The Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering and Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, have announced the establishment of the Salesforce Faculty Fellows, a new program that pairs Salesforce executives with faculty and students in the Luddy School's AI Development and Experience Lab (LAIDEL).
LAIDEL is a research practicum and internship experience for Luddy graduate students that guides participants to develop new AI applications or apply existing AI technology to new problems. Students work in teams led by coaches from Salesforce, who present students with current business needs to be solved. The coaches then provide guidance throughout the project. Salesforce Faculty Fellows also help mentor students alongside Luddy School leadership.
“The LAIDEL partnership is a great collaboration that allows our students to earn real-world experience while developing the skills they’ve learned in the classroom,” said Dennis Groth, interim dean of the Luddy School. “The establishment of the Salesforce Faculty Fellows is a fantastic investment in the future of our students and will help expand the recruiting pipeline for the next generation of information technology talent in the state of Indiana.”
LAIDEL was piloted during the spring and summer of 2021, pairing graduate students with Salesforce projects and coaches with the goal of using shared technology expertise to solve problems. The Salesforce Faculty Fellows will support Luddy faculty members over the next three years, enabling LAIDEL to explore new project ideas focusing on various ares of AI while expanding to include undergraduate students.
“Salesforce is committed to nurturing the next generation of AI talent and growing the tech ecosystem here in Indianapolis,” said Syam Nair, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Salesforce. “Our employees are eager to connect with Luddy students and we've already seen incredible resilience, agility and creativity as our teams begin to work together.”
The Salesforce Faculty Fellows program continues Salesforce's investment in the growth of central Indiana as a technology hub. This partnership seeks to build interest and excitement in Salesforce and the tech industry more broadly, engaging the next generation of tech users and developers in Indiana.
“Bringing together Salesforce—a world-leader in the development of the next generation of technology—with the Luddy School, which is educating the tech leaders of tomorrow, will have a huge impact in our state and beyond,” Groth said. “We’re thrilled with this collaboration, which blends the shared goal of both Salesforce and the Luddy School to use technology to create a better world.”