Tuesday, April 21 · Kiewit Hall · 96 registrants
A full day with Microsoft covering M365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio agents, a virtual fireside chat with University of Kentucky leadership on AI at institutional scale, and a student-focused AI Careers panel.
VIPs: Jennifer Nelson (Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, UNL) opens the day. Sam Bhatia (Microsoft) delivers the keynote. Ian McClure (University of Kentucky) headlines the midday fireside chat.
| Time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30 - 10:00 AM | Opening (Jennifer Nelson, Interim VCRI) + Keynote (Sam Bhatia, Microsoft) | KH A203 |
| 10:00 - 10:50 AM | Microsoft AI in Action: Copilot Chat and Microsoft's AI vision for Higher Education | KH A203 |
| 10:50 - 11:00 AM | Break | |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Breakout 1a: M365 Copilot for Faculty | KH A510 |
| 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Breakout 1b: M365 Copilot for Staff/Operations | KH A235 |
| 12:00 - 12:45 PM | Lunch at Cather Dining (registration required, now full) | |
| 12:45 - 1:20 PM | From Classroom to Commonwealth: A Fireside Chat with Ian McClure (AVPR, University of Kentucky) | KH A310 |
| 1:30 - 2:30 PM | Breakout 2a: Hands On Lab: M365 Copilot Prompt-a-thon | KH A310 |
| 1:30 - 2:30 PM | Breakout 2b: Understanding Agents with Copilot Studio | KH A510 |
| 2:30 - 3:25 PM | Breakout 3a: Hands On Lab: M365 Copilot Prompt-a-thon | KH A310 |
| 2:30 - 3:25 PM | Breakout 3b: GitHub Copilot: AI Pair Programmer to AI Coding Teammate | KH A235 |
| 3:30 - 4:15 PM | Breakout 4a: From Husker to Hired: AI Careers Unlocked | KH A510 |
| 3:30 - 4:15 PM | Breakout 4b: AI for Research and Innovation | KH A541 |
| 4:15 - 4:45 PM | Office hours | KH A541 |
Jen Nelson serves as Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation at UNL. She opens Microsoft Day with brief welcoming remarks before introducing Sam Bhatia. Her participation reflects OR&I's continued investment in Prairie and in UNL's growing industry partnerships around AI.
Sam Bhatia is Medical Director of Innovation for Healthcare and Life Sciences at Microsoft, where he helps organizations reimagine patient engagement, clinician experience, and operations through AI and digital transformation. He also teaches AI in Healthcare in Microsoft's Master of Health program.
Sam brings a rare combination of clinical training and technology leadership. A physician by training (Dayanand Medical College), he holds an MBA in Bioscience Entrepreneurship and an M.S. in Business Intelligence and Analytics from Creighton University, and completed the Artificial Intelligence in Business program at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He holds more than 17 patents spanning healthcare workflows, medical device automation, and patient engagement systems.
Before Microsoft, Sam held innovation and physician executive roles at Salesforce, Oracle, and Cerner. He founded a medical device startup and a telehealth company in Omaha. He is a Creighton Prep alumnus and a Microsoft Global Hackathon 2023 Award Winner. Sam is based in Omaha, Nebraska.
Ian McClure joins virtually from the University of Kentucky for "From Classroom to Commonwealth." He is Associate Vice President for Research, Innovation and Economic Impact at UK, and Vice President for Innovation at UK HealthCare. He leads UK Innovate, the university's organization for technology transfer, social innovation, and industry partnerships.
Before joining UK, Ian was a mergers-and-acquisitions and intellectual property attorney. He is a nationally recognized expert in intellectual property and recently served as Chair of AUTM, the leading global association for technology transfer.
Ian is interim co-director of CATS AI, the Commonwealth AI Transdisciplinary Strategy at UK, alongside Heath Price. Launched in late 2025, CATS AI is a campus-wide initiative coordinating AI work across all 17 UK colleges and the UK HealthCare system, backed by an estimated $200 million investment over three to five years. It combines a governance framework, the ALT Hub (AI Literacy, Training, and Skill-building) as the central front door for training, and the CATS AI Sandbox, a secure environment for experimenting with AI models without exposing sensitive university or patient data. The strategy is structured around five subcommittees: Research, Education, Health, Administration, and Student Success.