Before the Conference, We Opened Our Doors – and the World Walked In

Some of the best moments don’t happen at the conference. They happen the day before.

Yesterday, we had the privilege of hosting leaders from 10 Australian universities, along with colleagues from Microsoft, here on the Tempe campus. It was an informal day by design — connection first, exploration second — and it delivered on both.

The group made two stops that we think capture something important about where ASU is heading.

First, Dreamscape Learn — one of the most compelling examples anywhere of what immersive, VR-based education can look like when it’s built with genuine pedagogical intent. If you haven’t experienced it, it’s hard to describe. Our Australian visitors didn’t need much convincing.

Then they came to us at Next Lab, where we shared what our student guilds have been building: EdgeAI prototypes designed to run without internet connectivity, tools built for classrooms and communities that the cloud doesn’t reliably reach. The conversations were direct and generative — these are leaders thinking seriously about the same problems we are, from a different part of the world.

Tomorrow more than 600 global education and industry leaders will gather to do something we think higher education needs more of: honest, forward-looking conversation about what AI actually means for students, for institutions, and for the communities we serve.

If you want to learn more about the conference and what’s on the agenda, you can find details here: Agentic AI and the Student Experience →

Next Lab is ASU’s applied AI and innovation lab, housed within ASU Enterprise Technology. We build tools, prototypes, and partnerships that advance AI equity, access, and education — locally and globally.