AI Adoption Strategy
Guiding the move from personal to enterprise-scale AI across teaching and operations — with responsible governance and real classroom impact.
CIO · Wichita Public Schools
Rob Dicksonbuilds the future of learning.
I build the systems, schools, and strategies that help public education move faster — without losing its soul.
FETC 2026
Featured Speaker · Orlando
50,000students impacted
100+microschool waitlist
2,600+at Learning Forward keynote
7FETC 2026 sessions
Top 100National EdTech influencer
What I Believe
AI should deepen human learning, not automate broken systems. Technology leadership in schools isn't about devices or dashboards — it's about designing better conditions for students, teachers, and communities.
Start Here
How can I help?
Whether you're planning a conference, leading a district, or covering the future of learning — here's your front door.
Book me to speak
Keynotes and sessions on AI, school design, cyber resilience, and future-ready learning.
See speaking topicsExplore the work
Creative Minds, district AI implementation, esports & drone soccer, and virtual learning.
See the initiativesRead & listen
Articles, the What the EdTech? podcast, panels, and national interviews.
Browse writing & media
About
Strategy, systems, and people.
I'm the Chief Information Officer for Wichita Public Schools — Kansas's largest district, serving 50,000 students across 94 schools with nearly 10,000 professionals.
My best work happens at the intersection of strategy, systems, and people: building teams that turn ambitious ideas into durable public-school programs. I pair design thinking with infrastructure and AI — always anchored to the pedagogy that makes them matter.
Across three districts in two states, I've planned and launched a new virtual school each time, including the first K-12 virtual school in Nebraska history — plus microschools, district-wide esports, and responsible, enterprise-scale AI for teaching and operations.
"Inspire future leaders and empower every student with the skills and knowledge to succeed."
50,000
Students served districtwide
94
Schools & programs supported
~10,000
Staff & professionals
30
Years in technology & leadership
Expertise
Where I focus
From enterprise AI strategy to the infrastructure beneath every classroom — connecting bold ideas to durable systems.
New Learning Models
Designing and launching virtual schools, microschools, and project-based learning environments that reimagine what school can be.
Cybersecurity & Resilience
Protecting 50,000 students and staff — multi-factor authentication, filtering, incident response, and the resilience to keep learning running.
Edtech Infrastructure
Device refresh, student information systems, and networks — the reliable backbone that makes digital learning possible at scale.
Leadership & Teams
Building high-performance teams and a culture of organic growth and cultural change that improves organizational effectiveness.
Finance & Bond Planning
District technology planning, budgeting, and bond initiatives that fund long-term transformation without losing fiscal discipline.
Signature Initiatives
Ideas, made real.
Each of these started as a question — what if school worked differently? — and became a program students are now lining up to join.
01
Virtual School · Founder
Education Imagine Academy
A K-12 virtual school I founded and oversee. It hit maximum capacity in its very first year and earned the Microsoft Showcase School distinction.
Why it matters: online learning can be rigorous, well-supported, and in such demand that it fills.
Full
Year-one capacity
02
Microschool · K-6 Vertical Classroom
Creative Minds
A public microschool where technology and design turn students into active makers who "create meaning through doing." Mornings are core; afternoons are project-based, with the community teaching specials.
Why it matters: public schools can build personalized, project-based models without abandoning equity or access.
100+
On the waitlist
03
Athletics & STEM · In Partnership with WSU
Esports & Drone Soccer
In collaboration with Wichita State University, I helped launch competitive esports across every secondary school. "Gaming concepts" is now the most-taken elective in the district.
Why it matters: belonging drives attendance — and a clear on-ramp to STEM careers and identity.
#1
Most-taken elective
04
Enterprise AI · Districtwide
AI in Teaching & Operations
Leading the transition from personal to enterprise adoption of AI across a 50,000-student system — pairing purposeful technology with a clear, responsible adoption path for educators.
Why it matters: AI scales only when governance and professional learning scale with it.
50K
Students in scope
Writing & Speaking
On stage, on the page, on the mic
A national voice on AI, esports, cybersecurity, and new school models — keynoting conferences, writing for the field, and co-hosting the What the EdTech? podcast.
Featured Keynote · Dec 2025
“Don't Be an Album, Be a DJ”
Co-delivered with Dyane Smokorowski, this keynote traded the one-size-fits-all “album” model of education for an AI-enabled “DJ” approach — personalized, on-demand learning — and sent educators home with four ready-to-use professional learning plans.
View conference recapTalks I give
- AI without the hype cycle
- The CIO as learning designer
- Cyber resilience in K-12
- Microschools & new public-school models
- From infrastructure to instruction
- Esports, drone soccer & belonging
Selected Speaking & Podcasts
FETC 2026 — Featured Speaker
Seven sessions in Orlando on cyber resilience, AI implementation, esports & drone soccer, and future-ready elementary minds.
