AI across campus: Innovative TIGER Tech Leaders group gaining momentum

An expanding community of practice featuring Auburn University faculty, staff and students is driving innovation in the artificial intelligence (AI) world for all involved.

TIGER Tech Leaders (TTL) — which stands for Technology, Innovation, Growth, Efficiency and Results — is a collection of various university constituents gaining momentum as an innovative thought-leadership force in the AI space.

With more than 800 members and counting, TTL is impacting Auburn’s implementation of the ever-evolving technology both in and out of the classroom. Through highly participatory conversations and information-sharing sessions on Microsoft Teams designed to maximize AI’s uses and potential, the group is working to streamline business processes and improve efficiency.

Administered through the Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning and subsidized through the Mission Enhancement Fund, TTL was born from the university’s Microsoft 365 Copilot Beta Program that launched in spring 2024.

Auburn University's Tiger Tech Leaders has grown to more than 800 members in a little more than a year and is making an impact across campus.

Moriah Kent, an instructional designer for Auburn Human Resources and an AI implementation specialist with the Biggio Center, oversees the Tiger Tech Leaders community.

Previous Next

By providing staff, faculty and students with ways to learn new skills and receive training that will improve the quality of their work while lessening their cognitive load, the program is looking to equip members with an organized array of best practices to address their needs and priorities. Participants help each other troubleshoot problems and better navigate their way to successful uses and implementations of generative AI tools.

Moriah Kent, an instructional designer for Auburn University Human Resources and an AI implementation specialist with the Biggio Center, oversees the TTL program and community.

“It’s a high-impact, highly collaborative community space,” she said. “Providing clarity and best practices around AI has been a big benefit. People are able to pose questions and get them answered almost immediately, instead of sending an email into the void. The group is very community-driven and taking on a life of its own organically.”

The program features participants from 203 departments and 36 divisions across campus and functions naturally as a dynamic space in which members can discuss anything AI-related they encounter on a regular basis. Not only does the group meet biweekly for short tutorials, presentations and demonstrations, but members are encouraged to interact as often as possible.

TTL is the latest example of Auburn’s role as an AI innovator in academia.

“As an institution, we are much further ahead and better-prepared for the AI future compared to where we were a year ago because of the TIGER Tech Leaders program,” said Asim Ali, executive director of the Biggio Center. “I continue to think that the impact of AI will be greater on higher education outside the classroom, in terms of our business processes. The way to be ready for that is to make sure our professional staff and faculty understand how to use the AI tools so they’re able to make their work as efficient as possible.

Related content

AI across campus: Faculty implementations leading curriculum advancement

Numerous Auburn University faculty members have implemented artificial intelligence (AI) into their classrooms in unique and innovative ways.

“The university is uniquely placed — and there are maybe only one or two others I know of — where we have a strategic and dedicated effort on up-skilling all our professional employees on understanding how to use generative AI and the technological tools we have in an organic way. To me, the organic growth is the best part. It’s energizing to see colleagues from across campus engaging with each other.”

Program leaders incorporate instruction and expertise from industry partners like Microsoft to provide guidance and tips on how best to use the AI tools.

“Our Microsoft partners are there to help because they know what is on the Microsoft roadmap, so they can tell us what’s coming, share helpful prompts for folks and provide some training as well,” Kent said. “Recently, we had someone from Microsoft do an hour-long session about how to use Copilot in Excel. So, people who are interested in using AI in specific Microsoft applications can get that hands-on experience, ask questions and share troubleshooting issues.”

Kent, who says Auburn consistently outperforms the Microsoft Global Benchmarks across all metrics, routinely collects survey data from TIGER Tech Leaders to gauge their most pressing needs and desires.

“Most people say that Copilot helps improve their quality of work, helps them spend less mental energy on certain tasks, helps them complete projects faster and be more productive,” said Kent, who reported that 92% of TTL members reported that Copilot has significantly changed how they approach work.

“They feel it allows them to learn new skills and that they have extra time in their day because of Copilot. The No. 1 response is that, with the time saved, they’re able to take on more work.”

Group members are encouraged to offer feedback that guides the future direction of the program.

“The topics we do for TIGER Tech Leaders are community suggestions,” Kent said. “Anything we don’t address will get addressed naturally within the community or at our next meeting. We have had really good and steady high attendance, so people are showing up and getting a lot out of it.”