In this episode of the Campus Technology Insider Podcast, we present the keynote from Jay James, cybersecurity operations manager at Auburn University, delivered at the May 2026 Tech Tactics in Education Conference. James argues that a widening gap in AI literacy is leaving students and workers unprepared as AI adoption accelerates, citing data on low training rates, rapid growth in AI-required roles, and major economic and cybersecurity impacts. He illustrates how Auburn's student-staffed Security Operations Center builds real AI-embedded experience through authentic tools, mentorship, failure tolerance, and consequential outcomes, highlighting a student project that improved phishing visibility and influenced leadership decisions. James outlines institutional readiness levels and calls for starting with practical use cases, building faculty development, and creating sustained industry feedback loops to produce AI-ready graduates.

00:00 Podcast Introduction

01:00 Keynote Roadmap

02:18 George Story Setup

04:22 Why Readiness Matters

06:12 Workforce Data Reality

10:12 AI Fluency Surge

14:55 Opportunity and Equity

17:10 Cybersecurity Skills Gap

20:22 Auburn SOC Model

22:32 George Phishing Dashboard

24:54 Five Ingredients for Success

29:08 Scaling Beyond Cybersecurity

30:58 Policy and National Strategy

33:24 Campus AI Versus Teaching

35:54 Readiness Levels Framework

37:37 Four Move Playbook

41:46 Closing Call to Action

46:00 Podcast Outro

Resource links:

• Tech Tactics in Education

Music: Mixkit

Duration: 47 minutes

Transcript (coming soon)