Season 2 of 'Carpool Convos' features ASU President Crow, CIO Gonick

While Waymo’s autonomous vehicle calculated its route around Arizona State University's Tempe campus, backseat passengers ASU President Michael M. Crow and Chief Information Officer Lev Gonick recalled watching “The Jetsons” as kids.

“Science fiction is the way we view the future,” Crow said. “We're moving into that future where we're going to have the ability to have machines help us do tasks and help us to do things more efficiently in every possible way.”

While we haven’t quite figured out the Jetson's flying car, we are at the cusp of the future-ready state of autonomous vehicles — no driver required. And in Phoenix, Waymo helps to lead the way.

Crow and Gonick’s discussion was captured as part of the second season finale of the university’s new video series "Carpool Convos," hosted by ASU Enterprise Technology. The video series invites leaders, technologists and visionaries to explore the future of technology and innovation — all from the back seat of Waymo’s fleet of autonomous vehicles.

No longer limited to the stuff of science fiction, Crow and Gonick's discussion focused on creating the future, now. Gonick reflected on how the innovation mindset, advocated by Crow, is key to the university remaining at the forefront of technology. 

“It’s not about an individual thing, it is about this notion of constantly working and striving to innovate in all things,” Crow said.

The discussion continued with areas of impact and innovation that ASU leads — now and into the future — including initiatives like ASU’s Dreamscape Learn and ASU Health.  

Video courtesy ASU Enterprise Technology

Touching on the integration of technology and artificial intelligence into our daily lives, Crow emphasizes the need for continuing innovation to enhance human potential.

"Innovation must be a constant mindset. We believe in harnessing the incredible potential within each human using social, organizational and technological innovation to maximize their capabilities,” he said.

Crow and Lev are featured in the finale episode, titled “Uncharted horizons: Leading the way in innovation,” now available for streaming on the ASU Enterprise Technology website and YouTube. 

Viewers can also explore the full series, which features topics such as advances in artificial intelligence and learning in virtual reality. See below for the full episode list and featured guests of season 2 of "Carpool Convos."

• Episode 1 — “AI in action: Exploring advancements and navigating transformations," featuring ASU Professor Subbarao (Rao) Kambhampati from the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence and Lev Gonick, chief information officer, as host.

• Episode 2 — “Creating what’s next, now: The future of immersive tech and education,” featuring Lisa Flesher, chief of Realm 4 initiatives at ASU EdPlus, and Kimberly Clark, ASU’s deputy CIO for operational excellence and digital transformation, as host.

• Episode 3 — "Navigating the frontiers of emerging technology," featuring Minu Ipe, vice chair and managing director of the University Design Institute, and Donna Kidwell, chief information security and digital trust officer, as host.
  

• Episode 4 — "Uncharted horizons: Leading the way in innovation," featuring ASU President Michael M. Crow and Lev Gonick, chief information officer, as host.

Watch season two today.