August 9, 2025 • 49 mins
AI in Schools: Strategy Over Shiny Tools with Kyler Cheatham
When it comes to AI in school districts, rushing in without a clear why can cost millions, crush teacher buy-in, and derail your entire tech strategy.
In this episode of My EdTech Life, I sit down with Kyler Cheatham, a system architecture expert in AI and predictive analytics, to break down what districts are getting wrong and how to get it right.
Kyler shares hard truths about AI adoption in K-12 and higher ed:
- Why CTOs must own their “I don’t knows”
- How to avoid the “move fast and break things” trap
- The real cost of chasing buzzwords without solving actual problems
- Why 50% of your implementation team should be end users
- How to keep vendors honest and ensure they meet your district’s needs
Whether you’re a district leader, tech director, or educator navigating AI, this conversation will give you the questions, strategies, and fail-safes you need before signing that next contract.
00:00 – Welcome and introduction
02:17 – Kyler’s background in AI and education technology
04:26 – The toughest challenges districts face with AI adoption
07:00 – Teachers as “speedboats, tugboats, and anchors”
09:14 – Advice for CTOs feeling overwhelmed
12:32 – The dangers of rushing into AI for the sake of hype
15:43 – Why vendor partnerships can make or break implementation
20:00 – Building a core team with 50% end users
22:58 – “Phase Zero” and defining your why before selecting tools
32:21 – The AI sticker joke—and why labels aren’t strategy
35:15 – Two wins and two losses Kyler sees in AI adoption
40:42 – Final advice for districts, CTOs, and vendors
46:25 – Closing thoughts and how to connect with Kyler
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (00:30):
Hello everybody and welcome to another
great episode of my EdTech Life.
Thank you so much for joiningus on this wonderful day and,
wherever it is that you'rejoining us from around the world
, thank you, as always, for allof your support.
We appreciate all the likes,the shares, the follows.
Thank you so much for justsharing our content, for all the
positive feedback and, asalways, we love to bring you
(00:51):
some amazing conversations andamazing guests and, as always,
my friends.
Today is just as great as everyother episode, but I'm really
excited that I have been able toconnect with today's guests,
following them on TikTok, whatthey share about technology,
technology, innovation, talkingabout AI.
(01:11):
So I figured that today, whatshe has to offer is something
that is wonderful as well forthe K-12 and higher ed space.
So I would love to welcome tothe show Kyler Cheatham.
Kyler, how are you doing today?
Kyler Cheatham (01:26):
Oh, I'm great.
Thank you so much for having me.
I so appreciate being heretoday.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (01:31):
Excellent.
Well, I am excited that you'rehere.
Just like I mentioned in theintroduction, I stumbled upon
your TikTok account andeverything that you said just
really resonates with me.
Being a fellow ed tech lovermyself and just seeing the
changes in educationaltechnology and just technology
(01:51):
as a whole from you know, when Ifirst got immersed in it in
2018 till now, and, of course,seeing the big boom with AI and
what you share, I was just likethis really resonates and this
needs to also be heard, you know, within our K-12 higher ed
space.
So, before we get into theconversation for today, can you
(02:12):
please give us a little briefintroduction and what your
context is within the technologyspace?
Kyler Cheatham (02:17):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I am a system architectureexpert that specializes in AI
and predictive analytics, andthat's just a really fancy way
of saying.
I help people figure out whattechnology is best for their
business or their public sectorenvironment A lot of times at
(02:38):
school districts or highereducation and just decide what
the best way is to implementthis emerging technology within
their overall culture so theirteam doesn't freak out and they
can have, you know, this synergyof really maximizing technology
outcomes.
So my consultancy works acrossthe globe and we're very, very
(03:01):
privileged to have greatcontacts like you and a lot of
different verticals throughoutindustries.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (03:07):
Oh, that is wonderful and that's great that
you share that with us because,as you know and I always go back
and, just FYI I just defendedmy dissertation yesterday and it
was really on talking about theimplications of artificial
intelligence within the schoolsetting and it's really like 70
episodes that I did fromNovember 22 to December 2024.
(03:31):
So it's a nice snapshot there.
So we'll talk a little bitabout what I've observed and
then just kind of run parallelto what you have observed.
But I love that you mentionedthat you do have that experience
in speaking with schools andworking with teams, because I
know that not everybody has itquite figured out and it's still
very much so like the wild,wild west.
(03:52):
So, yes, exactly, so we'll goahead and get into that.
So I just want to ask you,first and foremost, you know, as
far as your background in thetechnology space and, like you
mentioned, consultancy in AIwhat are some of the big things
that you're seeing right nowwithin your consultancy within
the education space?
(04:12):
What are some of those fears orbarriers that you're currently
trying to help school districtskind of overcome so that that
way they can get these systemsto work for them and for their
educators and students?
Kyler Cheatham (04:26):
Absolutely Well.
I mean, as you well know, aschool district or an
educational environment is oneof the most difficult and
complex to implement newtechnology in, just because of
not only the cultural dynamics,but they don't have a lot of
backfilling on, you know, theircore team or on their staff.
(04:47):
They are already prettystrapped when it comes to
implementing that, and we didone of the largest school
districts in the United Statesand it was the largest
implementation I think I've everseen.
I'm pretty confident in sayingthat just because there had to
be movement in staff so much sothat they had to bring in
(05:10):
temporary staff to be able tooversee how the technical
implementation was being testedand we're kind of over here like
that's great, that's cool thatyou saw a solve for that.
But you need to be able to ownyour technology strategy and
really understand what thatmeans, especially when it comes
to AI integration.
(05:30):
Because no offense to teachers,love teachers but a lot of times
our academic colleagues can bevery, very resistant to change
right Just because they've beendoing their job the way that
they've done it for so long.
And adding a level oftechnology in already, you know,
a very hectic classroomenvironment can be incredibly
(05:51):
stressful.
So totally valid, right.
But when it comes to what we'reseeing in AI at the school
district level and I'd becurious if you agree there is so
much data and so muchfoundational needs and processes
and assessment of cultures.
Each school is a differentculture, each district is a
(06:11):
different culture and each onereally needs its own
implementation strategy in orderto maximize the output of their
technology.
So really there's still so muchin the forefront of building
out what that foundation lookslike.
Ai hasn't been something thatthey can really utilize quite
(06:32):
yet, just because of all of thatfront end work that needs to be
done to, you know, reallyimplement it in that kind of
complex structure.
And again, I'd be curious yourthoughts on that too.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (06:44):
Yes, no, absolutely, and that's something
that we see.
And one thing that you didmention is really the lack of
resources, and not necessarilythat I'm talking about, you know
, chromebooks or devices andthings, but the human resource
Exactly, not enough peoplewithin a district.
And now you're adding thisadditional component for people
that may not be equipped oraware of what's happening.
(07:07):
And many times, like youmentioned, yes, in the classroom
and the teachers you do have.
And I always love to quote myfriend, renee Dawson, who says
you've got your speedboats, yourtugboats and your anchors,
you've got those that will go toa conference or see a video on
TikTok and that's it.
They're just going to go aheadand run in and implement without
any just regard to privacy orregard to accounts or anything,
(07:31):
and they're just going to go forit because they think like,
okay, this is going to go aheadand save me time.
Then you've got the kind of inthe middle, like the tugboat,
where I'm like, okay, I'm kindof waiting and seeing, but then,
like you said, there is that,uh, resistance faction, and
that's one thing that is veryinterested, interesting and does
coincide with the findings inmy dissertation, where it we see
(07:53):
in the second quarter of youknow my research we did see this
kind of branch of now you havethe resistors and you have the
hey, let's move fast and breakthings kind of crowd.
And then I always say it's likeI always like to be in the
middle and bring theseconversations to the table to
see where we can kind of meet.
But you're absolutely right.
And in the sense that right nowa lot of school districts are
(08:16):
kind of getting that guidance,but there's still a little loss
because there's still thatdisconnect between the classroom
, where teachers kind of havethat autonomy in the sense of
you know, I have control of myclassroom and they may just
bring in apps just to use anduse them, because it's either
(08:37):
hey, somebody's using it onTwitter, I'm doing it for social
media, or I'm actually tryingto help that work without the
CTOs knowing what may behappening.
And then, of course, there'sthat risk of data.
So what are some of just your,some of the best advice?
Maybe two to three tips justthat you can share with CTOs
(08:58):
during this time, because I'msure they have their hands full.
And again, like you mentioned,we need to make sure that we're
all conveying the same messageand moving in the same direction
.
What can you tell them to kindof put them at ease?
Maybe two to three things toget them started.
Kyler Cheatham (09:14):
Absolutely, and a CTO for a school district or
an educational entity is no joke, right, that is this, you know,
definitely a very challengingposition.
I always say the CTO or the CIOin the organization is really
the loneliest position.
Right, you're supposed to bethis know-all center for all
things technology, but ideally,especially right now, we see
(09:36):
typically that those CTOs don'tknow a ton about technology
because that wasn't, you know,the generation they were
educated in, so they're stilllearning just as much as their
team, and so my advice would beto own those I don't knows.
Right, there's never going tobe a full baked answer that
anyone expects you to have.
(09:56):
Lean on your team, lean on yourconsultants if that's what
you're doing.
Lean on your vendor and makesure that you understand that I
don't know is a fine answer.
I don't know what to do aboutthis issue that we're having at
this said school district.
I understand that it's causinga lot of chaos.
I hear you that you'refrustrated, but I don't know how
(10:16):
to solve it.
But what I can promise you isI'm going to put my full energy
into listening to you, hearingto you and finding a solution
for you.
So that would be one tip.
