What does it take to lead a university through the AI transformation?

Recorded live at AI4 2026 in Las Vegas, Sanjay Puri speaks with Dr. Lin Zhou, CIO and Executive Director of AI & Quantum Computing at Texas Tech University, about his vision for the CIO 3.0 and how AI is reshaping higher education, research, technology, and the future of work.

Dr. Zhou explains how the CIO role is evolving from providing IT support to becoming a strategic leader of institutional transformation. He shares how Texas Tech is using AI capabilities across teaching, learning, research, and business processes while balancing privacy, security, governance, and cost. 

The conversation also explores AI agents in higher education, hybrid AI infrastructure, open-source versus proprietary models, token costs, AI governance, and why universities need to rethink what education means when AI can increasingly handle knowledge-based tasks.

Dr. Zhou argues that education must go beyond knowledge transfer to teach students how to learn, work with others, and develop the human skills that remain essential in an AI-driven world. 

In this episode:

  • What CIO 3.0 means in the age of AI
  • How AI is transforming higher education
  • AI agents across teaching, research, and university operations
  • Building a hybrid AI environment with private and commercial models
  • Balancing AI privacy, security, and token costs
  • Open-source AI vs. proprietary AI models
  • How universities should choose the right AI model
  • AI governance and enterprise access to AI
  • Build vs. buy in the age of generative AI
  • Why business and technology leaders must work together
  • The skills students need in an AI-driven workforce
  • Why soft skills and teamwork matter more than ever
  • The future of the CIO role
  • Why critical AI decisions still require human oversight

Whether you’re a CIO, Chief AI Officer, CTO, university leader, educator, researcher, student, or enterprise technology executive, this conversation offers a practical perspective on leading AI transformation while keeping people at the center.

 

Recorded live at AI4 2026 in Las Vegas by Knowledge Networks.

 

Chapters:

00:00 AI, students and the future of work

00:22 Meet Dr. Lin Zhou, CIO of Texas Tech University

01:27 What is CIO 3.0?

03:40 How AI is transforming organizations

05:50 Rethinking the value of higher education

07:00 Teaching students how to learn in the AI era

08:00 AI agents at Texas Tech

08:45 Building a hybrid AI infrastructure

09:40 Managing AI token costs

10:30 AI governance and enterprise access

12:00 The rise of open-source AI models

13:30 Why universities are hosting private AI models

14:30 How researchers choose the right AI model

15:30 The economics of AI for universities

16:00 Security and privacy for open-source AI

16:40 Redesigning workflows around AI agents

18:00 Can universities replace SaaS with AI-built software?

19:00 The hidden costs of building your own software

20:30 Build vs. buy: The CIO 3.0 approach

22:00 Business and technology leaders working together

23:00 Why CIO 3.0 starts with people

24:30 The technical and soft skills students need

26:00 Why teamwork matters in the AI era

27:00 Remote work and building human relationships

28:30 From IBM Watson Education to Texas Tech

30:30 Lightning Round: AI agents, data and Texas Tech

31:30 What should AI—and humans—be trusted to decide? 

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