Patrick Kastian answers questions about Carolina’s AI Community
The assistant director of the Data Intelligence Hub at Innovate Carolina shares how Tar Heels are exploring artificial intelligence.
Patrick Kastian, assistant director of the Data Intelligence Hub at Innovate Carolina, blends analytical expertise with a passion for new technologies and community building. In his role, he leads market and competitive research efforts that help campus innovators understand emerging trends and opportunities and chart a path for bringing new solutions to market.
He’s also spearheading UNC-Chapel Hill’s growing AI Community, bringing together faculty, staff, students and external partners to explore how AI can advance research, innovation and entrepreneurship across campus.
How would you describe the mission of the UNC-Chapel Hill AI Community?
The UNC AI Community grew out of the Provost’s AI Committee, but at its core, it’s really a space for people across campus who are curious about how this technology can support their work. It brings together faculty, staff, students and external partners who want to explore how these tools might strengthen research, teaching and operations or even spark new ideas.
It’s meant for anyone who’s interested, whether they’re just starting to learn or already experimenting. Innovate Carolina helps bring everyone together, creates the structure and programming and works behind the scenes to turn ideas into real projects and collaborations.
What excites you the most about the work that the Carolina AI Community is doing?
The momentum is the most exciting part. What started as a small group has quickly grown into a network of around a thousand people in just a few months, thanks to the workshop series and meetups. What really stands out is how quickly people are finding one another and spinning up new collaborations. That energy and connection are what make the work feel so alive right now.
What are the most useful insights to emerge from the community’s AI workshop series?
People don’t just want more AI tools, they want a clearer way to use them. Folks are looking for frameworks that help them ask better questions, structure prompts, validate what AI gives them and apply it to real challenges on campus. The fall sessions really highlighted how much people value practical, hands-on guidance. The spring workshops will build on that momentum.
What opportunities do you see for the University to bring together groups exploring AI?
One of the biggest opportunities is simply creating more spaces where all these groups can work side-by-side. When researchers, instructors, entrepreneurs and operational teams get in the same room, that’s when the most interesting ideas start to surface. Because this technology touches so many parts of the University, there are a lot of natural connections such as research that sparks startups, teaching innovations that influence how we run things and operational challenges that turn into research questions. Those overlaps are where the most exciting work can happen.
What do you want Tar Heels to understand about the role AI can play at Carolina?
It’s becoming clear that this technology isn’t just a tool on the side anymore. AI is starting to shape how we learn, create and solve problems. At UNC, it can help with things like speeding up literature reviews, supporting data work, shaping curriculum, helping new ventures get off the ground and making everyday processes more efficient. The goal isn’t to replace anyone but rather to give students, faculty and staff more room to think, experiment and tackle complex challenges in new ways.
What programming or collaborations do you hope to bring to the AI Community in the future?
More hands-on workshops, deeper training tracks and collaborative sessions that bring different disciplines together to solve shared challenges. We’re also working toward campus-wide partnerships and expanded opportunities for founders, researchers and instructors to test and showcase their AI-driven work.
