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<!-- Header -->
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<div class="logo-text">Agent<span>Lab</span> &mdash; Gies College of Business</div>
<h1>Scaling AI-Powered Education</h1>
<div class="subtitle">An Investment Proposal for AgentLab</div>
<div class="meta">Prepared March 2026 &middot; Origin Ventures &amp; Advancement</div>
</div>
</div>

<!-- What We've Built -->
<section>
<div class="container">
<h2>What We've Built</h2>
<p class="lead">AgentLab is a student-led development lab at Gies College of Business building multi-agent AI systems that transform how students learn. In under a year, a small team has shipped six production tools already in use at Illinois.</p>

<div class="stats-bar">
<div class="stat-item">
<span class="stat-number">6</span>
<span class="stat-label">Production Projects</span>
</div>
<div class="stat-item">
<span class="stat-number">61+</span>
<span class="stat-label">Students Served</span>
</div>
<div class="stat-item">
<span class="stat-number">97+</span>
<span class="stat-label">Hours Engagement</span>
</div>
<div class="stat-item">
<span class="stat-number">8</span>
<span class="stat-label">Student Developers</span>
</div>
</div>

<div class="project-mini-grid">
<div class="project-mini">
<div class="icon">&#128161;</div>
<h4>VentureBots</h4>
<p>5-agent startup coaching. 25 students, 90% satisfaction.</p>
</div>
<div class="project-mini">
<div class="icon">&#129517;</div>
<h4>PathShaper</h4>
<p>Adaptive learning with AI-generated curriculum. 186 concepts.</p>
</div>
<div class="project-mini">
<div class="icon">&#128218;</div>
<h4>Canvas MCP</h4>
<p>90+ tools connecting AI agents to Canvas LMS. Open source.</p>
</div>
<div class="project-mini">
<div class="icon">&#128172;</div>
<h4>IlliniClaw</h4>
<p>WhatsApp AI TA. 36 students, 109 sessions in BADM 554.</p>
</div>
<div class="project-mini">
<div class="icon">&#9878;&#65039;</div>
<h4>Inquiring Agents</h4>
<p>5 philosopher-agents debate AI ethics with students.</p>
</div>
<div class="project-mini">
<div class="icon">&#129504;</div>
<h4>Cognitive Swarm</h4>
<p>Real-time 3D brainstorming with voice + quadratic voting.</p>
</div>
</div>

<p>Every project is open-source, built by graduate students, and designed to work in real classrooms&mdash;not just demos. The model is lean: one faculty advisor, two student developers per semester, and commodity cloud infrastructure.</p>
</div>
</section>

<!-- The Opportunity -->
<section>
<div class="container">
<h2>The Opportunity</h2>
<p class="lead">We've proven the concept with minimal resources. Donor investment would let us move from "interesting experiment" to "institutional capability" that positions Gies as a national leader in AI-powered education.</p>

<h3>What Scaling Looks Like</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>More students building.</strong> Expand from 2 developers/semester to 6&ndash;8, supporting 3&ndash;4 concurrent project teams and creating a pipeline of AI-skilled graduates.</li>
<li><strong>More classrooms deploying.</strong> Move from 2 courses to 10+ across Gies, with potential pilots in Engineering, LAS, and Education.</li>
<li><strong>Research rigor.</strong> Fund IRB-approved studies on learning outcomes. Publish findings. Present at conferences like AIED, LAK, and AAAI.</li>
<li><strong>Infrastructure for scale.</strong> Current API and hosting costs are absorbed informally. At scale, AI inference alone (Claude, GPT-4, Gemini) runs $3&ndash;5K/month for hundreds of concurrent student users.</li>
<li><strong>Open-source leadership.</strong> Canvas MCP already has external adoption. Funded documentation and community management would establish Gies as the go-to for AI + LMS integration.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</section>

<!-- Investment Tiers -->
<section class="page-break">
<div class="container">
<h2>Investment Tiers</h2>
<p class="lead">We've structured three giving levels, each with tangible deliverables. All tiers include naming recognition and annual impact reporting.</p>

