Agentic AI: Where Autonomy Helps (and Hurts)

During this interactive, one-hour virtual session, national AI expert Dr. Robert Clougherty will lead us as we explore one of the fastest-moving (and most misunderstood) areas in the AI landscape: agentic AI and autonomous workflows.

Many of us are seeing early examples of AI agents that can complete multi-step tasks—handling requests, drafting communications, routing tickets, coordinating work across systems, and more. Done well, they can increase capacity and continuity. Done poorly, they can create risk, confusion, and governance headaches.

This won’t be a deep technical dive. It’s an organization-facing conversation about responsible autonomy: what to try, what to avoid, and how to keep people confident and in control.

We’ll explore questions such as:

• How do we establish practical boundaries on how far to let AI agents go?
• What guardrails (monitoring, approvals, escalation paths) feel realistic at your organization?
• Where would autonomous workflows create immediate value—service, operations, communications, or something else?

We hope you’ll join us as we compare approaches and learn from each other’s experiments—and lessons learned.

Agenda:

• In the News
  A quick look at AI headlines and what they might mean for higher ed.
• Topic Presentation
  A short, organization-facing frame on the month’s theme (no deep tech dives required).
• Question of the Month
  Guided discussion where you share what’s happening (or not happening yet) at your organization.
• Latest from AFIT
  Updates, resources, and opportunities from the broader AFIT community.

Who's Invited: 

AFIT's AI Community of Practice is a collaborative space where higher education professionals can share, learn, and explore how AI is transforming higher education. (You don't have to have a technical background to participate in this community.)

• AFIT community members can attend for free using the AFIT Community Member ticket. 
• Non-Members: If you aren't an AFIT member, you can access this event by registering for the Guest ticket.