ASU is building an AI-ready workforce

Through guided training and hands-on practice, ASU Enterprise Technology staff are building their own AI agents.

JOYCELYN MUÑOZ

December 15, 2025

At Arizona State University, learning is not only for students. Teams at ASU Enterprise Technology are continuously upskilling too, and the AI Essentials Training Program is one of the latest opportunities available.

The professional development initiative is designed to build AI literacy and spark innovation across teams, regardless of prior AI experience. The two hour training program offers an in-depth review of CreateAI, an AI toolkit built by ASU, for ASU. Teams also work together to build their own custom AI experience using CreateAI Builder, which rivals industry leading models.

CreateAI differs by offering increased levels of security as the toolkit is built inside ASU's digital environment. The toolkit also offers more than 40 large language models (LLMs) and does not have licensing barriers as it is already provisioned to all ASU staff and faculty.

“AI is not going away,” said Justin O’Daniell, an ASU training specialist who leads the program. “It’s here to stay. And someday, part of your resume will be the [AI] workflows you have that you’re bringing with you.”

Since the program launched in June 2025, over 500 team members from ASU Enterprise Technology have participated across more than 50 training sessions held at the Polytechnic, Downtown, West and Tempe campuses.

Building a bot on CreateAI Builder

“Why would you want to build a bot?” O’Daniell asked. Answers from the teams varied, from “for greater efficiency,” to “better optimization,” and “just to gain more knowledge.”

To start building a bot inside CreateAI Builder, users are prompted to name their project, provide a brief description and select the LLM to power their AI experience. This is one area where CreateAI Builder differs by offering over 40 LLMs – from Google Gemini, OpenAI GPT-4 and Anthropic Claude, to name a few.

Users are also required to define a set of custom instructions that will guide how the AI interacts and responds. “These are language models so we need to be precise with our language,” Daniell noted when building out the instructions.

According to O’Daniell, there are six key pieces to well-written instructions:

Define the role the bot is meant to play and the task it is meant to perform
Contextualize background information
Outline the format in which answers are provided and and what tone to use
Provide examples to use as a guide

AI to help answer ‘what’s for dinner?’

The training brought together teams across roles and functions at ASU Enterprise Technology. The first bot built in the class pulled on an everyday experience to answer the question, “What’s for dinner?”

Using the prompt best practices and customized instructions, the training class made various recipe assistant bots, each meeting different needs.

One person built their bot with specific focus on allergy requirements while another focused on creating more affordable meals. This demonstrated a bigger picture for how we can customize AI experiences to meet the unique needs of a team.

Customization can also take a creative approach – as team members personalized their bots with different tonal styles. Some participants instructed their bots to respond as if they were Shakespeare or Mr. Miyagi, while others incorporated regional dialects.

Cultivating AI-ready teams

The AI Essentials Training Program has an average satisfaction score of 4.4 out of 5, with about 90% of attendees reporting confidence in building AI experiences after participating. Looking ahead, the Enterprise Technology Affairs team is expecting to explore shorter formats and skills-based tracks in order to ensure they meet learners at their own pace.

“I can see myself using CreateAI with standard operating procedures and other standard ways of doing the job,” Victor Strayhorn said after completing the training.

Whether the team member is newly adopting AI or is fine-tuning their skills, the AI Essentials Training Program is how ASU plans on creating an AI workforce of the future.