July 8, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET
Mapping Your Success Trifecta
How research administration teams move from breakdowns to breakthroughs, with Matt and Gigi Smith of Smith-Atlas.
Move past the "AI is awesome for business" hype and into the work that actually makes it stick. In this upcoming webinar, Matt and Gigi Smith, co-founders of the AI solutions firm Smith-Atlas, unpack what it really takes for a research administration team to adopt AI well: not the flashiest tool, but a clear throughline between the technology, the workflow, and the people running it.
Most AI projects do not fail on the technology, they fail on change management. Even the best tool falls flat when no one has mapped how it fits into day-to-day processing or how the team actually feels about using it. Matt and Gigi will show why investing in people comes first, and how aligning AI with your team's real capabilities is what turns a stalled rollout into a breakthrough.
Expect a practical, human-first session, plus a fun showcase of zero-subscription AI tools your team can put to work right away for immediate ROI. You will leave with a way to tell the productive problems worth solving from the ones to avoid, and a clearer sense of what to look for in any AI tool you bring in.
Even the best tech fails without mapping its throughline in workflow and human sentiment.
What you will learn
- What not to do. Why so many AI implementations fail, and how to draft a durable strategy that safeguards your team from common integration pitfalls.
- The people part. Why emotional intelligence and AI literacy are crucial for diffusing resistance and building real engagement with AI.
- What to do. How to lead AI initiatives that land instead of crash, by applying change-management frameworks that invite sustainable progress across your ecosystem.
- How to solve for the right problems. Which questions to ask to tell the productive problems apart from the ones worth avoiding.
- Build your AI tools suite. What features to look for to get affordable quality with functionality that keeps the human experience first.
Who should attend
This session is built for research administration and sponsored programs teams, pre-award and post-award staff, and the leaders deciding how AI fits into their office. If you are weighing where AI belongs in your workflow, or you have tried a tool that did not take hold, you will find a grounded path forward.
About the speakers
Matt Smith — Co-Founder, Smith-Atlas
A business and contracts attorney who sits at the intersection of law, AI, and the research enterprise. With 17 years in research administration and executive operations, Matt develops compliant, accessible, and scalable AI solutions, and the policies and procedures around them, for universities and businesses.
Gigi Smith — Co-Founder, Smith-Atlas
An education loyalist and systems thinker with 10 years of operational design work for leading institutional programs. A researcher and practitioner in metacognition and andragogy, Gigi specializes in change management, AI literacy movements, and mapping strategic implementation plans for AI adoption.