Introducing the Use Case Lab — and a Paid Tier for the Higher Ed AI Playbook
Once a month, live on Zoom, we take apart one real institutional AI deployment together. Here’s how it works and what else is now included.
When I started the Higher Ed AI Playbook, I had one goal: give senior higher ed leaders the analysis they actually need to govern AI well — not the hype cycle, not the fear cycle, just the work.
So I’m building something I’ve wanted to build for a while.
The Use Case Lab
The last Thursday of every month at 12 PM ET, live on Zoom (~60 minutes), we sit down together and work through one real institutional AI deployment in depth.
How each Lab works:
One real use case, end to end. What the institution built, how they governed it, what worked, what broke, and what they’d do differently.
Live discussion, not a lecture. You’ll be in the room with other higher ed leaders wrestling with the same decisions. Bring a question from your own campus; you’ll leave with something you can use Monday.
Recorded and archived. Can’t make it live? The full session and a written summary go in the archive, searchable and yours to keep.
This is the piece I get asked for most. I’ve been doing it informally for client campuses for two years. Now it runs every month, for paying subscribers, at a fraction of what consulting costs.
What else comes with paid — $15/month or $150/year
The Use Case Lab (above)
Monthly governance briefings — what’s shifting at the federal, accreditor, and institutional level, and what it means for your roadmap
The full archive and resource library, including every framework and template I’ve built
Comment and discussion access on paid posts
Founding Member — $250/year
For readers who want to be inside the work:
Everything in paid, plus:
A private founding member discussion thread to troubleshoot your own institutional use cases between Labs and get input from peers doing the same work at other campuses
Your use case, considered for a future Lab or newsletter feature. After you subscribe, you’ll get a short form to pitch what you’re building — credited or anonymized, your call
Occasional surprise drops: interview clips, early reads, members-only conversations
What doesn’t change
Everything the Playbook has been stays free. Regular posts on governance, policy, and pedagogy. The Use Case Handbook.
My Forbes analysis translated for practitioners. If you never upgrade, you lose nothing. I’m not moving existing content behind a paywall.
Why I’m telling you this directly
Paid subscribers make this work sustainable. They let me run the Lab every month, which takes real prep. They let me keep writing in public instead of disappearing into client work.
But I won’t pretend every reader needs to pay. If the free tier serves you, stay free. If you’ve been waiting for the paid version because you wanted something worth paying for — the Lab is here.
Depending on your role, this subscription may be tax-deductible as a professional expense, or eligible to be run through your institution’s professional development budget. Worth a quick note to your finance team or admin.
— Aviva