In this special International Women’s Day episode of *CAIO Connect, Sanjay Puri speaks with **Jena Zangs, Chief Data & AI Officer at the University of St. Thomas*, the first person to hold this role in Minnesota higher education. Jena shares her unconventional journey from planning alumni events to leading university-wide AI strategy, and discusses how universities are building practical AI systems—from in-house chatbots to agentic AI—while navigating governance, vendor ecosystems, and the future of work in higher education.