President\u00a0Cynthia Teniente-Matson<\/a>\u00a0is a driving force in the university\u2019s\u00a0embracing of AI to empower faculty and students. The university adopted the emerging technology following California State University\u2019s\u00a0investment of $16.9 million with OpenAI<\/a>\u00a0to purchase 500,000 ChatGPT.edu licenses for CSU students, faculty and administrators in 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe we need to lean into it pretty extensively and integrate into everything we\u2019re doing, which includes our administrative processes,\u201d Teniente-Matson said on the\u00a0Nvidia AI Podcast<\/a>. \u201cIf you\u2019re in our engineering and computer science programs, they\u2019re very far ahead. And that is really a competitive advantage for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n Teniente-Matson was not available for comment.<\/p>\n Jorjeta Jetcheva, chair of the Computer Engineering Department, said students benefit from faculty working in the tech industry. San Jose State University offers software and hardware focused bachelor\u2019s degrees, and master\u2019s degrees in computer engineering and artificial intelligence. She said the university is quickly adapting and expanding its offerings to better support students\u2019 interests and work opportunities. Students also work with faculty on publishing research about AI.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do have quite a few faculty who are doing research in artificial intelligence,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe are in the process of launching an artificial intelligence minor for all College of Engineering students. We have a robotics minor. We\u2019re expanding that to include an algorithm, or software track, for undergraduates.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to attending campus events, Jetcheva said industry partners like Nvidia, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Qualcomm regularly hire SJSU graduates.<\/p>\n \u201cWe recently had an event where we had around 40 alumni and industry collaborators. We discussed the future of the software engineering curriculum and asked for their feedback,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s another way we\u2019re trying to make sure that what we\u2019re teaching is relevant and that we can keep updating it.\u201d<\/p>\n Even before the CSU system partnered with OpenAI, San Jose State attracted students from across the world who are interested in the cutting edge of the latest technology.<\/p>\n Anoushka Gade, who is from India and graduated from SJSU with a master\u2019s degree in AI in 2023, said her courses taught her to apply research into working applications.<\/p>\n \u201cBack in 2021, when AI hype was not that high, we had assignments with \u2026 retrieval augmented generation,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIt\u2019s way ahead of the curve and very much aligned to (the) industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Shishir Dongre, another graduate from India who received a master\u2019s degree in computer science at SJSU, said his advanced courses in subjects such as AI helped him secure an internship and employment at Amazon. He said in addition to what the university offered, its proximity to events such as hackathons was a draw, and allowed him to network and learn advanced skills.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you attend events that are hosted by companies like Google or Amazon, you get to learn a lot of stuff in a very short span of time,\u201d he told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cIt is a huge advantage, and hackathons and tech events happen here all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n The university\u2019s location in the heart of Silicon Valley allows for collaboration with top companies in the industry. Ahmed Banafa, a SJSU faculty member in the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering and expert in AI technologies, said guest speakers from Google and Nvidia provide his students with insight about what\u2019s going on in the industry, creating a bridge between the classroom and the tech world.<\/p>\n Banafa said AI, machine learning, cybersecurity, cloud computing, blockchain technology, quantum computing and robotics are in high demand at SJSU. He said as students are taught the latest technology, what they learn is directly applicable when they graduate.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n