Professor and CEO Arundati Dandapani’s contribution to FLAS Connect’s Critical Conversations on AI reflects her ongoing commitment to advancing AI, technology, and data literacy across higher education, professional communities, and immigrant talent ecosystems. As Founder and CEO of Generation1.ca, and as an educator teaching data, analytics, research, and AI-related topics, Arundati brings a human-centred lens to AI in higher education. Her work emphasizes that AI is not only a technology issue, but also a question of trust, skills, governance, inclusion, and responsible participation in digital society. Results from our annual Global Industry Skills Study continues to highlight the growing importance of critical thinking year over year, alongside the need to digitally adapt, communicate effectively, and drive commercial value within the organizations Generation1.ca serves.
These conversations matter because higher education is now preparing learners for a world shaped by AI-assisted work, automated decision-making, data-driven systems, and new expectations for digital fluency. Students and professionals alike need more than tool familiarity; they need judgment, ethical awareness, adaptability, and confidence.
This commitment is also reflected in Generation1.ca’s Future Ready Innovators Credential, where AI, Tech, and Data Literacy is one of six learning modules to improve the immigrant experience and journey in helping them stay future ready. Generation1.ca’s Global Industry Skills Study’s 2025 Immigrant Futures Wave revealed that digital skills and tech readiness boosted member confidence but also was the strongest predictor of their intent to stay in the country, stronger than any other arrival or demographic characteristics. We’ve used these findings to improve AI, data and tech literacy through activities, discussions, career programming, case competitions, and thought leadership, to help members strengthen future-ready skills and participate more confidently in the evolving digital economy.
Arundati’s participation in FLAS Connect reinforces a simple but urgent idea: AI literacy must be inclusive, practical, and connected to real lives, real work, and real communities. Further to this, on May 28, 2026, Professor Arundati Dandapani will present at the Annual Humber Showcase 2026 on the barriers immigrant students face in embracing future-ready skills, and the strategies needed to remove these barriers to unlock growth, inclusion, and long-term success. Her discussion will draw on findings from the annual Global Industry Skills Study, which surveys employers on evolving data, technology, and AI skill needs. The session like with her presentations to the institution each year will explore how these insights can help reposition business, higher education, and society to better support newcomers toward more fulfilling outcomes, stronger retention, and long-term success.
Sign up for the event to attend her session titled- poly.technic Futures: From Classroom Promise to Student Success, Professor and CEO Arundati Dandapani will present together with her learners and active Generation1.ca members, distinguished Humber graduates Djamila Diatta and Tobiloba Owoade, a bold vision of higher education, settlement services, and the data, analytics, and insights sectors as an interconnected ecosystem and a coalition for data-driven change, driving global growth, stronger outcomes and deeper social impact. A highly necessary conversation that we hope you can witness and participate in!
