A Corporate Perspective on the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10: CDW

Which one or two of the 2026 EDUCAUSE Top 10 issues are going to be most impactful to CDW, and why?

Many of them, realistically, will be impactful to CDW, but I think there are two that stand out for us: issue #1, Collaborative Cybersecurity, and issue #2, The Human Edge of AI. As you know, cybersecurity is foundational, and institutions continue to ask for help in building this culture of shared responsibility. There's a big focus on workforce development and industry best practices as well as ensuring appropriate access. On the artificial intelligence (AI) front, we're seeing a surge in demand for safe, creative, and critical engagement with AI tools like Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Grammarly—and CDW's AI optimization and AI literacy offerings are helping institutions analyze and navigate these shifts responsibly.

We aim to help define our customers' AI strategy and align their outcomes with solving real business problems. So, empowering them to build and leverage those toolsets effectively and securely is critically important. There's a lot of angst right now around empowering people to do the necessary work and leveraging tools effectively and securely, so we help eliminate some of the noise. I believe those two issues are the most prevalent for institutions this year and will continue to be so in the year ahead.

The big challenge we see around this—and it's a particularly hot topic right now—is the stance on how colleges and universities are supporting AI use and the manner in which they are doing so. What's the governance behind it? What's safe, and what's acceptable use? There's no right or wrong answer to these questions. They will be self-determined by each institution, especially in terms of alignment with institutional goals.

There are several tools available, such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini, along with numerous proof-of-concept designs and studies being conducted to explore how these tools can be effectively leveraged to enhance the student and faculty experience and the educational life cycle. We're here to help guide the evaluation process, enabling customers to determine what they want to get from these tools and how to activate and support their use effectively and securely.

Having a stance on effective use and governance of acceptable use will be critical because the security component will be a top priority for institutions as they establish what data is going into these tools. How can they ensure that their data is being secured and leveraged in their own LLMs only and not the OEM manufacturer LLMs that are out there? Institutions will need to consider the tools they are providing that have been secured, rather than just BYOAI, ChatGPT, and other tools students can access for free.

When I look at the Top 10, there aren't any real surprises, as we align closely with higher education institutions and are always engaged in discussions and learning. But it's always interesting to me how the issues get prioritized and overlap. Security still is number one, and that's embedded in just about everything. I believe there needs to be a greater emphasis on optimization across the board. One thing that wasn't specifically called out but is embedded in nearly every single Top 10 issue is the focus on ROI and leveraging analysis to drive ROI, reduce costs, and simplify complexity. I also believe that staffing challenges and workforce resilience are inherent in every one of these aspects, due to the complexity of supporting and innovating with limited personnel, skill sets, and expertise.

There's also more overlap—not only in subject matter but also in the people who care about each of these issues, and that's what continues to differentiate them as we evolve year over year.

Can you share a story or example of how you're experiencing one of the Top 10 issues when you're working with an institution?

I have a couple because I think it's important to highlight the nuances in our customers and some of the hurdles each college or university faces when creating its strategy.

We recently worked with a large public university on modernizing its infrastructure, cloud strategy, and operations. The goal was to reduce costs but improve what they call "day-two support" for end users. Achieving this was a pretty big transformation for them because it meant moving to more of a cloud-first model. We consulted and aligned our professional services to provide a roadmap that would establish an effective data-recovery strategy, a multi-cloud center of excellence, and an enhanced DevOps and automation strategy. This strategy would continue to improve the institution's end-user support through a low-touch model for its IT department. We helped them build an internal self-service platform that serves most of the end users' needs.

That example is bespoke, but when leveraging cloud technologies, innovative tools, automation, and partnerships to execute on that vision, it's not an immediate, "Hey, we did this in six weeks." It's a phased approach spanning six to twelve months. It's a journey and a migration, and it's also a tremendous cultural change for the IT department. That's one issue that highlights some of the complexity and nuance we see in the industry right now with leveraging these technologies. Not all customers will leverage them in the same way or build their own multicloud or private cloud initiative.

I also mentioned security as one of the top two priorities that align well with our capabilities and where we can help customers. We were working with another large public university that was struggling to unify its cybersecurity posture across all of its departments. By leveraging our specializations in cybersecurity and resilience, we helped the institution implement a shared services model. It included end-user training, modernizing the institution's firewall infrastructure, and centralizing the university's SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) strategy, making it critical to get real-time alerts and notifications on endpoint management.

This is another great example of how we're helping our customers move away from a fragmented approach to a more collaborative, unified security model.

What immediate or short-term actions should institutions consider for effectively addressing some of the Top 10 issues?

It sounds basic, but we always say start small and understand where you are today through an assessment-based approach. Across the technology disciplines, there are multiple assessments that are available to help establish where institutions are vulnerable and where they need to prioritize investment and time. Assessments are a great place to start to understand where a customer is on their journey in any one of those areas.

