What the recognition says about where AI in higher education is headed
For the second year in a row, Modo has been named an AWS Champion, recognizing our work to turn AI innovation into measurable impact.
We’re proud of the recognition. But the story behind it says something even more important about where AI in higher education is headed.
For our 2026 submission, we shared the results of our work with University of Arkansas–Pulaski Technical College (UA-PTC)—and what can happen when AI becomes part of the student experience rather than another tool students have to find, learn, and navigate.
Campus AI students actually use
Like many institutions, UA-PTC faced two challenges at once. Students expected fast, personalized answers whenever they needed them. Meanwhile, staff were spending valuable time responding to many of the same questions again and again.
Building an AI solution internally wasn’t a practical answer. It would require significant time, specialized talent, and ongoing maintenance.
Instead, UA-PTC brought AI directly into its existing Modo Campus experience.
The results:
- 94.5% student adoption, making the AI experience the most-used feature in UA-PTC’s mobile app
- 253% increase in engagement with admissions content
- 140% increase in prospective student engagement, helping connect prospective students with the information they needed
These numbers point to something bigger than AI adoption.
When AI is embedded in an experience students already use, it can remove friction from everyday campus life.
Students shouldn’t have to know whether the registrar, bursar, student funding office, LMS, or another campus system has the answer. They should be able to start with what they need.
AI should do more than answer questions
This is also where we believe campus AI is heading next.
The first generation of higher education AI focused primarily on answering questions. That’s valuable, but an answer often isn’t the outcome a student needs.
Students need to get things done.
Find the answer. Understand what it means. Take the next step.
That’s the thinking behind Modo My Agent™ and our approach to connected campus AI: bringing AI together with student context, campus knowledge, services, and systems so institutions can move from Ask → Answer → Act.
And because My Agent is part of the broader Modo Campus Experience Platform, AI doesn’t have to become another disconnected destination. It can meet students where they already are—across the mobile app, desktop portal, and web—and connect them to the systems and services that power the campus experience.
Making AI practical for higher education
That word—practical—matters to us.
Institutions don’t need AI simply because it’s the technology of the moment. They need AI that solves real problems.
AI that expands access to support. Reduces friction for students. Helps stretched staff teams scale their impact. And makes increasingly complex campus environments easier to navigate.
As Andy Umans, General Manager of Higher Education at Modo Labs, puts it: “We’re proud to be named an AWS Champion for the second consecutive year and to continue working with AWS to make AI practical and impactful for higher education. Our work with Modo customer UA-PTC shows how trusted AI, embedded directly into the student experience, can expand access to support, reduce friction, and create measurable value for both students and staff. That’s the kind of AI innovation we believe can meaningfully move higher education forward.”
We’re grateful to AWS for the recognition, and especially to UA-PTC for showing what’s possible when institutions move beyond experimenting with AI and put it to work for students.
See how UA-PTC achieved 94.5% student adoption and measurable gains in engagement → Read the case study
Ready to move from AI answers to action? → Explore Modo My Agent