The Marist University campus was the site of the Hudson Valley Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in June, bringing together leaders and professionals from local government, education, healthcare, nonprofit organizations, and businesses. The event, co-hosted by Dutchess County Government and Marist University, focused on the growing influence of AI technology.
Representatives from major companies such as IBM and Amazon participated alongside members of Marist + AI, a group within the university dedicated to guiding its approach to artificial intelligence. Discussions centered on how organizations can integrate AI responsibly while considering both its potential benefits and ethical challenges.
Panel discussions featured several voices from both industry and academia. Kevin Cafaro ’08, Principal Product Manager at Amazon and a Marist alumnus, spoke about generative AI’s practical uses: “I think of generative AI as a supercharged intern whose job is to help you research, translate things, and go out with a scale of activity that you wouldn’t be able to get to otherwise,” Cafaro said. “Its job is to study patterns and use that information to make predictions.”
Dr. Kevin Gaugler, Assistant Dean in the School of Liberal Arts and Professor of Spanish at Marist—and co-chair of the Marist + AI Steering Committee—discussed educational implications: “There has to be a human centered around all of this,” he said. “You have to decide not only how to educate someone with AI, but without it. If we’re too reliant on this technology, the fear is that the cognitive load that one needs to learn will be taken away.”
Recent graduate Christian Sarmiento ’25 also took part in the summit by presenting his senior capping project—an AI model he developed at Marist. He commented on his experience: “Throughout college, I worked on many research projects involving AI, so after graduating, this summit felt like a great opportunity to showcase some of that work, especially from my senior year, which I think was my strongest in terms of research,” Sarmiento said. “I was also really interested in hearing from others—there are some great people here, including faculty and industry professionals.” During his studies at Marist, Sarmiento served as one of two student representatives for Marist + AI.
The summit builds upon an ongoing partnership between Marist University and Dutchess County aimed at hosting regional technology summits—a collaboration that previously focused on cybersecurity before turning its attention to artificial intelligence.
Marist + AI was established in October 2024 as an initiative across divisions at the university. In its first year it published foundational ethics principles for using artificial intelligence in teaching and learning as well as operational guidelines for responsible implementation across campus activities. Over time the committee plans to develop best practices aligned with strategic goals for academic vibrancy and student success.
