Montana State University's Interdisciplinary Institute on Artificial Intelligence was formed in 2025 with the approval of the Montana Board of Regents, and it comes at an important time. AI is developing so quickly that it's difficult for any one person, office or discipline to keep track of what is happening, much less understand all the opportunities, risks and implications, to understand how to keep faculty in the driver seat as these tools reach our classrooms and to not replace the human element as AI enters our workplace.

The IIAI gives us a framework to connect the work already underway across the university, sharing information and helping our campus thoughtfully and critically evaluate emerging AI tools.

Importantly, there is no one person at the center of this effort. There is no director charged with becoming MSU's all-knowing AI expert. That person does not exist. Instead, the institute is guided by a steering committee made up of program-area leads from across campus and members of my executive team, representing areas from UIT and HR to Academic Affairs and the Library. I encourage you to reach out to these colleagues with questions, ideas and concerns. They may not always have the answers, and in some cases, the answers may not exist yet. But asking the right questions — and asking them together — matters tremendously right now.

I have personally committed to staying aggressively engaged with AI and to pushing our university forward where opportunities emerge. And we need that sense of urgency. AI is moving fast. The technology is changing; cultural attitudes are changing; and legal and political environments will change as well. At the same time, none of us has the full 10,000-foot view or a map charting one correct path forward.

So we have to marry the fast and the slow. We won't sit still, but we cannot pretend that everyone is already an expert.

This is a leadership moment for Montana State University. We have the opportunity not simply to react but to make deliberate choices about how AI fits into our teaching, research and creative scholarship, operations, and service to communities across Montana.

AI will continue to develop regardless of what MSU chooses to do. Our opportunity is to decide how we will meet that moment: thoughtfully, boldly and together.

Sincerely,

Brock Tessman

Brock Tessman
President, Montana State University

September 22, 2026