Most universities that adopt AI rent an agentic platform. Syracuse University took a different path: it owns its AI platform outright — the code, the data and the infrastructure — running the IBL.ai platform within the University's own Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The result is what Syracuse calls AI sovereignty: full control, deep integration with campus systems and roughly 85% lower cost than per-seat software.
AI sovereignty: code, data, infrastructure
Syracuse received the IBL.ai agentic platform source code under a perpetual license and deployed it on Google. Because it owns the platform, the University can invest in it directly — building agent-driven processes and student-experience tools like Clementine, its AI class-search agent — and shape the roadmap around its students' needs rather than a vendor's roadmap. Data never leaves infrastructure Syracuse controls — essential for FERPA compliance — and the University's cloud team manages access, networking and compliance like any other institutional system.
"We wanted full ownership of our AI platform — the code, the data, the infrastructure. IBL.ai delivered exactly that."
— Jeff Rubin, senior vice president and chief digital officer
Built on Google, wired into campus
The platform is built on Google Vertex AI and runs on Google Cloud, giving Syracuse enterprise-grade models with the freedom to connect any large language model and swap freely as pricing changes. Just as important, it is wired into the campus ecosystem: single sign-on (SSO), role-based access that maps to existing university roles and a custom interface that matches Syracuse branding. The agents get the context they need — the difference between a generic chatbot and a tool that belongs.
"What attracted us to IBL is they're essentially using Google Vertex as a foundation layer... it gives us the flexibility to move around."
— Jeff Rubin
Into the classroom
Ownership isn't an end in itself; it's what lets Syracuse build for its own students. Rubin, who teaches an introductory information technology course of a couple hundred students, used the platform to create a "virtual Jeff" — every lecture transcript and slide loaded in, instructed to answer first from his own materials and to reach for a large language model only when a student needs more. Because he can see the questions students ask, he learns where they get stuck and reworks his teaching to match.
From there it grew. The platform generates practice exams straight from his lectures, and faculty are building branching, "pick-your-path" simulations that pose a scenario, respond to a student's answer and push deeper — surfacing how students actually think. It is the kind of one-on-one attention a 200-person lecture could never offer: critical thinking, at scale.
"If every one of us — every faculty, every staff — is not using generative AI on a daily basis, we are being inefficient."
— Jeff Rubin
The speed of buying, the control of building
Syracuse didn't have to choose between building from scratch — 12 to 24 months and a specialized AI team — or renting a black-box solution. IBL's platform delivered a dynamic platform, and built the very features Syracuse required into the product. The economics change at scale, too: per-seat pricing at $20 a month across 30,000 students would run about $7.2 million a year before a single customization. By paying only for actual model usage after purchasing the platform, Syracuse kept its AI costs roughly 85% below what other SaaS solutions would have charged.
On a national stage
The approach has drawn national attention. At Google Public Sector's Gen AI Live and Labs 2025, Rubin joined GovExec TV to talk through how Syracuse is using AI to meet real pressures in higher education — the enrollment cliff, rising costs and large-class instruction — by treating AI as owned infrastructure rather than a rented tool.
Why it matters
For Syracuse, owning the platform isn't only about cost. It builds institutional capability instead of dependency, keeps student data on university-controlled infrastructure and lets the University shape its own AI roadmap. If priorities change, Syracuse keeps everything — the code, the data and the integrations. It is the same practical, outcomes-first approach the University is taking to AI across campus — including Clementine, the student class-search agent built on this very platform.
Learn more: GovExec TV: Five Questions with Jeff Rubin (opens in a new tab) · Watch the interview (opens in a new tab) · ibl.ai case study: AI sovereignty at Syracuse (opens in a new tab)