NVIDIA AI Podcast

Episode 275: AI Everywhere – How San José State University Empowers Students and Educators

Host: Noah Kravitz (A)
Guest: Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson (B), President of San José State University
Date: September 24, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode spotlights the transformative integration of AI and advanced technology at San José State University (SJSU), situated at the heart of Silicon Valley. Dr. Cynthia Teniente-Matson, SJSU's first Latina president, shares her vision for leveraging AI to empower students, educators, and the wider community. The conversation delves into AI literacy, inclusive leadership, workforce readiness, ethical challenges, digital innovation like avatars and digital twins, and fostering business incubation—all with a steadfast commitment to social good.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Dr. Teniente-Matson's Journey and Vision

• Background: Dr. Teniente-Matson, a Texas native and first-generation college graduate, discusses her return to California and leadership at SJSU during a period of rapid technological advancement sparked by AI, notably ChatGPT’s emergence.
  • “For me to come forward in the new leadership role, there was a lot of dynamic issues... But from a curricular perspective, really ensuring that we understood our role in this catalytic geography has driven the vision for institutional priorities and continued academic program growth.” [02:30]
• Institutional Recognition: SJSU recently achieved high national rankings for engineering and tech programs, reflecting its proximity and partnerships within Silicon Valley.
  • “The Wall Street Journal named San Jose State the number four public university in the US... Codesignal recently ranked our university software engineers amongst the best, beating out some of the private universities in the region.” [02:58]

Representation and Accessible Leadership

• Leading as the First Latina President: Dr. Teniente-Matson speaks candidly about serving as a role model and maintaining high visibility and accessibility on campus.
  • “I think about the significance of being a visible role model for all students, but particular students who might identify with my ethnic or gender or background or experiences... You have to see it to be it.” [05:35]
• Community Engagement: She prioritizes direct interaction with students of all backgrounds, reinforcing belonging and possibility through presence at diverse campus events and organizations.
  • “...the executive director said to me, ‘you're the only president that has ever come to our agency.’” [06:40]

Rethinking the University Model for the AI Era

• Pace of Change: AI’s rapid evolution necessitates reimagining educational models and curricula.
  • “The rapid adaptation of the AI products that are intersecting with our work and our personal lives is faster than anything we've seen before... The acceleration of the new tools and then the acceleration of the technology that's making problem solving happen even faster...” [08:30]
• AI Literacy for All: SJSU embeds AI development and literacy into student orientation and across disciplines—from engineering to education and the arts.
  • “Ensuring every student at the point of entry has AI development and literacy in their orientation... building in the ability to learn and use tools into their first experience.” [08:48]
• Ethics and Responsible Use: Active efforts are underway to address the balance between embracing AI and safeguarding against misuse (e.g., cheating, plagiarism).
  • “We're wrestling with how do we ensure ethically, socially responsible use into the curriculum... That's the tension point that we're experiencing as a country, as a society and also in our classrooms.” [12:52]

Campus Innovation: Avatars, Digital Twins, and AI Tools

• AI Avatars and Custom GPTs: Dr. Teniente-Matson uses AI tools personally and institutionally, including a multilingual AI avatar to increase communication access and a custom GPT for productivity.
  • “I wanted to be, as I said earlier, accessible, more accessible. So the Avatar can speak 125 languages. I cannot.” [17:10]
• Tool Adoption & Partnerships: SJSU built a system-wide partnership with OpenAI, providing access to ChatGPT and promoting peer-to-peer faculty training and innovative use cases.
  • “The California State University entered into a system-wide partnership with OpenAI and every student, faculty member and staff has access to chatgpt.edu... I use some of the other tools, use different tools for different reasons.” [17:55]
• Student and Faculty Engagement: Both groups use AI for a wide array of needs—writing, research, modeling, study aids—while emphasizing critical skills like referencing and validation.
  • “There are some students who are using the tools for study guides... It's important if we're going to be writing... that we're citing references and... validate it, because... hallucinations exist.” [20:40]
  • “You are still the human in the loop. We're not trying to replace the human in the loop. We're trying to be...your co pilot.” [21:21]

