AI Series: The Emerging Digital Economy Has Deep Roots Along 'The 10'

As artificial intelligence capabilities and related infrastructural demands have exploded in recent years, we have been keeping an eye on the implications for the Ten Across region.  To help kick off our summer podcast series on the subject of AI, Arizona State University’s chief information officer Lev Gonick joins us to explore the ways AI is reshaping education, urban development and predictive sciences—as well as its effects on human relationships.  

As CIO, Lev leads ASU’s AI strategy to stay ahead of the curve for higher ed. ASU was the first university to partner with OpenAI in 2023. Faculty, staff, and students are encouraged to develop and report on innovative uses of AI in their respective work. The university in turn is working to capture and disseminate this fast-developing body of knowledge to advance its own pursuits and those of the greater local and regional economies. As this technology expands its reach, ASU graduates are expected to have a sophisticated understanding of its potential within their chosen fields, and as a result, to have a lasting edge in a competitive job market.  

We’ll also talk to Lev about his early-2000s success in expanding broadband internet access for urban Cleveland, Ohio, as high-speed internet became necessary for economic mobility. Lev’s work informed federal efforts to create equitable technological infrastructure that is needed more than ever in an increasingly digital world, but faces a tough political climate today. 

Finally, given the serious water and energy tradeoffs associated with this technological leap, this conversation and others in the series will consider the careful balances the Ten Across region needs to strike in creating sustainable economic growth.   

Relevant articles and resources:  

“U.S. Literacy Rates by State 2024” (usadatahub.com)  

“Are Data Centers Depleting the Southwest’s Water and Energy Resources?” (APM Research Lab/Ten Across, February 2025)  

“The AI Journey” (ASU Enterprise Technology, October 2024)  

“The Importance of Place in U.S. Higher Ed with Michael Crow” (Ten Across Conversations, May 2025)  

Credits:   

Host: Duke Reiter  

Producer and editor: Taylor Griffith  

Music by: William Claeson  

Research and supportive provided by: Kate Carefoot, Rae Ulrich, and Sabine Butler  

About our guest

Lev Gonick is an educator, technologist, and smart city architect. As Arizona State University’s chief information officer, Lev leads the design and management of all online infrastructure, including applications, products, service, and analytics. While CIO of Case Western Reserve University from 2001 to 2013, Lev led a Case Connection Zone project connecting underserved Cleveland residents to university internet services, which spurred the Obama-era US Ignite initiative to expand U.S. broadband access. Today, Lev chairs the Sun Corridor Network, which advances connectivity, research, and education in Arizona.