ASU+GSV 2025 Recap: Personalization, Connection and Outcomes

The 2025 ASU+GSV Summit was a dynamic and enlightening gathering for the Cengage Group team, bringing together thousands of edtech leaders, investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to explore the future of education. This year's theme, ‘Moving at the Speed of Light,’ captured the energy of the current moment in education and drove the programming of the four-day conference. 

Cengage Group leaders participated in panels that delved into critical topics, including how mixed reality and gaming platforms are revolutionizing student engagement and personalized learning, integrating AI into higher education to enhance learning experiences and preserve essential human skills, the urgent need for higher education to evolve and address industry demands for new skills and the evolution of digital learning platforms and the blend of technology and pedagogy needed to prepare learners for the future. 

Below highlights some stand-out quotes from our Cengage Group leaders who spoke during the event: 

 

Jim Chilton, Chief Technology Officer, on deepening learner understanding with mixed reality: 

“Virtual and mixed reality experiences present an exciting opportunity to blend semantic and episodic memory – much like our grade school field trips – this provides an opportunity to create lasting, memorable experiences that stick with learners for a lifetime. We are on the cusp of unlocking this and scaling it in a meaningful way. How can we actually rewire how we are taught and retain things based on how our long-term memory works?” 

 

Darren Person, Chief Digital Officer, on maintaining human connection with AI: 

“There are tons of things AI can provide around data and analytics, and there is a lot of value in all of that, but the one thing that is harder to do is replace that human connection. When I think about my own kids, they don’t remember a certain learning topic or chapter; they remember teachers and the impact that relationship had on them. This is the aspect of learning that AI cannot replace – and shouldn’t. Rather, the questions we should be asking are: How do we keep that value of human connection top of mind as we think about developing AI solutions? How can we use AI to free up faculty time to deepen that connection? How do we train AI to echo and reinforce what students hear from teachers in the classroom? This is the value we are focused on enabling and doing it at scale.” 

 

Michael Hansen, CEO, on the evolution we need to see in higher ed to focus on learner outcomes: 

“We have this conversation each year about how the education industry needs to change, and then we all leave this conference and very little changes. Why? The education industry continues to be resistant to change because the current system works well for those who power the system itself. But it is not working well for students, educators and employers. And now, employers are saying 'no more,' and students are saying 'no more,' but the system is still resisting. We need to tackle this. There needs to be real change. We need to see postsecondary education better equip learners for the job market. We need to see stigmas break down around alternative paths. Ultimately, we need to see people start to be paid for outcomes and not just for degrees.” 

 

Cheryl Costantini, SVP of Product, Cengage Academic on how AI is putting the learner back on center stage: 

“What we have found in our research is that students really appreciate the AI Student Assistant for asking those basic questions where they may be embarrassed or intimidated because they know they should probably already know the answer. They love that the assistant has no judgment; it removes that fear and builds their confidence, so then they go to their professor to ask much more complicated and complex questions. For faculty, this saves them time and allows them to engage in questions and conversations with students that are much more meaningful. AI is putting the learner back on center stage, enabling curiosity and critical thinking. At the same time, it is giving the power back to the teacher to truly individualize learning.” 

 

To learn more about Cengage Group and our portfolio of businesses, check out what we do. You can also learn more about our sessions from last year’s Summit here.