The other thing I always tellCTOs, especially educators,
because they're used to, youknow, being so involved and
(10:37):
engaged in their culture, that alot of times when those senior
administrators get to that level, they still think they have
that same pulse on what's goingon with each school and they
don't Like, at the end of theday, even if you are the best
award-winning CTO in the entireuniverse, there is still an
executive bubble that you don'thear what's going on on the
(10:59):
front lines.
So you need to look at yourimplementation and those
organizational assessment dataas absolute goldmine nuggets of
data.
You need to understand thatyour teachers, your staff, your
other administrators are reallytelling you what you need to
hear, and a lot of times,luckily, our teachers can be
(11:22):
very engaging in that type ofthing because they're teachers.
You know they're used to thosetypes of, you know surveys and
qualitative, quantitativefeedback mechanisms.
So know that the organizationalassessment data is going to be
so foundational to setting yourtechnology strategy.
Don't try and set somethingwhen you haven't heard the
(11:44):
problem yet.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (11:45):
Oh, I love that.
And those are great tips andthat's for that side, like I
mentioned, those that are stilltrying to figure it out and
owning those I don't knows.
I think that's something that'svery important.
Because now I want to ask youon the other side, what if we
have those CTOs that are justrunning and gunning and just
saying, hey, we're just going toopen this up and just because
(12:07):
maybe we want to have thatnotoriety or we want to just
open this up because we want tobe the cool kids and things of
that sort, what might be some ofthe risks that they may run
into, that they need to considerthat, instead of doing the move
fast and break things, that'skind of be more intentional of
what we're doing.
So what might be, you know, twotips that you would share with
(12:31):
that type of CTO?
Kyler Cheatham (12:33):
Absolutely.
And you know those CTOs aresometimes scarier than you know
the CTOs that have kind of thistenure, they might be more not
digital literate in that way.
That CTO right, we still needto listen to our communities, we
still need to have thatfoundational piece.
But, knowing you can't arguewith data, I always say when I
(12:54):
go in to talk to a CTO,understanding the risk of
failure from a quantitativelevel, If we spend $30 million
on this new AI pilot project andit fails, not only are we
losing $30 million because werushed it and we didn't listen
(13:15):
to our staff or our communities,but also now we have to go in
to calculate the time loss andthe fatigue with that
implementation, Because youmentioned the lack of resources.
It's like running uphill insand at that point because
you've lost buy-in at everylevel.
And we always say the mostimportant or most expensive
(13:39):
piece of an implementation arethose re's, redesign, redo,
re-engage, because that is somuch harder than starting off on
a strong, solid, intentionalfoundation plan that's been
engaged at every level of yourorganization.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (13:58):
Excellent and that is wonderful.
Like you mentioned there, justreally kind of just slowing
things down and really talkingto stakeholders, really taking
everything into account.
Now, in my experience not onlyjust speaking for my district
(14:25):
but for friends that work atother districts is currently
within our education space.
We're starting to see, you know, kind of a couple of
applications, maybe like the topfive, that are really kind of
making their way and separatingthemselves from the rest, and
obviously people get excitedabout that.
They're like, hey, we need asubscription to this, we need a
(14:46):
subscription to that.
And my biggest fear has alwaysbeen, you know, if you do buy in
and get that subscription,you're spending that much money.
But what if something happens?
Because for the most part, allof these applications are
wrappers, you know they pluginto OpenAI's API and or any
other large language model, andso what happens with that
(15:09):
company is no longer there,maybe within a year?
Because what if Google you know, with all the releases, that
it's done?
Is it going to go ahead andkill off some of those apps, the
things that OpenAI now isoffering?
Is it going to go ahead andkill some of those apps?
So, how might you suggest that?
Navigating the space to findthat point where, okay, we can
(15:33):
feel safe about this investment,or maybe you know what?
Maybe this is not the time, sowhat can you share there to make
better decisions in that case?
Kyler Cheatham (15:43):
Yeah, that's such a good question, you know,
definitely starting with thatmindset of thinking that way,
and so when we're talking aboutbudget, the first thing we need
to look at that first part ofyour question is what is the
total cost of ownership?
So a lot of this sneakysoftware subscription model I
always compare it to no otherbusiness or industry blatantly
(16:05):
lies to their customers outsideof, like organized crime or like
the cartel, right.
So you know there isn't a tonof trust in that industry.
So you really need to sit downand go.
Okay, I'm signing this contract.
I know from the day I sign,that's when I start paying.
They don't care how long ittakes me to implement that If I
use it.
(16:26):
You know what is that supportstructure looks like?
Are they going?
And that's one of those thingswhere you really really need to
(16:49):
be disciplined in who I'mworking with For my clients.
We never work with a vendorthat can't prove it.
You might be on even my quantumclients.
Okay, so you, quantum is new.
We have a lot of new people,new innovation to the industry.
That's awesome, but we're notgoing to be the first.
(17:09):
All right, we're going to go inand spend with vendors who we
look at this like a selectionwhat do we get, how much is it?
What's our support and how dowe make sure that you're not
going to ghost us after we leave?
Who have you implemented beforein a school district?
And I'm going to call them.
So you need to prove it.
Never don't check thosereferences.
(17:32):
Even if it's a small, tiny $25subscription a month, you still
are responsible to yourcommunity, especially in the
public sector, for understandingwhat that cost means and what
you get after that.
There's been so many clientsthat I've had that have come to
me being like, hey, I just kindof robot, this AI, you know
(17:54):
system, because it claimed tointegrate with my ERP, my CRM,
my LMS, you know, really quicklyand I thought that that was
going to be, you know, a greatoption, because I wanted to fix
this breakage and now they won'ttalk to me and I can't figure
out what's going wrong.
I can't even figure out a phonenumber to call them.
There's no email, there's noanything, and that is where
(18:17):
clients get stuck is in thatghosting phase, as I always call
it.
So being sure that you'remeeting this vendor and holding
them accountable as a partner toyou, that's what they need to
show up, not a set it and forgetit.
You bought my system.
I'm done with you, especiallyin a school environment where we
(18:37):
don't have you know, you havemaybe what one, two IT people
per school, you know, with sixgrades, and that's something
that we need to make sure thatwe understand how the vendor is
going to show up and support us,or the SI is going to show up
to support us in that way.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (18:55):
Yeah, and you know, that's something that you
mentioned.
That is so important because Ihave heard, I have seen where
you know there's vendors thatcome in and say, okay, you know,
for adoptions, book adoptions,things of that sort.
And it's like, hey, this iswhat we offer, they share it.
And all of a sudden it's like,oh, this is the greatest thing,
this works great, this is goingto plug into this LMS, this is
(19:17):
going to do this, and so on.
But, like you mentioned, thesurprise is okay, we got it, but
wait a minute, why isn't itplugging in?
Well, you know, it's not quitethere yet, you know, and things
of that sort.
And then all of a sudden it'syou know, you bought into that,
but now the teachers or the endusers are now like you know what
(19:43):
?
Like this, I'm not using this.
This is not going to work forme, you know at all, and that's
because there is a committee ofteachers that goes and vets all
of these.
But I want to ask you for, inthat case, because you mentioned
something that's very important, because we need to do our due
diligence and always make surethat all our stakeholders are at
least well informed.
So, in that situation that youare making that tough decision,
(20:03):
what might you recommend as faras a CTO?
Who should those conversationsbe had with, at least to make
sure that you kind of have thatfail safe in case, like they're
all in.
But then you know you havesomebody that kind of balance
things out and says, hey, well,maybe have we thought about this
yet or come up with thiscomponent, because sometimes I
(20:27):
feel that a lot of decisions canjust be done abruptly and then
it's kind of like all right, wedid it, now we got to be all in,
but now we can't get that buyin.
So what might be just some failsafe advice for any leader,
whether it's superintendent, ctoor curriculum?
Kyler Cheatham (20:46):
Absolutely, and I mean that's such a good
question.
And when we do any sort oftechnology implementation, even
if it's super small, it needs tohave a core team and that core
team needs to be made up ofwhomever is sponsoring the
project from an executive level,whoever is managing the project
, whoever is responsible fordeveloping the project from an
executive level, whoever ismanaging the project, whoever is
responsible for developing theproject, and then the end users
(21:10):
should make up at least 50% ofthat core team, because if you
don't have them in the room,you're building blind.
You have absolutely no ideawhat their requirements are,
especially in an environmentlike education, because they
don't have time, you know, torun around and sit or sit, and
that's why a lot of times whenwe come into a school district,
(21:32):
there can be a lot of frictionbetween the vendor and the
district.
This is not a normal business,right, and they're treating you
like a normal business andyou're so frustrated because you
don't have time to sit down andhave 37 meetings a day about
requirements.
You need to do it differentlyand meet each other where it's
(21:52):
at.
I think in that situation,really engaging those end users
from day one.
We always call it phase zero,right Before we've selected
anything, we have an idea wewant to be on the forefront of
AI because we think our studentsdeserve that, and we're going
to start to move towards that.
We're not sure what that means,we're not sure what problem
(22:15):
we're solving.
So there we come, to the endusers what is your experience
and what is something that youfeel like could really benefit
your processes in the classroom,and so that's where we really
understand where that core teamcomes from.
But the minute I walk into asteering committee meeting and
(22:35):
there's no end users in there,I'm like this meeting is
pointless.
It really is Like, respectfully, this is pointless because the
people that actually matter inthis conversation are not in the
room.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (22:49):
That is wonderful.
Advice Definitely resonates and, like I said, it's just things
that even through research andyou know experiences and hearing
things out, oftentimes that'sone of the things that happens
is that not everybody that needsto be in the room is there, and
at the end the final decisionmaker just says, hey, this is
what we're going to go with, andnow we just got to make it work
(23:11):
.
And so it's almost like you'reworking a lot harder and it's
very similar to what youmentioned.
