Enterprise Technology forward.
Throughout the day, attendees can join 20-minute mini masterclasses led by leaders and contributors from across Enterprise Technology portfolios. These focused sessions provide insight into the people, projects and innovations advancing Enterprise Technology's strategic priorities while supporting the ASU Charter.
Whether you're discovering a new area of interest or expanding your existing expertise, the Mentor Marketplace offers meaningful opportunities to learn, connect and grow throughout the day.
A Master of Mentoring Yourself?
Share your expertise by leading a Mini Masterclass in the new Mentor Marketplace. This interactive, speed-networking-style experience takes place in dedicated portfolio spaces, where hosts can engage attendees through live demonstrations, hands-on activities, presentations and informal discussions. Interested in leading a Mini-Masterclass? Learn more and sign up below.
Help Make the Magic Happen
Engage doesn’t just happen — it’s built by people who show up. Volunteer with us and help create an experience that sparks ideas, fuels connection, and makes real impact. Whether you’re welcoming guests, supporting sessions, or keeping the energy flowing, you’ll be at the heart of it all. Learn more at tech.asu.edu/events/event-volunteering
Join the team. Shape the experience.
Check out the Exhale Room!
All sessions Room: Graham
Conferences can be highly-stimulating, fast-paced, and mentally demanding; a designated sensory room offers a calm, comfortable space for attendees to step into and away from all the stimuli. In recognition of the diverse needs within our community, this new space is designed as a calming, inclusive environment where individuals can pause, decompress, and recharge.
A sensory room isn't just a place to sit, it is an intentionally curated environment. It features carefully selected visuals. textures, sounds, and lighting designed to help regulate sensory input. Whether someone needs a moment of quiet, a break from social stimulation, or a comforting sensory experience, this space will offer supportive tools to promote calm, focus, and emotional balance.
This is part of ASU's Enterprise Technology's ongoing commitment to creating more inclusive, accessible, and human centered experiences for every member of our community.
Programming
Agenda
| Time | Agenda Item |
| 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. | Welcome & Keynote Join us for our Welcome speech and Keynote as we share bold insights and forward thinking dialogue regarding AI. We will examine how technology and AI are shaping the next generation of teaching, learning, research and innovation and what it means for the future of higher education and society as a whole. |
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
| Breakout Sessions We are building upon our traditional Engage Expo this year by launching the Mentor Marketplace, an interactive space where participants can learn straight from the specialists driving Enterprise Technology forward. Across the event, guests can join mini masterclasses—dynamic, 30-minute sessions hosted by the leaders and pioneers behind every Enterprise Technology portfolio. These targeted educational moments provide a deep dive into the individuals and initiatives that are actively propelling our strategic goals and the broader ASU Charter. 1: 10:15 a.m. -10:45 a.m. 2: 10:55 a.m. -11:25 a.m. 3: 11:35 a.m. -12:05 p.m. |
| 12:00 p.m. - 1:20 p.m. | Lunch |
1:20 p.m. - 3:10 p.m.
| Breakout Sessions Round Two Following our lunch break, the Mentor Marketplace resumes with a brand-new lineup of afternoon sessions. Attendees can continue diving into our interactive mini masterclasses, spending 30 minutes learning directly from the Enterprise Technology specialists shaping our digital ecosystem. These afternoon blocks offer another excellent opportunity to connect with the innovators 1: 1:20 p.m. -1:50 p.m 2: 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 3: 2:40 p.m. - 3:10 p.m. |
Mentor Marketplace Master List
AI Cloud Innovation Center powered by AWS Session: 2 Room: Pima Learn about the ASU AI Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) powered by AWS! Also known as the AI CIC, the ASU Artificial Intelligence Cloud Innovation Center, powered by AWS, harnesses the capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) to help global government agencies, education institutions, and nonprofits address mission-related challenges. |
Architecting Data for an AI World Session: 3 Room: Ventana A Generative AI scanned all of the data on the internet, but it doesn't have access to the valuable information stored in databases like our Enterprise Data Warehouse. The writing is on the wall, though, and we need to plan for it. Come learn one perspective of how to enable our data for an AI world. |
Better Performance Starts with a Six-Pack Session: 1 Room: Coconino Great performance depends on more than knowledge and skills. This session introduces the HPI Six-Pack model, a practical framework for identifying barriers to performance and determining when training is the right solution—and when other approaches will have a greater impact. Leave with a new way to think about performance improvement and how ET Instructional Design and Training can help. |
Concur for ET Staff Session: 3 Room: Coconino Scared of ASU's travel system? Hate Concur? Meet with Liz to demystify the travel process. Overview of the logic of the system and specifics of how to do your travel, before, during, and after your trip. Bring your questions and your laptop if you want specific help. |
From Operational Data to Insights: How ASU’s ODS and EDW Connect the Dots Session: 1 Room: LaPaz Explore how ASU’s Operational Data Store (ODS) and Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) work together to connect data across the university. Learn how these platforms support operational data access, reporting, and analytics—turning trusted enterprise data into meaningful insights that support better decisions. |
Creating Insightful Visualizations Using Tableau Session: 2 Room: LaPaz Tips and best practices for creating visualizations in Tableau. |
Cultivating a Thriving Culture Session: 1 Room: Ventana B Enter the world of organization culture! We get the opportunity to co-create the very environment that live in everyday. You'll leave equipped with ways to cultivate a thriving culture where people, ideas, and values can flourish. |
