Top-Gun Bold: What The Ohio State University’s "AI-Fluent by 2029" Pledge Teaches Every Leader About Building the Future

I've sat through more panels than I can count, but none hit like the 2025 Ohio Tech Summit fireside chat.

• On center stage: Walter "Ted" Carter Jr., 38-year Navy vice admiral, Top Gun '85, 6,300 flight hours, 125 combat missions, and a record-setting 2,016 carrier landings (the real pilot behind the Top Gun Maverick mission). Serious credibility.

• On the right: Shereen Agrawal, a former tech executive and the driving force behind OSU's new Center for Software Innovation.

• On the left: Moderator Tonjia Coverdale, a 3x Tech CXO and Fortune 100 Executive, asks, "How is Ohio State shaping the future of tech?"

Ted doesn't flinch:

"Within five years, every Ohio State graduate, every major, will be fluent in artificial intelligence."

A powerful moment. And a masterclass in how to make a declaration big enough to bend reality.

Why This Matters

1. Clarity cuts through noise. In an era where "AI strategy" can feel like a shiny object, Ted gave a single, unforgettable stake in the ground: AI fluency for 100% of students and 50,000+ staff.

2. Ambition backed by infrastructure. Shereen's center is the execution engine, wrapping deep tech coursework with hackathons, venture funding, and Techstars Columbus to turn fluency into products and startups.

3. Community as unfair advantage. From K-12 pipelines to industry mentors, OSU treats collaboration as the core feature, not a feel-good add-on.

Whether you run a Fortune 500 or a 50-person venture, it's the playbook every enterprise leader needs.

3 Moves You Can Steal Today

1. Command Attention: Declare a Moon-Shot

Ohio State didn't roll out a timid pilot; they planted a flag: "AI fluency for everyone by 2029." Do the same. Pick a statement that makes people sit up straight: "Every employee will ship an AI-augmented workflow by Q4 2026." Say it out loud, publish it, and make it non-negotiable. Bold clarity is a magnet for talent, budget, and urgency.

2. Turn Learning into Output: Pair Curriculum with Reps

Shereen's team matches courses with 1,400-student hackathons and live industry projects. Learning sticks because it ships. Translate that to your business: every training program must culminate in something tangible, an automated report, a customer-facing feature, or a re-engineered process. There are no "course completed" badges until the idea is in production.

3. Remove Roadblocks in Minutes: Build a Pick-Up-the-Phone Network

OSU transforms its alumni, founders, VCs, and faculty into an on-demand brain trust. When students encounter challenges, one call clears their path. Formalize your own roster of experts and solutions providers, both internal and external, and make it easy for teams to access them. One Slack ping, one hour, problem solved. Speed is culture, and culture scales results.

Steal these moves, tailor them to your context, and you’ll turn AI ambition into visible wins and measurable ROI long before your competitors even get out of first gear.

Your 90-Day Action Plan

1. Pick the skills that elevate everyone. (Hint: generative AI prompting, agent workflows, and data storytelling.)

2. Set a public deadline. If Carter can promise fluency for 67,000 students, you can establish a date for 100, 1,000, or 10,000 employees.

3. Create an execution hub. A lean AI Center of Excellence that defines guardrails and shares tools, while decentralized teams run fast experiments and ship.

4. Reward experimentation, not perfection. OSU's biggest successes started as weekend hackathon ideas. Celebrate the effort, learn from the experience, and iterate quickly.

5. Amplify the story more than you think. Every town hall, podcast, and board deck should reiterate the pledge until it becomes part of the culture.

The Bigger Picture

Ohio isn't waiting for Silicon Valley's permission slip. With Intel breaking ground on new semiconductor fabrication plants, venture money flowing, and universities leaning in, the state is proving that bold vision + gritty execution beats coastal buzz every time. This commitment makes me proud and fired up to build my AI holding company here.