It's like you're running uphillin sand because you're trying
to make it work and you're goingto tire out.
You're not going to be able tomake it all the way to the top
and try to take everybody upwith you.
I mean, you need to really havethose end users in mind.
So I'm going to switch things upa little bit and now I want to
(23:33):
ask you because we've beentalking about, just directly,
school district to vendors.
So now I want to talk to youabout vendors, some of these
platforms, in the way that theyare approaching or maybe in the
way that they are selling to adistrict what are some things
that they might do better?
I know for myself.
I'm always looking for, I'malways looking at the privacy
(23:56):
settings, I'm always looking atthe terms of service, I'm
looking where the data is stored, what kind of data is stored,
and it's definitely one of thethings that I'm always looking
for is full transparency oftheir systems.
So what are some things that,if you are working with vendors
and I'm sure you have thatexperience what are some things
that they can do better to puttheir final you know, either
(24:21):
that school district they'reworking with and those end users
at peace and ease.
Kyler Cheatham (24:27):
Absolutely.
And I mean, I think we can'talways rely on vendor
salespeople to do better.
Right, I do think there's alevel at which they, you know,
do take responsibility for whatthey sell, but these are
salespeople, they have quotas tomeet and they don't always give
the best recommendations whenit comes to systems, because
(24:48):
their main job is to sell it.
So if I were speaking to avendor, I would say have a
school district practice, right?
You guys, come in here, youfail all the time.
When it comes to schooldistricts, you know there ends
up being this huge fight andthis chaos, which nobody wants
on either end.
Nobody wants a failedimplementation.
It's embarrassing for thedistrict, it's embarrassing for
(25:09):
the vendor and it just doesn'tgo well.
So you need someone that is aspecialist in this environment,
just like you have specialistsin manufacturing and you have
specialists in distribution andyou have specialists in food and
beverage.
School district is not a normalbusiness.
So go in and look at thoserequirements that actually
matter to them.
(25:29):
And, by the way, why don't youuse your data set that you
already have in front of you andask your current users what
would you like to seedifferently?
I think that's one thing thatI'm always so perplexed why they
never seem to do and how theyact, like they've never been in
a school district in their livesand they're like, well, you
know, we're not getting theengagement.
(25:50):
And it's like, because they'reteachers, like they're not
sitting around all day justwaiting for your call.
Right, they are very busyeducating the youth of America,
so you have to go to the tableand meet them where they are.
When you're talking aboutthings like requirements, you're
not talking to technical people, so you need to bring people in
(26:11):
the room that are able to speakthe same language.
And I call myself and my teamprofessional translators,
because a lot of times whatthey're saying and then the
client looks at us like what?
And we're like, okay, you know,this is what that means, this.
Then the client looks at uslike what?
And we're like, okay, you knowwhat this is what that means,
this is the functionality.
And then they kind of shut downbecause they're so overwhelmed
by this entire process.
(26:33):
So I would say you know to theselection committee again should
feature over 50 percent in youend users that they need to know
going in there that this is awar.
Right, they need to come inwith their requirements ready,
that they built, not the vendorright, that they built, not the
vendor right.
(26:54):
And then also, they need tounderstand that they have every
right to say you know what?
That was very cool, all of yourslide deck there, great,
awesome.
But what about my needs and myfunctionalities that I want to
see?
Can you show me that?
And if that vendor's like well,you know we don't really do
that they're telling you whatkind of partner they're going to
(27:16):
be in that conversation and youwant to take that as a huge
consideration when you're makingthat choice.
Right, it's not what was bestfor, you know, new York City
school district.
It's about what's best for yourschool district and who's going
to show up as an implementationpartner, not just a vendor, and
same with the SIs.
(27:37):
In my experience I don't know ifyou have the same experience
school districts have a lot ofchallenges with system
integrators.
They are technical integrators.
That is their job.
It is like oil and water mixingthem with the school district
because they don't have thecounterparts that they would
have in a normal industrybusiness right, and that can be
(27:58):
a huge struggle for both peopleinvolved and that's a lot of
times why we have to, you know,bring in temp workers or, a lot
of times, an additional thirdparty to backfill those, because
there's just so much work to dothat this district doesn't have
that resource to make thathappen.
But remember, it's your demo,it's your software, it's your
(28:20):
environment and you're allowedto ask whatever questions that
you want.
And that's a lot of times whatwe're doing in the room, my team
right, and saying all of thatis very cool, we're super
excited.
You have all this on yourroadmap, but this is what this
client is looking for.
Can you go ahead and show usthat?
We go over the scripts with thevendor beforehand to make sure
that they're clear about, like,we don't want to hear any crazy
(28:43):
mumbo jumbo.
That's not happening in thisenvironment.
You know, innovations can be 2%part of the conversation, but
these people, their time islimited and you need to make
sure that you're, you know,really addressing what they're
looking for.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (28:57):
Amazing.
There's definitely so much tounpack there and I really wish
that you know a lot of theplatforms that we work with.
You know K-12 and going toconferences and everything it's.
I understand that there's a showaspect of it of like, wow, you
know, look at what we can do andlook at all the bells and
whistles and so on, but at theend of the day, I love what you
(29:19):
said and being able to sit downand just say, okay, this is what
we are needing, can you providethat?
And well, but we've got thisbutton, but we've got that
button.
It's like no, no, no, no.
And sometimes I think, like youmentioned the importance of
having somebody like you or yourteam there, especially when
there might be, like you know,somebody that's like hey, like
(29:41):
let's go, let's just go for it,let's just move fast, and we're
just going to get it, and so on,thinking like, hey, we get it,
like everybody's going to use it, because this is what
everybody's using, or this wasthe next big thing that I saw at
the conference.
So we, you know, really have toget it.
But at the end of the day, Ithink one a lot of the content
that I see that you put out,especially like recently with a
(30:03):
couple of videos, is many timesI think that when we are trying
to say like, oh well, we want tobe innovative, so we're going
to get this app, we never reallyget to the root of the problem,
you know, as far as is itreally the technology that's
going to help enhance thelearning and the pedagogy, or
(30:24):
might it might even workbackwards, where sometimes I
feel that maybe some of the techmay enhance bad pedagogy
because you know, we're notmeeting at the same place or
trying to solve the same problem.
It's just layering somethingelse on top of that and hoping
like, hey, this will be gone.
So what advice might yousuggest to school districts that
(30:47):
may not really see, or tryingto get to the root of the
problem before they purchasesomething?
Kyler Cheatham (30:56):
Yeah, and I see this happen all the time in
school districts, again, justbecause they don't really
understand the process, Like onaverage.
You know, we see a lot ofdistricts that haven't purchased
new like core operationalsoftware in 30 years, right?
So it's not like they have liketenured teams that have been
through this and that's prettytypical, right, when you're
(31:16):
looking at a bigger ERP systemor something like that, that
there's not a lot of people thathave been through that.
So, define what you need, right, Whether you're working, you
know, with a consultant like ourteam, or you know, your
internal.
Define, because the vendor isgoing to define that for you
very quickly If you don't havethe knowledge to say like, thank
(31:39):
you very much for your input,but this is actually what we
need, and a lot of times, schooldistricts don't have the time,
they don't have the industryinsight to know that's what
happens.
And they also, you know, theywant to be able to get something
done on a quick timeline sothey can, you know, service
their community, so they canservice their teachers.
Even the, you know, mostwell-intentioned project
(32:01):
sponsors want to get this doneso that they can, you know,
prove to their communities thatthey got it done, but what we
have to do is sit down and bedisciplined around the why.
You know it's like you knowthat executive.
I walk in and they're like youknow, 2025, our initiative is AI
, like full stop, and I wait forthem to finish and we're like
(32:25):
okay, cool, Like, why, though?
Like, what problem are youwanting to solve?
Are you just wanting like?
We could call your ERP system AIif you wanted to, because
technically it is.
You know, there's predictiveanalytics in there, there's
predictive maintenance in there,All AI.
You already have AI right Insome level shape or form.
We could give you a stickerthat says AI, or already have AI
right in some level, shape orform.
We could give you a stickerthat says AI, or maybe a hat
(32:47):
right, but in that capacity, wehave to understand why are we
doing this, how much does itcost and what is it going to
take to implement.
And remember I just remindschool districts, because
sometimes they forget that thewhy is going to be different for
each end user, and that's whereyou need to source it from, Not
(33:11):
, you know, the board room, butthe classroom.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (33:15):
Oh, that was powerful.
I really love that.
And oftentimes it's the otherway around.
Oftentimes you know where it'slike straight from the top and
this is what we're going to doinstead of going from you know,
like you said, the classroom up,because eventually those are
those teachers that you wantthat buy-in.
And who's better to give youmore data than the teacher
that's there using it, workingwith the students?
(33:37):
Is it really going to enhanceit or is it really just?
Does it turn just intocompliance?
When it's like, hey, just do it30 minutes per day or 30
minutes a week, you know, forper subject, then it just
becomes compliance.
And so is it really enhancingthe teaching or is it just like,
ok, just make sure you do it.
Just on my reports, it showsthat you did your 15 questions
(33:59):
for the week and you're good togo, and you know that that's the
sad reality of it.
So I really love that.
That last statement was sopowerful that you said it's
really taking into account yourteacher, how it's working with
the students, or how it might ormight not work, and then take
that feedback to the top and say, OK, let's see what we can do
here and are we making the rightand proper decision, because,
(34:21):
at the end of the day, it'ssomething that's going to cost
money and so you're going tolose out on other resources that
might be more helpful, becauseyou're all in on something that
you think is going to solve theproblem.
And one of the things that youmentioned that I love too is
right now, because everything isAI.
It's really just seems more ofthat marketing term like, hey,
this is AI, this has AI.
