We launched the campusGenAI Playground pilot on August 4, 2025, and moved to a full employee rollout on October 1, 2025. In just over three months the playground has become an active experimentation environment for UMPO staff—supporting rapid prototyping, knowledge work, and safe exploration of generative AI capabilities while we scale governance and training.
Pilot launched: 8/4/2025 | Full employee rollout: 10/1/2025
Fast facts (08/04/2025–11/15/2025)
- Total queries: 10,144
- Peak daily queries: 339
- Top users: Nicholas Blinn; Amy Thompson; Andrew Buroni; Mike Durkin; Megan Momtaheni; John Andrews; Anne Zuev; Chris England; Pete O’Connell
Why this matters?
- Rapid adoption shows real demand for AI-assisted work across UMPO.
- Early use cases (drafting, summarizing, ideation, contract reviews, training content) are boosting productivity and informing where to integrate AI safely.
- Top users are emerging as unit champions sharing use cases and best practices.
Next steps
- More hands-on lunch and learn sessions/workshops and quick start guides.
- Partner with Amherst for opportunities to extend data integrations.
How to get involved
- Try the campusGenAI playground, share a short success story, or join an AI learning opportunity in the future.
Reminder
- Don’t submit sensitive or personally identifiable data.
- Verify AI outputs and follow UMPO Acceptable Use Guidelines.
Thanks to everyone who joined the pilot and early adopters — the momentum is strong.
Contact AI Hub umpo_ai_hub@umassp.edu or join the Slack #umpo-campusgenai-playground to get started.