Data Privacy Fundamentals Session: 2 Room: Ventana C Data privacy is everyone’s responsibility. This interactive session will empower you with real-world tools to keep ASU’s data safe and make you a privacy pro your team can rely on. What You’ll Learn: * Why privacy matters * Privacy regulations * Privacy in practice * ASU privacy resources |
From Prompt to App with Google Apps Script Session: 1 Room: Pima Built something useful with AI? Learn how to turn your idea into a prototype with Google Apps Script and share it with your team. |
Get to know Sun Corridor Network and ANNA Session: 2 Room: Coconino Join us to learn all about the Sun Corridor Network and its statewide mission. You will meet the team, hear about current initiatives, and have a chance to ask questions. Additionally, we will be introducing ANNA, the network problem detection, troubleshooting and resolution assistant powered by AI. |
How to Build a Daily AI Briefing Pipeline for Higher Ed and EdTech Session: 2 Room: Ventana B In this hands-on masterclass, you’ll use OpenAI Codex to build an automated daily pipeline that finds credible AI news, identifies implications for higher education and EdTech, generates a concise briefing, and updates a live dashboard. By the end, you’ll have a practical system for turning fast-moving AI developments into decision-ready intelligence. |
How to Train Your Kiro: Your Agent Isn't Dumb, It's Untrained Session: 3 Room: Ventana C Your agent isn't dumb, it's untrained — and no amount of yelling has ever fixed a dragon. Learn how steering files, skills, and context turn "that's not how we do it here" into something it already knew. |
Mentor Marketplace Master List
It's Better to Be Successful Than Right Session: 2 Room: Cochise Being right feels great. Having the best argument, the sharpest analysis, the airtight case — it's satisfying. But in a big, tangled institution, being right doesn't actually move anything forward. Getting people aligned, building trust across teams, and making the smart trade-off does. This session digs into that tension: why the instinct to win the argument can quietly sabotage the outcome, and what it looks like to choose progress over being the smartest person in the room. We'll talk about when to push and when to let go, how influence works when you don't control the org chart, and why the ""correct"" answer isn't always the useful one. Come with your own war stories about getting stuff done despite disagreement — leave with a few new ways to think about ego, influence, and actually moving things forward. |
Natural Language Query: Using AI to Get Answers and Insights From Data Session: 3 Room: Pima This will be a workshop intended to show the development of natural language query projects at ET and abroad. We will have informative media around this topic, as well as a demo for participants to see. |
Navigating ASU's Data Ecosystem: Governance, Tools, and Community Session: 3 Room: LaPaz Dani Albasha and Olli Honkkila will provide an overview of ASU's data governance and data management practices, including ASU's broader data ecosystem and the different data governance roles. The session will explore the core data platforms and tools used at ASU, including a demonstration of OpenMetadata, our centralized metadata platform. |
PivotTables: What Are They and How Can I Use One? Session: 2 Room: Ventana A A brief overview of PivotTables in Microsoft Excel; including what they are, what they can be used for, and how to use them. |
Professional Portraits with the CxC team All sessions Room: Gila Join CxC and elevate your professional portrait at this year's Engage! Refresh your headshot with a polished, high-quality photo that's perfect for LinkedIn, university profiles, conference presentations, and more. Stop by for a quick session with our professional photographer and leave with an image that helps you put your best face forward. |
Research Says: Can You Guess the Top UX Research Findings? Session: 1 Room: Ventana A A Family Feud-inspired UX game where participants work in teams to guess the most common answers from real UX research findings. Rather than asking trivia, every answer comes from actual research data, making the activity both fun and educational. |
Spot the Accessibility Barrier Session: 3 Room: Cochise Ready to move past accessibility theory? Roll up your sleeves for a fast-paced micro-workshop. We’ll analyze everyday course materials, from slides to Word docs, to hunt down hidden formatting and alt-text errors. You'll leave with the hands-on practice and confidence to fix these issues in your own materials. |
Staff Recruitment Workshop: Poppy's Path to Hire Session: 1 Room: Cochise Attendees will be placed in groups and compete against one another answering staff recruitment-related trivia questions. The team who answers the most questions right, will win a prize and gain bragging rights. These interactive sessions are not only meant to be fun, but enhance participants' understanding of the recruitment process. |
Standards and You Session: 1 Room: Ventana C |
The Momentum Engine: Inclusive Change Session: 3 Room: Ventana B The Momentum Engine reframes change management into an optimistic, human-centered discipline. This masterclass equips participants with tools for communication at every stage, collaborative design, and inclusive alignment. Expect a hands-on session where you leave ready to lead change that lasts. |
Parking Details
Parking validations will be provided, pick up validations during lunch.
The ASU Memorial Union is located at 301 E Orange St. (noted by the star) in Tempe on campus. The closest parking garage is the Apache Blvd Parking Garage.
We highly encourage using alternative transportation such as carpooling, a golf cart, ride sharing or stretching your legs for a quick walk. With school in session, the parking lots will be very full, making alternate transportation an ideal choice.
- We encourage alternative travel such as walking, carpooling or using an ASU golf cart to attend our events.
- Promote bringing your reusable water bottles to reduce single use cup usage.
- Our team only uses evergreen signage and decor which is reused each year.
- Our events work with Zero Waste & Aramark on Think Before You Throw waste awareness.
Request attendees leave lanyards behind to be reused for future events.
