GenAI Strategy

Timothy Chester

I started my IT career in 1997, just a few years after the Internet transformed everything—creating unprecedented opportunities for universities and launching careers for people like me. Back then, I was the go-to problem solver, the one called when legacy systems—monolithic and difficult to integrate—needed quick Internet-enabled solutions. I had great mentors—Steve Williams, Tom Putnam, and Pierce Cantrell—who taught me that success in IT isn’t just about technology; it’s about vision, long hours and hard work, and “sweating the details” together. Now, nearly 30 years later, it’s my turn to mentor and support hundreds of IT professionals through the next major transformation: Generative AI. There’s no doubt that GenAI will be even more socially, economically, and structurally disruptive for higher education than the Internet itself—but that doesn’t mean every institution should rush in and try everything for fear of being behind. In today’s Dispatch, I break down how universities should approach GenAI strategically—where it makes sense to invest, and where being prudent is the smarter move.