<div class="tier-card">
<div class="tier-amount">$50,000 / year</div>
<div class="tier-name">Accelerator</div>
<p>Covers core operating costs and enables sustainability.</p>
<ul>
<li>4 funded graduate research assistants (stipend top-up for existing students)</li>
<li>AI API credits and cloud hosting for all active projects</li>
<li>Basic learning-outcome measurement across deployed tools</li>
<li>Annual impact report shared with donor</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="tier-card featured">
<div class="tier-amount">$150,000 / year</div>
<div class="tier-name">Innovation Lab (Recommended)</div>
<p>Establishes AgentLab as a recognized center with cross-campus reach.</p>
<ul>
<li>Everything in Accelerator, plus:</li>
<li>6&ndash;8 funded student developers with structured mentorship program</li>
<li>Part-time program coordinator (staff or advanced doctoral student)</li>
<li>IRB-approved research studies with peer-reviewed publications</li>
<li>Expansion to 10+ courses across 2&ndash;3 colleges</li>
<li>Annual showcase event for donors, faculty, and industry partners</li>
<li>Named recognition: "[Donor] AgentLab at Gies"</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div class="tier-card">
<div class="tier-amount">$500,000 (endowed)</div>
<div class="tier-name">Founding Endowment</div>
<p>Creates a permanent, self-sustaining center for AI in education.</p>
<ul>
<li>Everything in Innovation Lab, permanently funded</li>
<li>Dedicated lab space in the Business Instructional Facility</li>
<li>Full-time technical director hire</li>
<li>Industry partnership program with practicum placements</li>
<li>Cross-university collaboration fund (peer Big Ten institutions)</li>
<li>Permanent naming: "[Donor] Center for AI-Powered Education"</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</section>

<!-- Budget Breakdown -->
<section>
<div class="container">
<h2>Where the Money Goes</h2>
<p class="lead">Illustrative annual budget at the $150K Innovation Lab tier.</p>

<table class="budget-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Category</th>
<th class="amount">Annual Cost</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Graduate research assistants (6&ndash;8 students, stipend top-ups)</td>
<td class="amount">$60,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Program coordinator (0.5 FTE staff or doctoral student)</td>
<td class="amount">$35,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>AI API costs (Claude, GPT-4, Gemini inference at scale)</td>
<td class="amount">$25,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Cloud infrastructure (hosting, databases, CDN)</td>
<td class="amount">$8,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Research (IRB, conference travel, publication fees)</td>
<td class="amount">$12,000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Events, materials, and contingency</td>
<td class="amount">$10,000</td>
</tr>
<tr class="total">
<td>Total</td>
<td class="amount">$150,000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</section>

<!-- Roadmap -->
<section>
<div class="container">
<h2>18-Month Roadmap</h2>
<p class="lead">With funding starting Fall 2026, here's what donors can expect.</p>

<div class="phase-row">
<div class="phase-label">Months 1&ndash;3</div>
<div class="phase-content">
<p><strong>Foundation.</strong> Hire coordinator. Recruit expanded student cohort. Onboard 4&ndash;6 new courses for Spring 2027 deployment. Set up IRB protocols.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="phase-row">
<div class="phase-label">Months 4&ndash;9</div>
<div class="phase-content">
<p><strong>Scale.</strong> Deploy AI tools in 10+ course sections (~500 students). Launch structured mentorship program. Begin first research study on learning outcomes. Host inaugural donor showcase.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="phase-row">
<div class="phase-label">Months 10&ndash;15</div>
<div class="phase-content">
<p><strong>Publish &amp; Expand.</strong> Submit first peer-reviewed papers. Pilot cross-college deployment (Engineering or Education). Release Canvas MCP 2.0 with enterprise features. Establish industry partnership program.</p>
</div>
</div>

<div class="phase-row">
<div class="phase-label">Months 16&ndash;18</div>
<div class="phase-content">
<p><strong>Sustain.</strong> Deliver annual impact report with measurable outcomes. Secure follow-on funding or matching grants. Plan multi-year roadmap with university leadership.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section>

<!-- Why Now -->
<section>
<div class="container">
<h2>Why Now</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>First-mover advantage.</strong> Most business schools are still debating AI policy. Gies is already shipping tools students use daily. Donor support locks in this lead.</li>
<li><strong>Student talent pipeline.</strong> AgentLab alumni are getting hired at top tech companies. Scaling the program produces more AI-literate business graduates&mdash;a direct donor-to-impact story.</li>
<li><strong>Open-source flywheel.</strong> Every tool we build is freely available. Donor investment doesn't just help Illinois&mdash;it advances AI education nationally. Canvas MCP alone is used by educators outside Gies.</li>
<li><strong>Low cost, high leverage.</strong> We've built six production tools with functionally zero budget. Even modest investment produces outsized returns in visibility, research output, and student impact.</li>
</ul>
</div>
</section>

<!-- Footer -->
<div class="proposal-footer">
<div class="container">
<p><strong>AgentLab</strong> &mdash; Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</p>
<p><a href="https://agentlab.illinihunt.org">agentlab.illinihunt.org</a> &middot; <a href="https://github.com/gies-ai-experiments">github.com/gies-ai-experiments</a></p>
<p style="margin-top: 1rem; opacity: 0.5; font-size: 0.8rem;">Draft &mdash; March 2026 &middot; Prepared for Advancement conversations</p>
</div>
</div>

</body>
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