(34:43):
But I love what you said andsay, hey, you know what like
that one platform or you knowwhat that one thing like, maybe,
like you said, just put thatsticker there that says AI.
Maybe you might feel more likecalm about it and say, hey, I'm
already using AI, yeah, but youdidn't know it.
But because it's not the AI thatis being shown at the
conferences and the next shinytool and the one that's going to
(35:05):
solve the world's problems witha chatbot that's going to teach
your student you know thecontent, and so on.
So sometimes it's like it'sokay to slow down and really see
things through and make thoseclear decisions and points.
So I really really like that alot.
So, kyler, as we kind of startwrapping up.
I want to ask you you know inyour experiences and maybe you
(35:27):
don't have to get into too muchdetail, but maybe we can share
like two wins and maybe twolosses that you're currently
seeing as you're working in theK-12 space and maybe even higher
ed what are some of thepositives that you're seeing
with AI and some of the not sopositives that you're seeing
with AI?
Kyler Cheatham (35:57):
Yeah.
So I love that question of myhigher ed colleagues bring more
industry into the classroom andbe able to help their students
bridge that gap between whatdoes it mean to, you know, be on
my computer coding AI, buildingthose triggers and all of those
different things in theclassroom, but then actually
(36:19):
going out and doing it in theindustry, because it is so much
different as any AI engineerwould understand, and a lot of
times students don't come out ofa higher ed classroom, even a
high school classroom, with aproject that they've built, and
I'm seeing that reallytransition to teachers reaching
(36:41):
out to their academic or theirindustry colleagues to build
these types of programs that aremoving forward.
I'd also say you know thatwe're seeing the new frontier of
students in the classroom thatare, you know, bringing the.
We had digital natives as ageneration, but now we have AI
(37:04):
natives, which is crazy.
I can't imagine you know,teaching that generation.
But we have teachers that havededicated their lives to
educating our students whereverthey are.
Whether we have, you know,children that don't have
computers at home or we do.
We work with a a lot of STEMnonprofits and I just see these
(37:26):
teachers show up and chameleonfor these students wherever they
are.
I, you know I I am so biasedthere.
My mother is a previous retiredprincipal, my sister is a first
grade teacher.
My dad was a teacher, so Iworship teachers, like even my
kids teacher.
They want the shirt off my back.
(37:46):
I'll give it to them.
I think that they are, you know, just absolute angels on earth
when it comes to this.
But to see them rise up andembrace students that want to
talk about things like chat, gptyeah, let's talk about it.
Let's talk about the risks andthe benefits.
It's not blacklisted, right,because it's not going to be
blacklisted in the workforce,it's not going to be blacklisted
(38:07):
on their home computer.
So let's get curious about whatthis means.
What are the risks and what isthis tool?
How do we understand it?
Just like we understandanything else.
And I'm really proud of oureducation system.
You know the ones I've seen forstarting to make that shift of
our education system.
You know the ones I've seen forstarting to make that shift,
(38:30):
and I would say the twonegatives.
And I know I can be long-windedso I'll keep it short.
But education is not a business, right, we have something that
is financially responsible andwe understand that, but when we
have leaders that are leading itlike a business and not a
community organization in whichit is, then that's where I see
them get in trouble.
Educators and administrators,leaders that have never been in
(38:50):
the classroom please go spendthree weeks in the classroom
shadowing different grades andyou will have a totally
different outlook on what thatmeans.
Negative is bringing in thosefancy CTOs, bringing in those
fancy CIOs thinking, oh, they'regoing to revolutionize our
architecture like it's, you know, ford Motor Company.
(39:12):
That's not the same thing.
So I would invite leaders toremember that those
administrators serve theirteachers, not the other way
around.
And then the second negativething I would say is not
teaching students theunderstanding of basic AI in
(39:35):
higher education, so theunderstanding of data and risks
and things like that.
They often come out of theworkforce.
Come to us.
They've never, you know, reallyexperienced messy data.
Go out in your communities,find a local business I promise
you their data is a mess andgive your students an
opportunity to do service intheir communities by helping
(39:57):
those small businesses figureout how to automate their data.
So those types of things wherethey think you know, this is
just a simulation, absolutelydoesn't have to be.
That way, we can arm ourstudents with this type of
experience.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (40:11):
I love it.
Thank you so much for sharingthat, and there was definitely
so many just gems that you justdropped there that I know all
our listeners are definitelygoing to take that and sprinkle
it onto what they're alreadydoing great.
So thank you so much forsharing that, kyler.
And before we wrap up with ourlast three questions, kyler, I
want to ask you, or actuallygive you a little bit of time If
there is a school districtcurrently, right now, a leader,
(40:34):
an influencer that's listeningto this podcast right now, how
might they be able to get a holdof you, reach you and make that
contact?
Kyler Cheatham (40:42):
Sure, absolutely .
Well, I'm.
You know my DMs are always open.
That's how we met right onTikTok.
You can also DM me on LinkedIn.
I have a personal goal andmission to answer every single
one of my DMs personally, so I'mhappy for for to have an
informal conversation.
I'm always up to talk tech.
(41:03):
Obviously, I'm super passionateabout it and, as I said in the
beginning of this episode, whichwas why I'm so excited to join
you this is one of the mostcomplex environments, so give
yourself grace and feel free tojust reach out for a random chat
.
We can have a call and talkabout what you're going through.
If nothing else, it's always agood vent session.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (41:24):
Excellent, and that's true.
Kyler was so kind.
Like I said, I was goingscrolling through TikTok and
here I get this video andimmediately I was like heart
follow and I was like hey, wouldyou like to be a guest on the
podcast?
And I got an answer and we madeit happen and we're here today.
So definitely reach out, guys.
It doesn't hurt to just again,just get some knowledge, get a
(41:48):
little bit of direction, andKyler, like she, just offered
herself up as far as her DMs andher account.
So take advantage of that.
Ctos, if you're listening, ifyou have some questions, and
maybe you can build a greatcollaborative relationship with
Kyler and her team, make surethat you do reach out.
So thank you so much, kyler.
But before we wrap up, wealways love to end the show with
(42:09):
these last three questions.
So, kyler, I hope that you areready, all right.
So question number one as weknow, every superhero has a pain
point or a weakness, and forSuperman, that kryptonite was
what weakened him.
So I want to ask you, in thecurrent state and we'll say, of
AI, all right, what would yousay would be your current AI
(42:33):
kryptonite?
Kyler Cheatham (42:35):
Just the speed of change.
You know I am super dedicatedto helping our young engineers,
but at this point I even had acall today where I was like I
got to be so real with you guys.
I have no idea what you'retalking about at this point,
because you know they're so farabove me.
You know they're buildingthings on Catapult and doing all
these amazing innovations.
(42:55):
I want to be there to supportthem, but sometimes I have to
just get out of their way andlet them do their thing.
So the speed of change of thistechnology is never something
I've experienced in my career.
So, you know, it's about thisbalance of guiding them but also
not, you know, ruining the callwith all of my like, very basic
(43:16):
questions about what they'redoing, because they're doing
great stuff out there.
So I would say that is probablymy kryptonite on the AI side.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (43:25):
Oh, there you go.
But that's pretty cool, though.
I mean sometimes, like youmentioned earlier, you've got to
embrace that, I don't know.
But hey you know what, we canfigure it out, so don't worry.
So that's great, kyler, allright.
Question number two Kyler andwhy?
Kyler Cheatham (43:43):
I would have a billboard that said tell the
truth.
And I would put it rightoutside of like SAP's
headquarters, you know, inPennsylvania and Germany and all
of my other vendor partnerswhich we we get.
We are frenemies, right, we getalong with our vendor
colleagues as long as they showup for our client, but they need
(44:04):
to tell the truth.
Like it is time, you guys, likeit just looks bad for everyone
involved.
No one wants to fail theimplementation.
Just tell the truth in yoursales processes.
That's all.
That's all I'm asking you to do.
So that's what would mybillboard?
Probably with my face, likepointing at them or something
like that is perfect.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (44:22):
Actually, that billboard could definitely go a
long way in the k-12 higher edspace too, for all the platforms
and all the apps that are outthere.
So I love it all right.
Last question, kyler, is if youcan trade places with one
person for a day, who would thatbe and why?
Kyler Cheatham (44:40):
yeah, um, I think that that's such a great
question I spent so much timethinking about that one because
it's such such a good one.
And I would probably say SarahBlakely, you know, I really
admire her entrepreneurialjourney and you know, just, I've
admired her as a female leaderin a space that didn't have a
(45:01):
lot of innovation and though youdon't think of, like Spanx, and
you think of innovation, right,that actually was something
that didn't exist before shecreated it.
I think the way that she'sbuilt the culture of her
business is something I'd reallylove to be a fly on the wall of
.
Like how did you build it andmaintain that culture?
Through growing it through abillion dollars?
(45:21):
You know, that is so incredibleto me.
I really admire it.
I've read all of her books andI would probably you know just
be so honored to be in herpresence or trade places with
her for a day.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (45:35):
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much forsharing and, kyler, thank you
again.
I really do appreciate youhopping on the podcast.
Thank you again, I really doappreciate you hopping on the
podcast.
Thank you so much for acceptingmy invite and, again, I'm a
huge fan of your content.
I definitely learn a lot fromit.
I know I comment on there a lot,saying like, hey, say it louder
for the K-12 space to you, andthings of that sort, because I
(45:56):
think that what you're doing isgreat and the messaging is
wonderful and a lot of peopleneed to be, you know, in tune
with what you're saying and Ithink that's very helpful.
So I definitely recommend allmy listeners everybody listening
to this show.
Please make sure you followKyler, follow her TikTok she has
some great content there and,again, follow her on LinkedIn
and make sure that you doconnect.
