EdTech Connect Podcast

Episode: Smart Consolidation - How Pathify Is Rewiring Campus Tech

Host: Jeff Dillon | Guest: Chase Williams, CEO & Co-Founder, Pathify

Date: July 18, 2025

Overview

This episode dives deep into the pressing challenge of fragmented digital systems in higher education. Jeff Dillon welcomes Chase Williams, CEO & Co-Founder of Pathify, a modern digital engagement platform aiming to consolidate campus technology into a single, coherent experience for students and administrators alike. The conversation explores Pathify's origin, its evolution from a traditional portal to a student engagement hub, strategic approaches to integration, best practices around digital overload, and the future of AI in campus technology.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Need for a Unified Student Portal

[02:10 - 04:07]

• Origin Story: Chase shares his experience as a student at Monash University and the inspiration for Pathify. He recalls the stark contrast between consumer app experiences (Instagram, YouTube, Spotify) and outdated, impersonal university portals.
• Observation: University portals were cluttered "link farms" that lacked real personalization and convenience, unlike consumer technology, which was easy to navigate and deeply personalized.

“We contrasted that to logging into a portal at university… presented a bunch of links to other places. And that was the tool for navigating the student experience digitally, so to speak.”
— Chase Williams [03:32]

2. Reimagining the Campus Portal: From Link Farm to Engagement Hub

[04:07 - 06:42]

• Moving Beyond Single Sign-On: Chase explains how the standard portal merely provides single sign-on access to siloed systems, but Pathify's vision is to curate and personalize information, surfacing what’s most relevant to each user.
• Personalization: The platform recognizes multiple user roles and interests, bringing tailored content (“I'm an incoming freshman in this residence hall who plays this sport, interested in Harry Potter…”).
• Integration Complexity: Early on, Pathify realized that effective personalization and consolidation would require a robust integration layer to unify fragmented systems and formats.

“Turning that experience upside down where you log in and everything is brought to you, not here's a webpage, go find it.”
— Chase Williams [04:34]

3. Combating Digital Overload

[06:42 - 08:22]

• Centralization as Solution: Surfacing relevant information through a unified dashboard reduces “rabbit holes” and “digital treasure hunts.”
• Best Practice Sharing: Pathify supports institutions by sharing guidelines to avoid over-notifying students, emphasizing a “white glove” approach to prevent users from tuning out.

“If you hand over permissions to the announcements module in our platform to too many people... you're just going to get people hammering students and they're going to turn off the notifications and leave the app.”
— Chase Williams [07:46]

4. Case Study: Meaningful Engagement & Measurable Impact

[08:22 - 10:38]

• Pacific University Example: By consolidating 29 systems into 5, including Pathify, the university significantly improved workflow and engagement. A role-based nudge for students with financial holds reduced holds by 85% year-over-year.
• Shift in Portal Evaluation: Usage was never truly lacking—it’s about driving real, measurable impact.

“It's just about centralizing and surfacing information intelligently and doing it in modern ways that consumers, end users expect and can have a really significant impact.”
— Chase Williams [10:32]

5. Uncovering Surprising Outcomes: Institutional Community Building

[10:38 - 12:26]

• Community Module Success: Despite the ubiquity of third-party messaging tools, students actively use Pathify’s institutional groups. Anecdotes include significant upticks in sports event attendance after leveraging group features within the platform.
• Unexpected Engagement: The platform’s ability to foster official, campus-wide engagement surprised even its founders.

“I'm always given how commoditized like community tools have become. That one continues to surprise me… people are actually hearing about that and going and taking action.”
— Chase Williams [11:53]

6. The Art and Science of Integrating Legacy Systems

[12:57 - 16:19]

• Single Pane of Glass: Pathify integrates numerous systems (SIS, LMS, CRM, financial aid, calendars) into one place.
• Integration Strategies: Out-of-the-box "recipes" allow quick connection to common systems. The integration layer acts as both connector and data transformer, addressing inconsistencies in legacy formats.
• Adaptability: The approach varies depending on the APIs and web services available, especially with older systems like PeopleSoft.

“The integration layer is as much a data format transformer as anything.”
— Chase Williams [15:28]

7. Looking Ahead: AI and Emerging Tech in Higher Ed

[16:19 - 18:23]

• Potential of AI Agents: Chase is bullish on task-executing AI integrated deeply with campus data. However, he cautions that reliable automation depends on accurate data and integration.
• Realistic Timelines: Multifaceted data challenges mean widespread deployment of AI campus agents is still a few years away.

“There's a lot of talk about agents in and around the space and it all comes back to the data and the ability... for those agents to operate in any reliable way.”
— Chase Williams [17:10]

8. Growth and Company Culture

[18:23 - 21:07]

• Funding and Expansion: Pathify’s recent $25M investment will power expansion into the UK/EU and further AI R&D—balanced with continued focus on customer experience and core platform development.
• Remote-Centric, People-First: As a global, remote company, Pathify emphasizes focused solo work alongside regular in-person gatherings for strategic planning and culture-building.

“I think you have kind of come to believe that you are better operationally from home... much better strategically when you're together.”
— Chase Williams [19:50]

9. Lessons for EdTech Builders and Buyers

[21:07 - 23:52]

• Building a Startup: Growth in edtech is a marathon, not a sprint—founders must persist without distraction and be cautious not to chase every shiny new opportunity.
• Vendor Selection Advice: Chase urges institutions to “always back channel”—talk to current users rather than relying solely on polished demos.

“Always back channel and speak to customers... That's what you've got to do.”
— Chase Williams [22:55]

“It's a marathon, continued dedication. Kind of a boring answer, but that's the kind of truth.”
— Chase Williams [23:41]

Memorable Quotes

• “Turning that experience upside down where you log in and everything is brought to you, not here's a webpage, go find it.”
  — Chase Williams [04:34]

• “If you hand over permissions... you're just going to get people hammering students and they're going to turn off the notifications and leave the app.”
  — Chase Williams [07:46]

• “It's just about centralizing and surfacing information intelligently and doing it in modern ways that consumers, end users expect and can have a really significant impact.”
  — Chase Williams [10:32]

• “Always back channel and speak to customers... That's what you've got to do.”
  — Chase Williams [22:55]

• “It's a marathon, continued dedication. Kind of a boring answer, but that's the kind of truth.”
  — Chase Williams [23:41]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:10] The 'why' behind Pathify and observations as a student
• [04:21] Redefining the portal: User-centric design and integration
• [06:51] Strategies to reduce digital overload
• [08:51] Pacific University case study: Real-world impact
• [10:44] Surprising student engagement stories
• [13:16] Integrating with legacy systems: Nuances and best practices
• [16:32] AI and the future of campus engagement
• [18:32] Growth investment: International expansion and product vision
• [19:40] Building and maintaining company culture in a remote workplace
• [21:27] Early lessons from building and scaling an edtech company
• [22:55] Advice for institutions evaluating vendors
• [23:41] Words of wisdom for aspiring edtech founders

Conclusion

This episode offers a comprehensive exploration of how ‘smart consolidation’ through platforms like Pathify can drastically improve the digital experience for students and staff. Chase Williams’ candid reflections, grounded advice for both institutional leaders and entrepreneurs, and practical case examples provide valuable insights for anyone navigating the rapidly evolving higher education technology landscape.

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