ISTELive 25 — AI Leadership Panel
Microsoft-moderated panel in San Antonio on implementing generative AI responsibly across districts.
EdTech Week NYC — Panelist
“Beyond the Sales Pitch” — a framework for evaluating edtech for efficacy and equity.
What the EdTech? — Co-host & Creator
Co-hosting the podcast since 2022, storytelling the impact of technology on culture, community, and learning.
Selected Writing
Reimagining Learning Experiences With AI
The Learning Professional (Learning Forward) · Oct 2025 — on AI as a teacher's thought partner and personalized learning at scale.
Embracing AI Through Our Staff Development
School Administrator (AASA) · Nov 2024 — co-authored on Wichita's strategic AI professional-development rollout.
Securing & Future-Proofing Your School IT
Tech & Learning · Mar 2022 — featured expert on filtering, two-factor authentication, and K-12 data security.
When Vendors & Districts Collaborate on PD
EdSurge · Dec 2014 — authored on the Omaha–Microsoft Office 365 professional-development partnership.
Career
Three decades from the network closet to the C-suite
From an Air Force network specialist to district CIO — a through-line of building reliable infrastructure and launching a new virtual school in each of my last three districts.
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Aug 2019 — Present
Chief Information Officer
Wichita Public Schools · Kansas
Leading digital transformation for the largest district in Kansas. Acting as a change agent driving innovation inside and outside the classroom across the Microsoft 365 & Azure ecosystem on Surface devices, and overseeing the shift to an Intune-managed Windows device model.
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May 2014 — Aug 2019
Executive Director of Technology
Omaha Public Schools · Nebraska
Managed digital transformation for the largest district in Nebraska. Deployed Microsoft 365, migrated the on-premise data center to Azure, equipped staff with Surface Pro devices, moved the district to 1:1, and built a Microsoft Innovative Educator program of 200+ educators. Started the first K-12 virtual school in Nebraska history and initiated a statewide Future Ready Plan.
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Jul 2004 — May 2014
Director of Technology
Andover Public Schools · Kansas
Led both instructional technology and the technology team, started Andover eCademy, and implemented the first vBlock converged data center in K-12 education — earning the district a National School Boards Association Digital District Award.
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Jul 1999 — Jul 2004
Network Engineer
Andover Public Schools · Kansas
Designed, built, and maintained the district network infrastructure — the foundation of a 25-year career advancing K-12 technology in the same community.
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Jun 1995 — Jun 1999
Network Specialist
United States Air Force · McConnell AFB
Served as a network specialist, building the discipline, reliability, and mission-first mindset that still shapes how I lead enterprise technology today.
Also serving the broader field as a KansasCityCIO Advisory Board member (2021–2025), part of the national InspireCIO Leadership Network, and a former board member of the AIM Institute.
Recognition
Honors & distinctions
2026
EdTech Top 100 Influencer
Named to the EdTech Top 100 in EdTech Digest's State of EdTech 2026–2027 report — recognized among the leaders moving education forward.
2024
Top 100 Education Influencer
District Administration magazine — named among the nation's Top 100 Education Influencers of 2024.
2024
Kansas Tech Community Innovator of the Year
FlagshipKansas.Tech — recognizing leaders leveraging technology for social and community development in Kansas.
2021
Kansas City CIO of the Year
Orbie Award · Public Sector — the premier technology-executive recognition program, awarded through a rigorous peer review.
2022
National CIO of the Year — Finalist
Inspire Awards · Public Sector — named a national finalist for outstanding CIO leadership.
Microsoft
Microsoft Showcase School
Education Imagine Academy earned global Showcase School recognition for innovation in digital learning.
ISTE / ASCD
Distinguished District
Wichita Public Schools recognized for educational excellence and forward-thinking leadership.
2017
Administrator Network Award
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) — recognized for exemplary leadership.
2016
Top 30 Technologists, Transformers & Trailblazers
Center for Digital Education — named among the nation's leading public-sector technology innovators.
2014
20 to Watch
National School Boards Association — honored as an emerging leader to watch in education technology.
National
Published Thought Leadership
Featured in Learning Forward and District Administration on reimagining learning experiences with AI.
Credentials
A practitioner, not just a strategist
46 certifications and counting — I earn the credentials in the platforms my teams run, so strategy stays grounded in how the technology actually works.
Artificial Intelligence
- AI Agent Developer · Vanderbilt
- Agentic AI Architecture in Python · Vanderbilt
- Trustworthy Generative AI · Vanderbilt
- Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT · Vanderbilt
- Generative AI for Data Scientists · IBM
- Responsible AI · Google Cloud
- Large Language Models · Google Cloud
Cloud & Infrastructure
- Microsoft 365 Fundamentals
- Azure Fundamentals
- Digital Transformation · Google Cloud
- Application Modernization · Google Cloud
- Google Cloud Security & Operations
Leadership & Learning
- Futures Thinking Specialization
- Social Computing · Johns Hopkins
- Microsoft Certified Educator