(46:16):
But thank you as always and forall of you all, make sure you
visit our website, myedtechlife,where you can check out this
amazing episode and the other330 episodes that we've done
over this five-year span.
It has been a wonderfulexperience and thank you so much
for your continued support.
I want to give a big shout-outto our sponsors.
(46:36):
Thank you so much to BookCreator, eduaid and Yellowdig
for sponsoring our show,believing in our mission and
again just bringing some amazingguests like Kyler and amazing
conversations into our K-12higher ed space so that we may
continue to learn and moveforward.
As we know, technology is goingto be changing from day to day,
(46:56):
but it's always great to bereadily equipped in season and
out of season.
So make sure you check out allthose episodes and, my friends,
until next time, don't forget,stay techie.
You.
Hello everybody and welcome to another
great episode of my EdTech Life.
Thank you so much for joiningus on this wonderful day and,
wherever it is that you'rejoining us from around the world
, thank you, as always, for allof your support.
We appreciate all the likes,the shares, the follows.
Thank you so much for justsharing our content, for all the
positive feedback and, asalways, we love to bring you
(00:51):
some amazing conversations andamazing guests and, as always,
my friends.
Today is just as great as everyother episode, but I'm really
excited that I have been able toconnect with today's guests,
following them on TikTok, whatthey share about technology,
technology, innovation, talkingabout AI.
(01:11):
So I figured that today, whatshe has to offer is something
that is wonderful as well forthe K-12 and higher ed space.
So I would love to welcome tothe show Kyler Cheatham.
Kyler, how are you doing today?
Kyler Cheatham (01:26):
Oh, I'm great.
Thank you so much for having me.
I so appreciate being heretoday.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (01:31):
Excellent.
Well, I am excited that you'rehere.
Just like I mentioned in theintroduction, I stumbled upon
your TikTok account andeverything that you said just
really resonates with me.
Being a fellow ed tech lovermyself and just seeing the
changes in educationaltechnology and just technology
(01:51):
as a whole from you know, when Ifirst got immersed in it in
2018 till now, and, of course,seeing the big boom with AI and
what you share, I was just likethis really resonates and this
needs to also be heard, you know, within our K-12 higher ed
space.
So, before we get into theconversation for today, can you
(02:12):
please give us a little briefintroduction and what your
context is within the technologyspace?
Kyler Cheatham (02:17):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I am a system architectureexpert that specializes in AI
and predictive analytics, andthat's just a really fancy way
of saying.
I help people figure out whattechnology is best for their
business or their public sectorenvironment A lot of times at
(02:38):
school districts or highereducation and just decide what
the best way is to implementthis emerging technology within
their overall culture so theirteam doesn't freak out and they
can have, you know, this synergyof really maximizing technology
outcomes.
So my consultancy works acrossthe globe and we're very, very
(03:01):
privileged to have greatcontacts like you and a lot of
different verticals throughoutindustries.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (03:07):
Oh, that is wonderful and that's great that
you share that with us because,as you know and I always go back
and, just FYI I just defendedmy dissertation yesterday and it
was really on talking about theimplications of artificial
intelligence within the schoolsetting and it's really like 70
episodes that I did fromNovember 22 to December 2024.
(03:31):
So it's a nice snapshot there.
So we'll talk a little bitabout what I've observed and
then just kind of run parallelto what you have observed.
But I love that you mentionedthat you do have that experience
in speaking with schools andworking with teams, because I
know that not everybody has itquite figured out and it's still
very much so like the wild,wild west.
(03:52):
So, yes, exactly, so we'll goahead and get into that.
So I just want to ask you,first and foremost, you know, as
far as your background in thetechnology space and, like you
mentioned, consultancy in AIwhat are some of the big things
that you're seeing right nowwithin your consultancy within
the education space?
(04:12):
What are some of those fears orbarriers that you're currently
trying to help school districtskind of overcome so that that
way they can get these systemsto work for them and for their
educators and students?
Kyler Cheatham (04:26):
Absolutely Well.
I mean, as you well know, aschool district or an
educational environment is oneof the most difficult and
complex to implement newtechnology in, just because of
not only the cultural dynamics,but they don't have a lot of
backfilling on, you know, theircore team or on their staff.
(04:47):
They are already prettystrapped when it comes to
implementing that, and we didone of the largest school
districts in the United Statesand it was the largest
implementation I think I've everseen.
I'm pretty confident in sayingthat just because there had to
be movement in staff so much sothat they had to bring in
(05:10):
temporary staff to be able tooversee how the technical
implementation was being testedand we're kind of over here like
that's great, that's cool thatyou saw a solve for that.
But you need to be able to ownyour technology strategy and
really understand what thatmeans, especially when it comes
to AI integration.
(05:30):
Because no offense to teachers,love teachers but a lot of times
our academic colleagues can bevery, very resistant to change
right Just because they've beendoing their job the way that
they've done it for so long.
And adding a level oftechnology in already, you know,
a very hectic classroomenvironment can be incredibly
(05:51):
stressful.
So totally valid, right.
But when it comes to what we'reseeing in AI at the school
district level and I'd becurious if you agree there is so
much data and so muchfoundational needs and processes
and assessment of cultures.
Each school is a differentculture, each district is a
(06:11):
different culture and each onereally needs its own
implementation strategy in orderto maximize the output of their
technology.
So really there's still so muchin the forefront of building
out what that foundation lookslike.
Ai hasn't been something thatthey can really utilize quite
(06:32):
yet, just because of all of thatfront end work that needs to be
done to, you know, reallyimplement it in that kind of
complex structure.
And again, I'd be curious yourthoughts on that too.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (06:44):
Yes, no, absolutely, and that's something
that we see.
And one thing that you didmention is really the lack of
resources, and not necessarilythat I'm talking about, you know
, chromebooks or devices andthings, but the human resource
Exactly, not enough peoplewithin a district.
And now you're adding thisadditional component for people
that may not be equipped oraware of what's happening.
(07:07):
And many times, like youmentioned, yes, in the classroom
and the teachers you do have.
And I always love to quote myfriend, renee Dawson, who says
you've got your speedboats, yourtugboats and your anchors,
you've got those that will go toa conference or see a video on
TikTok and that's it.
They're just going to go aheadand run in and implement without
any just regard to privacy orregard to accounts or anything,
(07:31):
and they're just going to go forit because they think like,
okay, this is going to go aheadand save me time.
Then you've got the kind of inthe middle, like the tugboat,
where I'm like, okay, I'm kindof waiting and seeing, but then,
like you said, there is that,uh, resistance faction, and
that's one thing that is veryinterested, interesting and does
coincide with the findings inmy dissertation, where it we see
(07:53):
in the second quarter of youknow my research we did see this
kind of branch of now you havethe resistors and you have the
hey, let's move fast and breakthings kind of crowd.
And then I always say it's likeI always like to be in the
middle and bring theseconversations to the table to
see where we can kind of meet.
But you're absolutely right.
And in the sense that right nowa lot of school districts are
(08:16):
kind of getting that guidance,but there's still a little loss
because there's still thatdisconnect between the classroom
, where teachers kind of havethat autonomy in the sense of
you know, I have control of myclassroom and they may just
bring in apps just to use anduse them, because it's either
(08:37):
hey, somebody's using it onTwitter, I'm doing it for social
media, or I'm actually tryingto help that work without the
CTOs knowing what may behappening.
And then, of course, there'sthat risk of data.
So what are some of just your,some of the best advice?
Maybe two to three tips justthat you can share with CTOs
(08:58):
during this time, because I'msure they have their hands full.
And again, like you mentioned,we need to make sure that we're
all conveying the same messageand moving in the same direction
.
What can you tell them to kindof put them at ease?
Maybe two to three things toget them started.
Kyler Cheatham (09:14):
Absolutely, and a CTO for a school district or
an educational entity is no joke, right, that is this, you know,
definitely a very challengingposition.
I always say the CTO or the CIOin the organization is really
the loneliest position.
Right, you're supposed to bethis know-all center for all
things technology, but ideally,especially right now, we see
(09:36):
typically that those CTOs don'tknow a ton about technology
because that wasn't, you know,the generation they were
educated in, so they're stilllearning just as much as their
team, and so my advice would beto own those I don't knows.
Right, there's never going tobe a full baked answer that
anyone expects you to have.
(09:56):
Lean on your team, lean on yourconsultants if that's what
you're doing.
Lean on your vendor and makesure that you understand that I
don't know is a fine answer.
I don't know what to do aboutthis issue that we're having at
this said school district.
I understand that it's causinga lot of chaos.
I hear you that you'refrustrated, but I don't know how
(10:16):
to solve it.
But what I can promise you isI'm going to put my full energy
into listening to you, hearingto you and finding a solution
for you.
So that would be one tip.
The other thing I always tellCTOs, especially educators,
because they're used to, youknow, being so involved and
(10:37):
engaged in their culture, that alot of times when those senior
administrators get to that level, they still think they have
that same pulse on what's goingon with each school and they
don't Like, at the end of theday, even if you are the best
award-winning CTO in the entireuniverse, there is still an
executive bubble that you don'thear what's going on on the
(10:59):
front lines.
So you need to look at yourimplementation and those
organizational assessment dataas absolute goldmine nuggets of
data.
You need to understand thatyour teachers, your staff, your
other administrators are reallytelling you what you need to
hear, and a lot of times,luckily, our teachers can be
(11:22):
very engaging in that type ofthing because they're teachers.
You know they're used to thosetypes of, you know surveys and
qualitative, quantitativefeedback mechanisms.
So know that the organizationalassessment data is going to be
so foundational to setting yourtechnology strategy.
Don't try and set somethingwhen you haven't heard the
(11:44):
problem yet.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (11:45):
Oh, I love that.
