A staff member smiles and assists a fellow colleague as they check-in for Empower, an annual event hosted by Enterprise Technology.

ASU Empower 2025 digs deep into the intersection of humanity and technology

Joycelyn Muñoz

May 27, 2025

“AI is delivering value here at ASU, and the journey has just begun,” said Lev Gonick, chief information officer at ASU Enterprise Technology, as he opened at Empower, ASU’s professional IT community day.

The day-long event featured insights from ASU teams as they showcased technological advancements, particularly in AI, highlighting innovation in emerging technology over the past year. The goal of the event was for experts to dissect the intersection of humanity and technology.

“One of the things that President Crow always says,” Gonick said, “is just how important it is to have an abundance mindset that really differentiates ASU from so many other universities and colleges in the country.”

The “abundance mindset” was emphasized throughout the panel discussion, highlighting the resilience among ASU’s technology community. The event showcased successful technology applications at ASU, discussing the convergence of human-centered analysis and AI technology. The panel included two ASU school deans discussing the intersections of creativity, scholarship, and innovations in AI.

“The first technology that humans really had was really just stone,” said Jeffery Cohen, dean of Humanities for The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. “This can break things down, or build something up…that's the choice we always face with technology.”

Cohen emphasized the crossover between creativity and scholarship among students, underscoring the necessity of embracing emerging technology as students incorporate it into their work.

“The human in the loop, or the idea of humans as part of the more recent technological change around AI,” echoed Renee Cheng, senior vice provost for the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts.

As AI use is seen growing in multiple industries, including the humanities and liberal arts, Cheng highlighted the demand for people who know how to use those AI tools, particularly over incoming workers with little to no AI experience.

“And so, how do you get students to embrace that and use it inventively?” Cheng asked. “How do we go about creating a kind of balance around impactful uses, and how do we support our students? I think right now, it’s supporting experimentation and exploration.”

For IT experts and community members at Empower, embracing innovations in learning and using technology as a partner is key to successful enterprises. Rather than fearing AI, finding meaningful ways to utilize the latest in AI technology to supplement projects and reach goals has been the primary objective of several ASU teams.

See below for photos from 2025 Empower. All photos by Tabbs Mosier, ASU Enterprise Technology.

From ideation to implementation, to impact, these were the showcased AI projects emerging from various ASU teams:

AI patient personas with ASU Health | Presented by Roger Kohler and Mansi Patel, ASU Enterprise Technology
Interactive AI-enabled avatars created in the university’s MyAI Builder offer engaging interactions with medical students, allowing them to diagnose health issues and implement communication protocols. In the future, the patient persona will also evaluate the interaction with feedback for the student.

O.S.C.A.R | Presented by Alana Levine, director of the FDM FM Administration
The interactive waste-sorting assistant that spots what you're holding and shows you which bin – waste, recycling, etc. – should be used. The digital tool is being rolled out across the ASU campus in the coming weeks.

Meet Parky, ASU’s agentic AI | Presented by Frank Montoya and Michael Blimbaum, ASU Enterprise Technology
Working with Salesforce, ASU units collaborated to design an AI agent that allows ASU users to self-serve through an AI-enabled experience. “Parky” offers 24/7 customer engagement through an AI-driven communication tool. The agent is available on the parking and transportation website and has had an 81% success rate since its release. Learn more.

AI for all | Presented by Laura Hosman, SolarSPELL, and Dan Munnerley, ASU Enterprise Technology
SolarSPELL is a curated, localized library meant to teach internet-ready skills to communities without access to the internet, supplemented by EDge AI’s small language model available on offline, small devices. Learn more.

Hear from these presenters on how they are wrapping AI around the campus and student experience.

The day wrapped up with a Sparktank Showdown, where over 30 teams presented new AI ideas - from employee companions to autonomous research agents. Two teams took home the top prize for their AI innovation ideas. This included:

Team “Top Gun”

Melvin Torres Pereira
Ben Bailey
Kyana Afshari Mirak

Team “Elite Eleven Plus”

Tanya Barron
Michael Kong
Grace Barbee
Korrie Brown Gernert
Justin O'Daniel
Cole Streeper
Jenelle Blackwell
Claud Archie
Kaleb Armstrong
Morgan Plauk
Zella Muro
Cali Martell
Paul Stoll
Alison Wachs

At the intersection of humanity and technology, ASU IT experts have come together to discuss the future of student learning and innovation at ASU. The consensus: embrace emerging technology and ensure humanity is injected into each project.

“Yes, students are using AI,” Cohen said. “And we're going to teach them to use it well.”