Our portfolio of services and expertise is really meant to serve as a platform for our customers. The methodology and framework we deploy help institutions take that first step, whether it's performing a proactive risk assessment or establishing a security incident response with an emphasis on rapid breach detection. These are examples of two very different starting points to establish a new baseline that works toward a larger, more robust security posture.

As higher education institutions face escalating cyber threats, the importance of taking proactive measures has never been more pressing. I think when we look at short-term actions, we need to consider where we can be proactive and drive action and where we need to reprioritize accordingly. I believe that will serve institutions well across any of the IT priorities listed in the Top 10.

Short-term actions related to issue #2, The Human Edge of AI, and establishing governance are challenging because when you delve into a broader strategy on AI, it becomes an even more complex and cross-functional conversation than most colleges or universities have time for, as they're tasked with execution. I'm sure there's pressure or direction from the top down, with institutional leaders saying things like, "We need to be using AI. We need to give access to students. We need to be on the cutting edge of innovation and give our students access to the most innovative tools out there to enable them to do their best work and prepare them for a future workplace that demands these skill sets." When you unpack that, legal and compliance staff members will have a different perspective than, maybe, the academic deans, the provost, or IT professionals.

And so, the question becomes: "Where can we at least provide access in a secure manner while still building in more use cases over time?" I think use cases for AI are the most talked-about pathways to understanding how to leverage AI successfully. You can't just say, "I'm going to use AI." There needs to be a specific use case or an outcome driving the AI solution forward, whether that's improving the student experience, using a chatbot or an AI agent student advisor, or identifying at-risk students. There are a number of ways to leverage AI to address challenges that drive ROI for a college or university.

I think where institutions need to focus—and where we try to help—is around pain points and opportunities, such as those related to the student life cycle, the student experience, and enrollment dips. A use case focus is the only way to move forward productively and swiftly without getting stuck in a more theoretical approach to doing things holistically.

What skills or competencies will institutions need to effectively address the Top 10 issues?

Data literacy and AI fluency are increasing rapidly, but cross-functional collaboration, IT, academic leadership, and student services are just as important. These all need to be aligned, and that's why we focus our conversations horizontally—to drive and connect the key stakeholders if they're not already connected on the back end. The focus is on delivering solutions and services that empower decision-makers to act on the data they have, rather than just collect it.

Understanding the data, having fluency in AI, and identifying key areas to take action are critical competencies. Currently, we observe numerous similarities when we zoom out on where our customers are focused: building value through strategic sourcing and vendor consolidation, increasing operational efficiency by maximizing investments and optimizing resources, and modernizing a secure infrastructure that provides clean data and drives AI outcomes. These are all trending areas that require cross-functional collaboration, as I mentioned earlier, and institutions need buy-in and support across functions to move forward in any of these areas.

We talk about research computing and information technology. These areas are generally two distinct silos, but there seems to be more overlap, and more IT support is needed to meet the increased demands for research computing, including power, cooling, and other areas that are now being pressure-tested on the infrastructure. IT teams need to be involved in those conversations. I think having that cross-functional collaboration as a new baseline is going to be incredibly important for any college or university to successfully drive innovation and change.

Zooming out, the broad-brush approach for institutions is to ensure they have a committee of key stakeholders who are cross-functionally involved, with more continuous communication and collaboration on updates, strategy, messaging, and ideation. There can't be too many people involved in these processes because having too many cooks in the kitchen slows the process tremendously, but it helps to have key decision-makers weigh in on decisions. Because decision-makers and the people who actually do the work are involved, there needs to be good synergy across these groups.

We've also seen a more committee-based approach being implemented across higher education, especially for new efforts around AI, where committees are formed and key stakeholders bring in their respective academic, IT, and compliance perspectives to move the conversation forward.

How do you see the 2026 Top 10 issues changing the relationship between CDW and the higher education community in the future?

CDW has been on a journey, shifting from being a technology supplier to a solution provider and becoming a more strategic partner for our customers. The Top 10, the complexity within the IT organization, and the evolution of issues highlight that these are no longer just IT problems. They're institutional transformation challenges, and our role is being able to align and deliver advisory services, implementation expertise, and long-term partnerships.

That position presents a tremendous opportunity for us to create long-standing partnerships with higher education customers as we continue to invest in resources and expertise to align our own capabilities with where the market and our customers are headed. EDUCAUSE priorities validate the direction we're taking as an organization and our focus on investing in our solutions and services. We're excited to deepen that collaboration within the higher education community as we continue to reshape the higher education experience.

In the long term, these issues are really changing the relationship between us and the higher education community, creating a more compelling value proposition for leveraging a company like CDW as a strategic partner. Our portfolio serves as a platform for our customers to drive change.

There's just so much on everyone's plate these days, and I think technology has always been a core part of the challenge and the solution for any industry. Taking effective action and moving swiftly are two significant challenges that will impact higher education, as decision-making can be slow. Right now, there's a good blend of, "We need to move fast, but not too fast," and I think the speed at which our customers need to make decisions and take action is an interesting aspect that continues to evolve and change as well. We're here to support that.