And those are great tips andthat's for that side, like I
mentioned, those that are stilltrying to figure it out and
owning those I don't knows.
I think that's something that'svery important.
Because now I want to ask youon the other side, what if we
have those CTOs that are justrunning and gunning and just
saying, hey, we're just going toopen this up and just because
(12:07):
maybe we want to have thatnotoriety or we want to just
open this up because we want tobe the cool kids and things of
that sort, what might be some ofthe risks that they may run
into, that they need to considerthat, instead of doing the move
fast and break things, that'skind of be more intentional of
what we're doing.
So what might be, you know, twotips that you would share with
(12:31):
that type of CTO?
Kyler Cheatham (12:33):
Absolutely.
And you know those CTOs aresometimes scarier than you know
the CTOs that have kind of thistenure, they might be more not
digital literate in that way.
That CTO right, we still needto listen to our communities, we
still need to have thatfoundational piece.
But, knowing you can't arguewith data, I always say when I
(12:54):
go in to talk to a CTO,understanding the risk of
failure from a quantitativelevel, If we spend $30 million
on this new AI pilot project andit fails, not only are we
losing $30 million because werushed it and we didn't listen
(13:15):
to our staff or our communities,but also now we have to go in
to calculate the time loss andthe fatigue with that
implementation, Because youmentioned the lack of resources.
It's like running uphill insand at that point because
you've lost buy-in at everylevel.
And we always say the mostimportant or most expensive
(13:39):
piece of an implementation arethose re's, redesign, redo,
re-engage, because that is somuch harder than starting off on
a strong, solid, intentionalfoundation plan that's been
engaged at every level of yourorganization.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (13:58):
Excellent and that is wonderful.
Like you mentioned there, justreally kind of just slowing
things down and really talkingto stakeholders, really taking
everything into account.
Now, in my experience not onlyjust speaking for my district
(14:25):
but for friends that work atother districts is currently
within our education space.
We're starting to see, you know, kind of a couple of
applications, maybe like the topfive, that are really kind of
making their way and separatingthemselves from the rest, and
obviously people get excitedabout that.
They're like, hey, we need asubscription to this, we need a
(14:46):
subscription to that.
And my biggest fear has alwaysbeen, you know, if you do buy in
and get that subscription,you're spending that much money.
But what if something happens?
Because for the most part, allof these applications are
wrappers, you know they pluginto OpenAI's API and or any
other large language model, andso what happens with that
(15:09):
company is no longer there,maybe within a year?
Because what if Google you know, with all the releases, that
it's done?
Is it going to go ahead andkill off some of those apps, the
things that OpenAI now isoffering?
Is it going to go ahead andkill some of those apps?
So, how might you suggest that?
Navigating the space to findthat point where, okay, we can
(15:33):
feel safe about this investment,or maybe you know what?
Maybe this is not the time, sowhat can you share there to make
better decisions in that case?
Kyler Cheatham (15:43):
Yeah, that's such a good question, you know,
definitely starting with thatmindset of thinking that way,
and so when we're talking aboutbudget, the first thing we need
to look at that first part ofyour question is what is the
total cost of ownership?
So a lot of this sneakysoftware subscription model I
always compare it to no otherbusiness or industry blatantly
(16:05):
lies to their customers outsideof, like organized crime or like
the cartel, right.
So you know there isn't a tonof trust in that industry.
So you really need to sit downand go.
Okay, I'm signing this contract.
I know from the day I sign,that's when I start paying.
They don't care how long ittakes me to implement that If I
use it.
(16:26):
You know what is that supportstructure looks like?
Are they going?
And that's one of those thingswhere you really really need to
(16:49):
be disciplined in who I'mworking with For my clients.
We never work with a vendorthat can't prove it.
You might be on even my quantumclients.
Okay, so you, quantum is new.
We have a lot of new people,new innovation to the industry.
That's awesome, but we're notgoing to be the first.
(17:09):
All right, we're going to go inand spend with vendors who we
look at this like a selectionwhat do we get, how much is it?
What's our support and how dowe make sure that you're not
going to ghost us after we leave?
Who have you implemented beforein a school district?
And I'm going to call them.
So you need to prove it.
Never don't check thosereferences.
(17:32):
Even if it's a small, tiny $25subscription a month, you still
are responsible to yourcommunity, especially in the
public sector, for understandingwhat that cost means and what
you get after that.
There's been so many clientsthat I've had that have come to
me being like, hey, I just kindof robot, this AI, you know
(17:54):
system, because it claimed tointegrate with my ERP, my CRM,
my LMS, you know, really quicklyand I thought that that was
going to be, you know, a greatoption, because I wanted to fix
this breakage and now they won'ttalk to me and I can't figure
out what's going wrong.
I can't even figure out a phonenumber to call them.
There's no email, there's noanything, and that is where
(18:17):
clients get stuck is in thatghosting phase, as I always call
it.
So being sure that you'remeeting this vendor and holding
them accountable as a partner toyou, that's what they need to
show up, not a set it and forgetit.
You bought my system.
I'm done with you, especiallyin a school environment where we
(18:37):
don't have you know, you havemaybe what one, two IT people
per school, you know, with sixgrades, and that's something
that we need to make sure thatwe understand how the vendor is
going to show up and support us,or the SI is going to show up
to support us in that way.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (18:55):
Yeah, and you know, that's something that you
mentioned.
That is so important because Ihave heard, I have seen where
you know there's vendors thatcome in and say, okay, you know,
for adoptions, book adoptions,things of that sort.
And it's like, hey, this iswhat we offer, they share it.
And all of a sudden it's like,oh, this is the greatest thing,
this works great, this is goingto plug into this LMS, this is
(19:17):
going to do this, and so on.
But, like you mentioned, thesurprise is okay, we got it, but
wait a minute, why isn't itplugging in?
Well, you know, it's not quitethere yet, you know, and things
of that sort.
And then all of a sudden it'syou know, you bought into that,
but now the teachers or the endusers are now like you know what
(19:43):
?
Like this, I'm not using this.
This is not going to work forme, you know at all, and that's
because there is a committee ofteachers that goes and vets all
of these.
But I want to ask you for, inthat case, because you mentioned
something that's very important, because we need to do our due
diligence and always make surethat all our stakeholders are at
least well informed.
So, in that situation that youare making that tough decision,
(20:03):
what might you recommend as faras a CTO?
Who should those conversationsbe had with, at least to make
sure that you kind of have thatfail safe in case, like they're
all in.
But then you know you havesomebody that kind of balance
things out and says, hey, well,maybe have we thought about this
yet or come up with thiscomponent, because sometimes I
(20:27):
feel that a lot of decisions canjust be done abruptly and then
it's kind of like all right, wedid it, now we got to be all in,
but now we can't get that buyin.
So what might be just some failsafe advice for any leader,
whether it's superintendent, ctoor curriculum?
Kyler Cheatham (20:46):
Absolutely, and I mean that's such a good
question.
And when we do any sort oftechnology implementation, even
if it's super small, it needs tohave a core team and that core
team needs to be made up ofwhomever is sponsoring the
project from an executive level,whoever is managing the project
, whoever is responsible fordeveloping the project from an
executive level, whoever ismanaging the project, whoever is
responsible for developing theproject, and then the end users
(21:10):
should make up at least 50% ofthat core team, because if you
don't have them in the room,you're building blind.
You have absolutely no ideawhat their requirements are,
especially in an environmentlike education, because they
don't have time, you know, torun around and sit or sit, and
that's why a lot of times whenwe come into a school district,
(21:32):
there can be a lot of frictionbetween the vendor and the
district.
This is not a normal business,right, and they're treating you
like a normal business andyou're so frustrated because you
don't have time to sit down andhave 37 meetings a day about
requirements.
You need to do it differentlyand meet each other where it's
(21:52):
at.
I think in that situation,really engaging those end users
from day one.
We always call it phase zero,right Before we've selected
anything, we have an idea wewant to be on the forefront of
AI because we think our studentsdeserve that, and we're going
to start to move towards that.
We're not sure what that means,we're not sure what problem
(22:15):
we're solving.
So there we come, to the endusers what is your experience
and what is something that youfeel like could really benefit
your processes in the classroom,and so that's where we really
understand where that core teamcomes from.
But the minute I walk into asteering committee meeting and
(22:35):
there's no end users in there,I'm like this meeting is
pointless.
It really is Like, respectfully, this is pointless because the
people that actually matter inthis conversation are not in the
room.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (22:49):
That is wonderful.
Advice Definitely resonates and, like I said, it's just things
that even through research andyou know experiences and hearing
things out, oftentimes that'sone of the things that happens
is that not everybody that needsto be in the room is there, and
at the end the final decisionmaker just says, hey, this is
what we're going to go with, andnow we just got to make it work
(23:11):
.
And so it's almost like you'reworking a lot harder and it's
very similar to what youmentioned.
It's like you're running uphillin sand because you're trying
to make it work and you're goingto tire out.
You're not going to be able tomake it all the way to the top
and try to take everybody upwith you.
I mean, you need to really havethose end users in mind.
So I'm going to switch things upa little bit and now I want to
(23:33):
ask you because we've beentalking about, just directly,
school district to vendors.
So now I want to talk to youabout vendors, some of these
platforms, in the way that theyare approaching or maybe in the
way that they are selling to adistrict what are some things
that they might do better?
I know for myself.
I'm always looking for, I'malways looking at the privacy
(23:56):
settings, I'm always looking atthe terms of service, I'm
looking where the data is stored, what kind of data is stored,
and it's definitely one of thethings that I'm always looking
for is full transparency oftheir systems.
