University of Kentucky
KY · AI Readiness #124 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 6.8 /10
Kentucky launched the Commonwealth's first bachelor's degree in AI in Fall 2026 and established a campus-wide CATS AI governance structure spanning all 17 colleges.
The AI certificate, open to all majors since Spring 2025, and the ALT Hub's TEK100 course give undergraduate Wildcats two distinct entry points into AI literacy before they ever reach the new degree. The Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence, led by Dr. Cody Bumgardner, has run more than 70 projects spanning surgery, cardiology, and public health, and an architecture studio in the College of Design has already put AI into a design curriculum outside computer science. Kentucky lags behind its peers in federal grants and formal AI-leadership, but the school seems to be embracing AI and could be on a path to improvement.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: B+
- Curriculum: C
- Partnerships: B-
- Research: B
A(I)ttitude™: neutral
Selected Highlights
- Shirley Mitchell named Director of CATS AI (June 10, 2026), a university-wide operational AI role; prior interim co-directors Ian McClure and Heath Price also named - strong directorship even without CAIO title.
- CATS AI Steering Committee with five subcommittees (education, research, student experience, healthcare, workplace) plus GO Group governance body; evolved from 32-member UK ADVANCE committee charged by President Capilouto in June 2023.
- Multiple published documents - UK ADVANCE 2025 Guidelines (revised April 2025), CATS AI framework, Board of Trustees resolution, faculty/research/clinical guidelines all separately published at advance.uky.edu.
- CAAI (Director: Bumgardner, 70+ active projects, housed in Institute for Biomedical Informatics) and ALT Hub (Director: Katherine Thompson, 16-person leadership team spanning 10 colleges) both confirmed as cross-disciplinary named AI hubs.
- BS in Artificial Intelligence launched Fall 2026 - Kentucky's first - 120-credit standalone degree in Department of Computer Science, named Director Dr. Brent Harrison.