Data Driven WV: Trilogy partners with WVU to ensure next generation of technologists is ‘workforce ready’

Technology is moving at the speed of light, and you would be hard pressed to find anyone who would argue that point.

As the evolution of technology continues to gain speed, there are higher expectations of the next generation of people looking to work in the tech sector. Tomorrow’s technologists need to hit the ground running, and Trilogy Innovations, Inc., is working with higher education to make sure students are prepared for the challenge.

Enter West Virginia University’s Data Driven WV program at the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, designed to connect organizations, business, non-profits, and government entities with students and faculty to provide data-driven, technical insights and solutions.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a privilege to get involved in a program I believe helps prepare college students for the technology arena of tomorrow,” said Trilogy CEO and Co-Founder Brandon Downey. “I first discussed it with the Chambers College at WVU two years ago, and it’s been sheer joy to see this program take shape. One of the pillars of the company is to cultivate the technologists of tomorrow, and we want to be a part of that.”

Data Driven WV hit a sweet spot with Downey, who wanted Trilogy to help college students prepare for the world into which they were about to jump. Organizations of all kinds could give student groups projects to work on, providing solutions to those organizations and real-world experience to students.

“Data Driven WV lives inside WVU’s MIS and Supply Chain department, but what really defines us is the students,” said Joshua Meadows, Executive Director and Service Assistant Professor, Management Information Systems and Supply Chain. “We work with students from across the University, and we have grown to about 80 experiential learners this semester. They are partnering with faculty, staff, and organizations across the region to tackle real problems and build real solutions. It’s hands-on, practical experience that helps them graduate truly workforce ready.”

It's very satisfying to see this partnership in action from both sides, and it's very gratifying to know that we're helping to make students workforce ready. - Jonathan Beaver, Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation at Trilogy

That group of 80 students is, in reality, a consulting body that benefits from invaluable experience gained by solving problems posed to them by partnering organizations.

“Data Driven WV, and all of our programs, are about making sure students are staying current with industry trends in a world where technologies are rapidly evolving,” said Brad Price, Department Chair and Associate Professor, Department of MIS and Supply Chain. “This is what Trilogy has been so great at doing in partnership with us; it allows our students to stay on the cutting edge and us to evolve at the speed of industry.”

Jonathan Beaver, Trilogy’s Senior Vice President of Research and Innovation, works directly with the Data Driven WV student group this semester on a unique project.

“We want to utilize AI to automate processes our staff currently performs manually,” said Beaver, who holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science. “The process, called ‘agentic AI,’ will ultimately make our employees even more productive while taking the project to the next level more quickly and more efficiently.”

“Agentic” describes the ability of an AI system to act autonomously and take independent steps to achieve specific, pre-determined goals without continuous human oversight. Beaver emphasized that it signifies a shift from passive, reactive tools to proactive, goal-driven agents that can plan, use external tools, and adapt to changing conditions.

Beaver said the goal is to integrate AI so that menial tasks seen as time-consuming can be completed automatically. He likened agentic AI to how people used to research by looking in volumes of encyclopedias, but how the invention of the internet made research far easier. Agentic AI, he said, is not intended to replace jobs but, rather, to make jobs easier.

“The benefit for WVU students is that it gives them an opportunity to perform challenging, real-world tasks using the tools they talk about in class. It will provide a real sense of accomplishment and real-world usage of these tools, to the point where they can put what they did on their resumes,” said Beaver, who meets weekly with his team of six students and receives a presentation for the project update.

“The benefit to Trilogy is that it gives us an interesting perspective on the solutions to challenges we have. This team of students will work on the problem until they solve it. It’s very satisfying to see this partnership in action from both sides, and it’s very gratifying to know that we’re helping to make students workforce ready.”