AI, Workforce Preparedness, and Industry Integration

• Workforce Readiness: SJSU is at the forefront of equipping students for immediate contribution in a rapidly changing AI-driven workforce.
  • “Tech CEOs... are expecting a San Jose State graduate to come into the workforce ready to contribute on day one... in their communication skills and their literacy and their ability to make sense of things.” [24:30]
• City and State Initiatives: The CSU’s Workforce Acceleration Board, in partnership with state and local leaders, focuses on aligning education with workforce needs, metrics, and competitiveness.
• Digital Twin of San José: In collaboration with NVIDIA and using Omniverse, SJSU is creating a digital twin of the city, training faculty and students in digital modeling with direct social and civic benefits.
  • “We're working towards creating a digital twin using the Omniverse product... We have our faculty going through professional development... they'll be building out that twin in our public library, which is accessible to all citizens.” [25:45]
• Business Incubation & AI Innovation: The Plug and Play business incubator, Spark Academy for high schoolers, and city-sponsored AI economy projects support entrepreneurship and local economic development.
  • “Business incubation and business innovation... we're going to see it here coming from our students and what they're making in the proverbial garage...” [39:20]

Social Good and Civic Impact of AI

• Public Sector Upskilling: Partnerships with local government and philanthropy foster AI upskilling for public and nonprofit sectors, yielding practical social good—like optimizing public services, civic engagement, and non-profit work.
  • “Part of the social good is understanding who our consumers are... We have worked with funders... to upskill, to create curriculum that allows us to upskill so that we're developing solutions for common problems.” [32:13]
• Inclusive Social Problem Solving: Faculty and students are encouraged to tackle both large-scale and community-specific challenges, leveraging multilingual backgrounds and authentic experience.
  • “We're asking students, as they're learning to learn to solve these challenges in their own home communities. And that's really an accelerated benefit that we're receiving now with the tools.” [36:10]

Future Directions & Exciting Initiatives

• Human-Centered Robotics and Space: Anticipating continued growth in curricula and research around robotics, human/AI interactions, and space exploration.
  • “You can expect to see our curriculum... continue to emerge... human centered interaction with robots and living and working in space... already embedded in and some of those conversations.” [36:59]
• Faculty Research Opportunities: Incentivizing research in collaboration with tech companies and focusing on precise, responsive industry partnerships.
• Ongoing Partnerships: SJSU sees continued mutual growth with major tech players, especially NVIDIA, and the spread of best practices across the region.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Institutional Mission:
  “Our vision is largely driven by living and breathing in the epicenter of the future and how we prepare our graduates to be at the epicenter of the future...the future started yesterday.” [03:40]

• On Accessibility through Technology:
  “The Avatar can speak 125 languages. I cannot...I wanted to be able to communicate with them more personally. And the AI avatar allows me to do all of those things in multiple languages.” [17:09]

• On AI Tools for Learning and Work:
  “You are still the human in the loop. We're not trying to replace the human in the loop. We're trying to be...have the tool be your co pilot or your assistant that you are directing.” [21:21]

• On Social Good:
  “Use cases, which is really, I think one of the gold cards that's still being developed is what are the use cases?” [34:10]

• On Workforce Preparation:
  “There is some degree of technical proficiency that's going to be required and some degree of understanding how the tools work. Even if you're not designing and building it... to manage your life, to manage your projects, to manage your work.” [29:13]

Important Segment Timestamps

• Intro & Guest Welcome: [00:11–01:15]
• President’s Background and SJSU’s Evolution: [01:20–04:47]
• Leadership, Representation, and Accessibility: [04:47–07:02]
• AI in Curricula and University Model: [07:02–13:15]
• Integrating AI Tools, Avatars, and Digital Twins: [14:57–19:51]
• Student & Faculty AI Usage and Ethics: [19:51–22:40]
• Workforce Readiness and Partnerships: [22:40–26:21]
• Digital Twin & Omniverse Initiatives: [26:22–31:48]
• AI and Social Good: [31:48–36:36]
• Future Initiatives and Business Incubation: [36:36–39:58]
• Closing Thoughts and Contact Info: [40:09–41:29]

Conclusion

This episode provides a real-time snapshot of SJSU’s hands-on, holistic approach to integrating AI across education, research, and civic life. Dr. Teniente-Matson demonstrates how authentic leadership, industry alignment, and a relentless focus on both technological and social advancement are positioning SJSU—and its stakeholders—at the forefront of the rapidly changing AI era.

For further info: Visit sjsu.edu or connect directly with Dr. Teniente-Matson via social media.