Most faculty are still early in their AI journey. Yet the future is already arriving: small, self-learning AI models that power autonomous agents capable of continuous improvement, collaboration, and generating entirely new capabilities for teaching and research. This talk paints the compelling vision of where we are headed: a shift from consuming AI to building with it, from fragile trillion-line codebases to intelligent, living systems that replace much of traditional software while enabling personalized tutoring, interactive simulations, adaptive research assistants, and new forms of discovery. We explore why small, efficient models (10 to 30 times cheaper, on-device fast, privacy-first) represent the practical foundation for campus-scale agents, how self-learning agents will transform classrooms and labs, and what petri-dish environments for safe experimentation could look like. A live demonstration of projectEureka shows the foundation where this future can be built, seamlessly running custom AI models and autonomous agents across on-prem and cloud environments. Join us to be inspired and motivated to prepare your institution for the new era of building AI models and autonomous agents in teaching and research.