So what are some things that,if you are working with vendors
and I'm sure you have thatexperience what are some things
that they can do better to puttheir final you know, either
(24:21):
that school district they'reworking with and those end users
at peace and ease.
Kyler Cheatham (24:27):
Absolutely.
And I mean, I think we can'talways rely on vendor
salespeople to do better.
Right, I do think there's alevel at which they, you know,
do take responsibility for whatthey sell, but these are
salespeople, they have quotas tomeet and they don't always give
the best recommendations whenit comes to systems, because
(24:48):
their main job is to sell it.
So if I were speaking to avendor, I would say have a
school district practice, right?
You guys, come in here, youfail all the time.
When it comes to schooldistricts, you know there ends
up being this huge fight andthis chaos, which nobody wants
on either end.
Nobody wants a failedimplementation.
It's embarrassing for thedistrict, it's embarrassing for
(25:09):
the vendor and it just doesn'tgo well.
So you need someone that is aspecialist in this environment,
just like you have specialistsin manufacturing and you have
specialists in distribution andyou have specialists in food and
beverage.
School district is not a normalbusiness.
So go in and look at thoserequirements that actually
matter to them.
(25:29):
And, by the way, why don't youuse your data set that you
already have in front of you andask your current users what
would you like to seedifferently?
I think that's one thing thatI'm always so perplexed why they
never seem to do and how theyact, like they've never been in
a school district in their livesand they're like, well, you
know, we're not getting theengagement.
(25:50):
And it's like, because they'reteachers, like they're not
sitting around all day justwaiting for your call.
Right, they are very busyeducating the youth of America,
so you have to go to the tableand meet them where they are.
When you're talking aboutthings like requirements, you're
not talking to technical people, so you need to bring people in
(26:11):
the room that are able to speakthe same language.
And I call myself and my teamprofessional translators,
because a lot of times whatthey're saying and then the
client looks at us like what?
And we're like, okay, you know,this is what that means, this.
Then the client looks at uslike what?
And we're like, okay, you knowwhat this is what that means,
this is the functionality.
And then they kind of shut downbecause they're so overwhelmed
by this entire process.
(26:33):
So I would say you know to theselection committee again should
feature over 50 percent in youend users that they need to know
going in there that this is awar.
Right, they need to come inwith their requirements ready,
that they built, not the vendorright, that they built, not the
vendor right.
(26:54):
And then also, they need tounderstand that they have every
right to say you know what?
That was very cool, all of yourslide deck there, great,
awesome.
But what about my needs and myfunctionalities that I want to
see?
Can you show me that?
And if that vendor's like well,you know we don't really do
that they're telling you whatkind of partner they're going to
(27:16):
be in that conversation and youwant to take that as a huge
consideration when you're makingthat choice.
Right, it's not what was bestfor, you know, new York City
school district.
It's about what's best for yourschool district and who's going
to show up as an implementationpartner, not just a vendor, and
same with the SIs.
(27:37):
In my experience I don't know ifyou have the same experience
school districts have a lot ofchallenges with system
integrators.
They are technical integrators.
That is their job.
It is like oil and water mixingthem with the school district
because they don't have thecounterparts that they would
have in a normal industrybusiness right, and that can be
(27:58):
a huge struggle for both peopleinvolved and that's a lot of
times why we have to, you know,bring in temp workers or, a lot
of times, an additional thirdparty to backfill those, because
there's just so much work to dothat this district doesn't have
that resource to make thathappen.
But remember, it's your demo,it's your software, it's your
(28:20):
environment and you're allowedto ask whatever questions that
you want.
And that's a lot of times whatwe're doing in the room, my team
right, and saying all of thatis very cool, we're super
excited.
You have all this on yourroadmap, but this is what this
client is looking for.
Can you go ahead and show usthat?
We go over the scripts with thevendor beforehand to make sure
that they're clear about, like,we don't want to hear any crazy
(28:43):
mumbo jumbo.
That's not happening in thisenvironment.
You know, innovations can be 2%part of the conversation, but
these people, their time islimited and you need to make
sure that you're, you know,really addressing what they're
looking for.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (28:57):
Amazing.
There's definitely so much tounpack there and I really wish
that you know a lot of theplatforms that we work with.
You know K-12 and going toconferences and everything it's.
I understand that there's a showaspect of it of like, wow, you
know, look at what we can do andlook at all the bells and
whistles and so on, but at theend of the day, I love what you
(29:19):
said and being able to sit downand just say, okay, this is what
we are needing, can you providethat?
And well, but we've got thisbutton, but we've got that
button.
It's like no, no, no, no.
And sometimes I think, like youmentioned the importance of
having somebody like you or yourteam there, especially when
there might be, like you know,somebody that's like hey, like
(29:41):
let's go, let's just go for it,let's just move fast, and we're
just going to get it, and so on,thinking like, hey, we get it,
like everybody's going to use it, because this is what
everybody's using, or this wasthe next big thing that I saw at
the conference.
So we, you know, really have toget it.
But at the end of the day, Ithink one a lot of the content
that I see that you put out,especially like recently with a
(30:03):
couple of videos, is many timesI think that when we are trying
to say like, oh well, we want tobe innovative, so we're going
to get this app, we never reallyget to the root of the problem,
you know, as far as is itreally the technology that's
going to help enhance thelearning and the pedagogy, or
(30:24):
might it might even workbackwards, where sometimes I
feel that maybe some of the techmay enhance bad pedagogy
because you know, we're notmeeting at the same place or
trying to solve the same problem.
It's just layering somethingelse on top of that and hoping
like, hey, this will be gone.
So what advice might yousuggest to school districts that
(30:47):
may not really see, or tryingto get to the root of the
problem before they purchasesomething?
Kyler Cheatham (30:56):
Yeah, and I see this happen all the time in
school districts, again, justbecause they don't really
understand the process, Like onaverage.
You know, we see a lot ofdistricts that haven't purchased
new like core operationalsoftware in 30 years, right?
So it's not like they have liketenured teams that have been
through this and that's prettytypical, right, when you're
(31:16):
looking at a bigger ERP systemor something like that, that
there's not a lot of people thathave been through that.
So, define what you need, right, Whether you're working, you
know, with a consultant like ourteam, or you know, your
internal.
Define, because the vendor isgoing to define that for you
very quickly If you don't havethe knowledge to say like, thank
(31:39):
you very much for your input,but this is actually what we
need, and a lot of times, schooldistricts don't have the time,
they don't have the industryinsight to know that's what
happens.
And they also, you know, theywant to be able to get something
done on a quick timeline sothey can, you know, service
their community, so they canservice their teachers.
Even the, you know, mostwell-intentioned project
(32:01):
sponsors want to get this doneso that they can, you know,
prove to their communities thatthey got it done, but what we
have to do is sit down and bedisciplined around the why.
You know it's like you knowthat executive.
I walk in and they're like youknow, 2025, our initiative is AI
, like full stop, and I wait forthem to finish and we're like
(32:25):
okay, cool, Like, why, though?
Like, what problem are youwanting to solve?
Are you just wanting like?
We could call your ERP system AIif you wanted to, because
technically it is.
You know, there's predictiveanalytics in there, there's
predictive maintenance in there,All AI.
You already have AI right Insome level shape or form.
We could give you a stickerthat says AI, or already have AI
right in some level, shape orform.
We could give you a stickerthat says AI, or maybe a hat
(32:47):
right, but in that capacity, wehave to understand why are we
doing this, how much does itcost and what is it going to
take to implement.
And remember I just remindschool districts, because
sometimes they forget that thewhy is going to be different for
each end user, and that's whereyou need to source it from, Not
(33:11):
, you know, the board room, butthe classroom.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (33:15):
Oh, that was powerful.
I really love that.
And oftentimes it's the otherway around.
Oftentimes you know where it'slike straight from the top and
this is what we're going to doinstead of going from you know,
like you said, the classroom up,because eventually those are
those teachers that you wantthat buy-in.
And who's better to give youmore data than the teacher
that's there using it, workingwith the students?
(33:37):
Is it really going to enhanceit or is it really just?
Does it turn just intocompliance?
When it's like, hey, just do it30 minutes per day or 30
minutes a week, you know, forper subject, then it just
becomes compliance.
And so is it really enhancingthe teaching or is it just like,
ok, just make sure you do it.
Just on my reports, it showsthat you did your 15 questions
(33:59):
for the week and you're good togo, and you know that that's the
sad reality of it.
So I really love that.
That last statement was sopowerful that you said it's
really taking into account yourteacher, how it's working with
the students, or how it might ormight not work, and then take
that feedback to the top and say, OK, let's see what we can do
here and are we making the rightand proper decision, because,
(34:21):
at the end of the day, it'ssomething that's going to cost
money and so you're going tolose out on other resources that
might be more helpful, becauseyou're all in on something that
you think is going to solve theproblem.
And one of the things that youmentioned that I love too is
right now, because everything isAI.
It's really just seems more ofthat marketing term like, hey,
this is AI, this has AI.
(34:43):
But I love what you said andsay, hey, you know what like
that one platform or you knowwhat that one thing like, maybe,
like you said, just put thatsticker there that says AI.
Maybe you might feel more likecalm about it and say, hey, I'm
already using AI, yeah, but youdidn't know it.
But because it's not the AI thatis being shown at the
conferences and the next shinytool and the one that's going to
(35:05):
solve the world's problems witha chatbot that's going to teach
your student you know thecontent, and so on.
So sometimes it's like it'sokay to slow down and really see
things through and make thoseclear decisions and points.
So I really really like that alot.
So, kyler, as we kind of startwrapping up.
I want to ask you you know inyour experiences and maybe you
(35:27):
don't have to get into too muchdetail, but maybe we can share
like two wins and maybe twolosses that you're currently
seeing as you're working in theK-12 space and maybe even higher
ed what are some of thepositives that you're seeing
with AI and some of the not sopositives that you're seeing
with AI?
