As AI Changes the Workplace, CU Denver Prepares Students to Navigate What Comes Next

You don’t need to be told twice that artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the workplace. As organizations adopt new technologies, the question increasingly facing college students is not whether they will encounter AI in their careers, but how they will evaluate and use it. Now, as AI becomes more widely adopted, CU Denver is expanding opportunities for students to develop practical skills, technical knowledge, and the judgment to use the technology responsibly.

For Provost Karen Marrongelle, PhD, building AI fluency is part of CU Denver’s obligation to students so they can be prepared not only for today’s workforce, but for a lifetime of learning and adaptation. “The future of AI will not be shaped by technology alone,” Marrongelle said. “It will be shaped by people who ask thoughtful questions, bring different perspectives to complex challenges, and apply sound judgment when deciding where and how these tools should be used. Our responsibility is to give students opportunities to explore AI firsthand, learn its capabilities and limitations, and understand the impact it can have in their disciplines and communities. AI does not replace human judgment, but effective judgment depends on understanding the tools available to us.”

Preparing for Work That Is Already Changing

To give all CU Denver students an opportunity to learn, explore, and engage in AI, three units came together to create the Artificial Intelligence Hub (AI Hub) in North Classroom. The AI Hub, which opens on Oct. 7, began as an initiative within the College of Engineering, Design and Computing (CEDC) and was developed in collaboration with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and the Office of Information Technology (OIT), with philanthropic support from the Clarence V. LaGuardia Foundation. Programming will include applied AI learning experiences, interdisciplinary collaborations, student innovation projects, workshops, and hackathons.

By bringing people from across CU Denver together, the AI Hub will give students and the broader university community a place to test ideas, learn from one another, and explore where AI can meaningfully contribute. More than responding to a changing technological landscape, it creates a place for the CU Denver community to participate thoughtfully in shaping what comes next.

The AI Hub is the newest way CU Denver is providing hands-on opportunities for students to learn about AI and how it can be used to solve real-world problems. Industry-informed curricula have long given CU Denver students the knowledge and hands-on experience they need to enter the workforce ready to contribute. AI is no different. Here are a few examples of how different disciplines are helping students explore and engage with AI.

Across campus, disciplines are approaching AI through their own questions and challenges. In CEDC, students can pursue a graduate certificate in advanced AI or an AI and data science track within the master of science in computer science. Both go beyond learning the latest tools and explore how AI systems work and how they are designed, evaluated, and applied to complex, real-world problems.

The Business School has also evolved its programs, introducing a major in business intelligence and AI, and updating existing offerings, including its information systems specialization and master’s program in business analytics and artificial intelligence. These changes build on years of work in information systems and business analytics rather than simply responding to the recent rise of generative AI.

CLAS launched an undergraduate certificate in AI and communication in fall 2026 focused on creative and ethical communication in AI-mediated environments. The Department of Philosophy for the first time is offering a course called The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in which students are exploring what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence.

In the College of Architecture and Planning (CAP), Assistant Professor Louise Cheetham Bordelon incorporated an assignment in her Graphic Media in Landscape Architecture course this semester. Called “beat the bot,” the assignment encourages debate and considerations of AI use in the classroom and beyond. Students are provided a series of requirements for a graphic design. They can choose whether to use AI or not to create the design and then discuss which designs were the best and if AI helped or hindered creativity. Discussion about the ethics of using AI for image generation is part of the assignment.

Together, these efforts reflect a larger shift: AI is no longer the domain of a single academic discipline. Its applications and implications extend across many of the professions CU Denver students are preparing to enter.

Solving Problems Beyond the Classroom Through Research

AI is also changing how CU Denver faculty and students conduct research, opening new ways to analyze complex information and solve real-world problems.

CEDC research teams helped develop BioNeuralNet, an open-source tool that uses artificial intelligence to analyze complex biological data and identify connections that could help advance precision in medicine. The tool allows researchers to better understand how biological factors interact in disease, potentially leading to more tailored diagnosis and treatments for individual patients.

In chemistry, Professor Scott Reed won first place in an AI pitch competition for ChemIllusion, a tool designed to help students, educators, and researchers create molecular structures, chemistry figures, and other scientific visuals.

Professor Geeta Verma in the School of Education & Human Development (SEHD) has been researching how AI can support the recognize learning and competencies developed through lived and experiential learning. Verma and her team have published their findings in several peer-reviewed journals and have shared what they’ve discovered at various national conferences. The work demonstrates how AI can help recognize learning gains through hands-on experiences and the central role human judgment plays.

Other projects are moving from university research into communities. Computer science and engineering PhD student Brian Zavareh and Associate Professor Farnoush Banaei-Kashani have developed InfraSmart Solutions, which uses machine learning to identify defects in sewer-line inspection videos. Their model can analyze five hours of footage in less than 30 minutes, identifying defects with more than 85% accuracy.

Through their research, the team has since developed a startup to explore potential municipal pilot projects. The project demonstrates another dimension of AI education: identifying a problem, determining where AI can add value, and translating technical knowledge into a practical solution.

AI is the latest tool, which is evolving at an incredibly fast pace. Graduates will enter careers in which new technologies will continually reshape how problems are solved and how work gets done. Knowing how to use AI today can help graduates entering the workforce or furthering their study in graduate programs. Knowing how to evaluate its use and decide where it adds value is the true skill that will help graduates remain competitive as industries evolve.

For CU Denver, preparing students for an AI-enabled workforce is ultimately part of a larger commitment to career readiness in an era of constant technological change. No university can predict every platform, model, or application that will define the next decade. But, CU Denver can prepare its students to adapt and harness new technologies to meet their moment and define their journey.

Brogan Boles, Julia Cummings, Alexander Freedman, and Carmen New contributed to this report.