AI Ready

AI Ready 2026-27 is currently underway

AI Ready Offerings at a Glance

All Campus Essentials—an opportunity to learn about and engage with nine of the most pressing topics over 12 months, structured so all areas of your campus benefit and participate.

Leading the AI Charge—a monthly working community for select campus leaders driving AI adoption, where the conversation moves from what AI is to what your institution does next.

Bot Building Cohort Sprints—3-week sprints for the super users on your campus to apply and advance their skills using AI tools.

AI Credentialing from Google (Fast-tracked with any AI Ready program)—CIC has partnered with Google for Education to provide 500 Coursera licenses at each campus, fast-tracking institutions that enroll in any of the CIC AI Ready programs through their certificate program. These licenses can be used for students, too!

All Campus Essentials Program

Audience: All campus faculty and staff (with months aimed at specific groups)
Format: Weekly 60-minute webinars featuring experts in the field

All Campus Essentials, AI Ready’s broadest program, is built for exactly that—all roles across campus. There are no limits on campus attendance in AI Ready webinars. Previously called “Program #1,” we are bringing back this tried and true program with new, relevant topics to build on the success of this learning community and webinar series. Each month, All Campus Essentials brings your institution into the most important conversations happening in higher education and AI, structured so that the right people from across your campus can join, learn, and act together. 

Sessions are held on the first three Thursdays of each month at 2:00 p.m. (ET). 

Each month centers on a new topic, announced in advance, so your campus contact can invite the right colleagues to attend. Sessions are pre-scheduled and easy to forward, making campus coordination simple. 

Each month includes three structured sessions that move from conversation to context to application: 

• Session 1—The Conversation: An expert-led overview of the month’s topic, grounding participants in what’s happening and why it matters right now 
• Session 2—Demos and Perspectives Horizon Sessions: Panels, demonstrations, and campus examples that show what AI looks like in practice in this space 
• Session 3—So What Now?: A discussion-driven session focused on implications, next steps, and how campuses like yours are advancing this work 

This structure repeats monthly, with many campuses having well over 100 staff and faculty members participate throughout the year. As in previous cohorts, there are no limits on campus attendance in AI Ready webinars. Last year, Campbell University (NC) held the record with 1,172 participants in all.

“This has been the best series of sessions I have attended on AI to date. I look forward to additional opportunities to maintain currency and glean insight from others, as well as perhaps make connections with like-minded colleagues to share developments.”

Leading the AI Charge Program

Audience: The one to three campus leaders of the AI Change conversation on campus
Format: Community of practice built around monthly topics for senior leadership

Intimate, executive community.
Breakout room with best practices.
Active guidance and conversations.

Leading the AI Charge is a monthly community of practice built for the campus leaders driving AI adoption—provosts, CIOs, AI committee chairs, and other senior administrators—ready to move from conversation into action. Each session tackles the real complexities of institutional change: governance, faculty trust, board conversations, and shifting campus culture around AI.

Topics

Sessions address the practical and strategic challenges campus leaders face, including: 

• Data Governance and Management—Building the frameworks your institution needs to use AI responsibly 
• Having the AI Conversation with Your Board—How to structure a board retreat or working session on AI strategy 
• Faculty Training and Preparation—Building professional development that actually moves the needle 
• Buying AI Software—What to evaluate, what to ask vendors, and how to make decisions your campus can stand behind 
• Advancement and AI—How to talk with donors and funders about AI investment 
• Student Concerns and Resistance—How to engage students honestly and build trust around AI use 
• AI Governance Structures—What a chief AI officer role looks like, and how institutions are structuring AI leadership
• Data, Privacy, and the Surveilled Campus—Student data rights, institutional accountability, and ethical data use 
• From Discussion to Action—Turning campus AI committees into campus AI momentum

This does not include access to the Bot Building Cohort Sprints. 

Bot Building Cohort Sprints (3-Week Sprints) 

Audience: Your campus super users (up to three individuals per campus per sprint) 
Format: Three separate sprints that allow your power AI users to build institution-level bots for actual deployment 

Most CIC campuses are currently hiring outside bot-builders, a large investment that creates long-term dependence. Bot Building Cohort Sprints are intensive three-week experiences designed for campus super users who are ready to build instead.

Each sprint brings together a cohort of super users for a focused, hands-on dive into building and deploying AI bots on campus—walking through design principles, practical use cases, and the real work of making bots functional for your institution’s specific needs.

Members of the Bot Building Cohort Sprints get access to all bots built for deployment on participant campuses.

Three sprints are offered each program year: 

• September Sprint 
• December Sprint 
• March Sprint 

Bot Building Cohort Sprints are separate from All Campus Essentials and Leading the AI Charge programs. 

BONUS: 500 AI Credentials Hosted by Google

Audience: Faculty, Staff, and/or Students 
Format: Asynchronous and at user discretion

CIC has partnered with Google for Education to provide 500 Coursera licenses at each campus, fast-tracking institutions that enroll in any of the CIC AI Ready programs through their certificate program. Signing up for any of the AI Ready programming above makes your campus eligible for this opportunity.

The Google AI for Education Accelerator is an institution-level program that provides organizations access to training, tools, and resources, along with opportunities to learn and share best practices with other colleges and universities across the country, all at no-cost. The goal is to help students and faculty gain AI skills and prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Fast-tracked to your entire campus with enrollment in any of the AI Ready programs.

AI Ready Program Leadership

Rachael Barlow

Director, Center for Faculty Career Development, Wesleyan University

Sarah Gibson

Senior Advisor, AI Ready, Council of Independent Colleges

Adam Pryor

Senior Advisor, AI Strategy and Engagement, Council of Independent Colleges

Sabrina Sturgeon

AI Adoption and Innovation Specialist, Council of Independent Colleges

Matt Trainum

Vice President for Networks and Strategic Partnerships, Council of Independent Colleges

Sponsors

AI Ready is made possible in part through the support of our program sponsors. 

For sponsorship opportunities, check out the online prospectus.

FAQ

“This was helpful. I was afraid AI would make me irrelevant as a teacher, but I can now see how I can use it to help students learn and help myself be more creative.”