Kyler Cheatham (35:57):
Yeah.
So I love that question of myhigher ed colleagues bring more
industry into the classroom andbe able to help their students
bridge that gap between whatdoes it mean to, you know, be on
my computer coding AI, buildingthose triggers and all of those
different things in theclassroom, but then actually
(36:19):
going out and doing it in theindustry, because it is so much
different as any AI engineerwould understand, and a lot of
times students don't come out ofa higher ed classroom, even a
high school classroom, with aproject that they've built, and
I'm seeing that reallytransition to teachers reaching
(36:41):
out to their academic or theirindustry colleagues to build
these types of programs that aremoving forward.
I'd also say you know thatwe're seeing the new frontier of
students in the classroom thatare, you know, bringing the.
We had digital natives as ageneration, but now we have AI
(37:04):
natives, which is crazy.
I can't imagine you know,teaching that generation.
But we have teachers that havededicated their lives to
educating our students whereverthey are.
Whether we have, you know,children that don't have
computers at home or we do.
We work with a a lot of STEMnonprofits and I just see these
(37:26):
teachers show up and chameleonfor these students wherever they
are.
I, you know I I am so biasedthere.
My mother is a previous retiredprincipal, my sister is a first
grade teacher.
My dad was a teacher, so Iworship teachers, like even my
kids teacher.
They want the shirt off my back.
(37:46):
I'll give it to them.
I think that they are, you know, just absolute angels on earth
when it comes to this.
But to see them rise up andembrace students that want to
talk about things like chat, gptyeah, let's talk about it.
Let's talk about the risks andthe benefits.
It's not blacklisted, right,because it's not going to be
blacklisted in the workforce,it's not going to be blacklisted
(38:07):
on their home computer.
So let's get curious about whatthis means.
What are the risks and what isthis tool?
How do we understand it?
Just like we understandanything else.
And I'm really proud of oureducation system.
You know the ones I've seen forstarting to make that shift of
our education system.
You know the ones I've seen forstarting to make that shift,
(38:30):
and I would say the twonegatives.
And I know I can be long-windedso I'll keep it short.
But education is not a business, right, we have something that
is financially responsible andwe understand that, but when we
have leaders that are leading itlike a business and not a
community organization in whichit is, then that's where I see
them get in trouble.
Educators and administrators,leaders that have never been in
(38:50):
the classroom please go spendthree weeks in the classroom
shadowing different grades andyou will have a totally
different outlook on what thatmeans.
Negative is bringing in thosefancy CTOs, bringing in those
fancy CIOs thinking, oh, they'regoing to revolutionize our
architecture like it's, you know, ford Motor Company.
(39:12):
That's not the same thing.
So I would invite leaders toremember that those
administrators serve theirteachers, not the other way
around.
And then the second negativething I would say is not
teaching students theunderstanding of basic AI in
(39:35):
higher education, so theunderstanding of data and risks
and things like that.
They often come out of theworkforce.
Come to us.
They've never, you know, reallyexperienced messy data.
Go out in your communities,find a local business I promise
you their data is a mess andgive your students an
opportunity to do service intheir communities by helping
(39:57):
those small businesses figureout how to automate their data.
So those types of things wherethey think you know, this is
just a simulation, absolutelydoesn't have to be.
That way, we can arm ourstudents with this type of
experience.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (40:11):
I love it.
Thank you so much for sharingthat, and there was definitely
so many just gems that you justdropped there that I know all
our listeners are definitelygoing to take that and sprinkle
it onto what they're alreadydoing great.
So thank you so much forsharing that, kyler.
And before we wrap up with ourlast three questions, kyler, I
want to ask you, or actuallygive you a little bit of time If
there is a school districtcurrently, right now, a leader,
(40:34):
an influencer that's listeningto this podcast right now, how
might they be able to get a holdof you, reach you and make that
contact?
Kyler Cheatham (40:42):
Sure, absolutely .
Well, I'm.
You know my DMs are always open.
That's how we met right onTikTok.
You can also DM me on LinkedIn.
I have a personal goal andmission to answer every single
one of my DMs personally, so I'mhappy for for to have an
informal conversation.
I'm always up to talk tech.
(41:03):
Obviously, I'm super passionateabout it and, as I said in the
beginning of this episode, whichwas why I'm so excited to join
you this is one of the mostcomplex environments, so give
yourself grace and feel free tojust reach out for a random chat
.
We can have a call and talkabout what you're going through.
If nothing else, it's always agood vent session.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (41:24):
Excellent, and that's true.
Kyler was so kind.
Like I said, I was goingscrolling through TikTok and
here I get this video andimmediately I was like heart
follow and I was like hey, wouldyou like to be a guest on the
podcast?
And I got an answer and we madeit happen and we're here today.
So definitely reach out, guys.
It doesn't hurt to just again,just get some knowledge, get a
(41:48):
little bit of direction, andKyler, like she, just offered
herself up as far as her DMs andher account.
So take advantage of that.
Ctos, if you're listening, ifyou have some questions, and
maybe you can build a greatcollaborative relationship with
Kyler and her team, make surethat you do reach out.
So thank you so much, kyler.
But before we wrap up, wealways love to end the show with
(42:09):
these last three questions.
So, kyler, I hope that you areready, all right.
So question number one as weknow, every superhero has a pain
point or a weakness, and forSuperman, that kryptonite was
what weakened him.
So I want to ask you, in thecurrent state and we'll say, of
AI, all right, what would yousay would be your current AI
(42:33):
kryptonite?
Kyler Cheatham (42:35):
Just the speed of change.
You know I am super dedicatedto helping our young engineers,
but at this point I even had acall today where I was like I
got to be so real with you guys.
I have no idea what you'retalking about at this point,
because you know they're so farabove me.
You know they're buildingthings on Catapult and doing all
these amazing innovations.
(42:55):
I want to be there to supportthem, but sometimes I have to
just get out of their way andlet them do their thing.
So the speed of change of thistechnology is never something
I've experienced in my career.
So, you know, it's about thisbalance of guiding them but also
not, you know, ruining the callwith all of my like, very basic
(43:16):
questions about what they'redoing, because they're doing
great stuff out there.
So I would say that is probablymy kryptonite on the AI side.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (43:25):
Oh, there you go.
But that's pretty cool, though.
I mean sometimes, like youmentioned earlier, you've got to
embrace that, I don't know.
But hey you know what, we canfigure it out, so don't worry.
So that's great, kyler, allright.
Question number two Kyler andwhy?
Kyler Cheatham (43:43):
I would have a billboard that said tell the
truth.
And I would put it rightoutside of like SAP's
headquarters, you know, inPennsylvania and Germany and all
of my other vendor partnerswhich we we get.
We are frenemies, right, we getalong with our vendor
colleagues as long as they showup for our client, but they need
(44:04):
to tell the truth.
Like it is time, you guys, likeit just looks bad for everyone
involved.
No one wants to fail theimplementation.
Just tell the truth in yoursales processes.
That's all.
That's all I'm asking you to do.
So that's what would mybillboard?
Probably with my face, likepointing at them or something
like that is perfect.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (44:22):
Actually, that billboard could definitely go a
long way in the k-12 higher edspace too, for all the platforms
and all the apps that are outthere.
So I love it all right.
Last question, kyler, is if youcan trade places with one
person for a day, who would thatbe and why?
Kyler Cheatham (44:40):
yeah, um, I think that that's such a great
question I spent so much timethinking about that one because
it's such such a good one.
And I would probably say SarahBlakely, you know, I really
admire her entrepreneurialjourney and you know, just, I've
admired her as a female leaderin a space that didn't have a
(45:01):
lot of innovation and though youdon't think of, like Spanx, and
you think of innovation, right,that actually was something
that didn't exist before shecreated it.
I think the way that she'sbuilt the culture of her
business is something I'd reallylove to be a fly on the wall of
.
Like how did you build it andmaintain that culture?
Through growing it through abillion dollars?
(45:21):
You know, that is so incredibleto me.
I really admire it.
I've read all of her books andI would probably you know just
be so honored to be in herpresence or trade places with
her for a day.
Dr. Fonz Mendoza (45:35):
Excellent.
Well, thank you so much forsharing and, kyler, thank you
again.
I really do appreciate youhopping on the podcast.
Thank you again, I really doappreciate you hopping on the
podcast.
Thank you so much for acceptingmy invite and, again, I'm a
huge fan of your content.
I definitely learn a lot fromit.
I know I comment on there a lot,saying like, hey, say it louder
for the K-12 space to you, andthings of that sort, because I
(45:56):
think that what you're doing isgreat and the messaging is
wonderful and a lot of peopleneed to be, you know, in tune
with what you're saying and Ithink that's very helpful.
So I definitely recommend allmy listeners everybody listening
to this show.
Please make sure you followKyler, follow her TikTok she has
some great content there and,again, follow her on LinkedIn
and make sure that you doconnect.
(46:16):
But thank you as always and forall of you all, make sure you
visit our website, myedtechlife,where you can check out this
amazing episode and the other330 episodes that we've done
over this five-year span.
It has been a wonderfulexperience and thank you so much
for your continued support.
I want to give a big shout-outto our sponsors.
(46:36):
Thank you so much to BookCreator, eduaid and Yellowdig
for sponsoring our show,believing in our mission and
again just bringing some amazingguests like Kyler and amazing
conversations into our K-12higher ed space so that we may
continue to learn and moveforward.
As we know, technology is goingto be changing from day to day,
(46:56):
but it's always great to bereadily equipped in season and
out of season.
So make sure you check out allthose episodes and, my friends,
until next time, don't forget,stay techie.
You.
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