How ASU Is Using AI and Digital Twins to Shape the Campus of the Future

“If you think you're just building for today,” said Lev Gonick, Arizona State University's Enterprise CIO, “you're already behind.”

Gonick opened his talk at the Higher Ed Facilities Forum by urging campus leaders to move beyond outdated planning models and start designing for a more flexible, tech-enabled future.

His message was clear: fixed timelines, siloed teams, and static designs no longer reflect how campuses operate—or how students expect to engage. At ASU, that shift is already happening. Digital twins, artificial intelligence, and immersive tools are helping the university rethink how campuses are imagined, planned, and built.

Planning as a Team Sport

ASU has built a full-scale digital twin of its Tempe campus—created largely by students—that functions as a live planning environment. It's used not just for facilities management but also to simulate different design scenarios for everything from classroom layouts to energy use.

Gonick described the digital twin as "an opportunity to do not only scenario planning, but the actual act of planning together… to create real-time insights that allow students, faculty, staff, and professionals like yourselves to guide the future."

Rather than waiting until construction to course-correct, ASU is using its twin to test assumptions early. "Better to put the money in the digital twin," he said, "and make all the changes before you start making change orders."

Why AI Is Changing the Way ASU Plans

Artificial intelligence plays a central role in how ASU models and manages campus operations. Gonick explained that while humans often rely on familiar patterns to make decisions, "we just expect to recognize them before they happen." AI, on the other hand, identifies patterns in data without those built-in assumptions.

At ASU, AI analyzes Wi-Fi telemetry and building utilization to make more accurate decisions about space allocation, network infrastructure, and energy systems. With over $50 million in annual utility costs, small improvements add up fast. As Gonick put it, "We're trying to simulate the metabolism of the campus… looking at how spending scenarios might unfold and optimizing infrastructure investments."

Rethinking Spaces for Hybrid Learning

ASU's 183,000 students are split between in-person and online programs, but the university isn't designing for two separate populations. Instead, it's embracing a hybrid model that blends physical and digital learning environments.

In "In-World," ASU's immersive virtual campus, students, whether online or in-person, can attend lectures, collaborate, and participate in live events together as avatars. Gonick explained that "students who are in the classroom can also be avatars in this unique space. And remote students aren't just watching Zoom—they're engaging in real-time in a blended, immersive experience."

This approach reshapes how ASU plans its learning environments, emphasizing flexibility, connection, and synchronous collaboration. "Belonging is a huge part of the challenge," Gonick noted. "This helps create a sense of intimacy, even at our scale."

No One Has All the Skills—And That's the Point

Gonick was candid about the internal challenge of this work. "None of us were schooled in this," he said. "No one on your team today necessarily has the core competency to actually drive this work." But that's also the opportunity.

At ASU, cross-functional teams of technologists, planners, and students work together to prototype ideas inside the university's Next Lab—an innovation space focused on shaping future learning environments. Students aren't just participants in these efforts; they're co-creators. "Most of them ask, 'Why isn't more of ASU like this?'" Gonick shared.

Why This Matters

For construction leaders:
Digital twins allow project teams to test assumptions and catch conflicts before ground is broken, helping reduce change orders, align with evolving program needs, and avoid costly rework.

For project phasing and flexibility:
Hybrid learning reshapes how, when, and if physical space is used. Real-time data from AI and Wi-Fi insights helps determine where investment is most needed—and where adaptive reuse or lighter interventions may be smarter.

For sustainability and performance:
ASU is using digital models to simulate energy usage and campus "metabolism," which is helping them plan infrastructure more efficiently. This is especially critical for large-scale systems in challenging climates.

For leadership alignment:
Dynamic simulations help translate technical plans into compelling narratives that resonate with university leadership, speeding up decision-making and reducing back-and-forth during planning.

What Kind of Race Are You Running?

To close his talk, Gonick left the room with a challenge: "You could choose to sit on the side… You could decide you're going to run a marathon and see if you can outlast the changes in technology… or you might think about running a series of sprints, along with ASU."

At ASU, the sprint is already underway. Their message to higher ed? Don't wait for the perfect plan. Start building the future now.

Watch the full talk below: