Mississippi State University is entering a groundbreaking AI-related partnership with Amazon Web Services.
The university will be the first in the state and the Southeastern Conference to implement the major company’s artificial intelligence platform to enhance engagement with prospective students, alumni, and supporters.
“As Mississippi’s leading research university, we take pride in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—along with high-performance computing, data science, cybersecurity studies, agriculture and forestry, and business,” Mississippi State President Mark Keenum said. “From that standpoint, this exciting partnership with a world-class organization like AWS is a great fit for the MSU community. We appreciate Amazon’s confidence in our university.”
In collaboration with data scientists from Quintilian, Inc., an education data and technology firm, Mississippi State will utilize Amazon Web Services’ AI services to build machine learning models that optimize data analysis in key focus areas. The initiative is expected to operate alongside the university’s existing systems, requiring no major infrastructure changes while delivering insights for student recruiting, alumni relations, and communications, and optimized development efforts.
“This is a bold step forward in how we connect with present and future Bulldogs,” Mississippi State Vice President for Strategic Communications Sid Salter said. “Using AWS’s AI technology, we can optimize and transform the initial contacts and experiences with MSU and make sure that every prospective student and every member of our university community feels appreciated and understood from their very first interaction with MSU.”
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According to Mississippi State officials, the initiative centers around implementing a “dynamic, AI-powered platform” powered by Amazon’s SageMaker within the university’s own environment to better understand prospective student behavior, preferences, and needs. This empowers Mississippi State to identify and engage ideal prospective students and expand access to underrepresented populations with more timely, personalized, and compelling communications than in years past.
The AI platform will also enhance the ongoing Mississippi State digital marketing awareness campaign being led by Ad5. Ad5 brings major market sophistication paired with an understanding of Southern markets, businesses, and people. With insights from the AI platform, Ad5 will be able to sharpen messaging, target key demographics more effectively, and elevate Mississippi State’s presence in both traditional and emerging media spaces.
“This collaboration using the Quintilian systems to create an AI environment on the Amazon Web Services platform will allow MSU to elevate its engagement of a wide range of constituents to build stronger, more meaningful relationships,” Quintilian Founder Gavan Corr said. “Every area of the university’s operations can benefit from this secure and fully compliant platform.”
As part of the partnership, Amazon Web Services and Quintilian will offer two paid internships to Mississippi State students, offering direct, real-world experience working with AI, data science, and cloud technologies in the higher education space.
