This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Sarah Buszka, director of Waukesha County Technical College’s Applied AI Lab.
The lab specializes in working with industry partners to help them “grow and go” with AI, including entrepreneurs through various startup accelerators programs focused on the quickly changing technology.
“If you want to do it smartly and bring it into your organization, into your business, we’re the place to go for that type of help,” she said. “We provide training, consulting services, so we help business and industry navigate this whole kind of crazy world of AI right now.”
Buszka shares her thoughts on integrating AI with education, emphasizing WCTC’s focus on serving the needs of employers. She notes WCTC was the first college in Wisconsin to offer an undergraduate degree in AI.
“We’re very proud of that, we’re very forward-thinking with that regard,” she said. “Our graduates from that two-year program, our first crop of them will be graduating this May 2026 so we’re very excited about that.”
These students are currently working on capstone projects alongside partners in the industry, some of which were connected to the college through the Applied AI Lab as clients.
While the lab opened in late 2024, it’s already adding a second floor with a groundbreaking slated for this spring, Buszka noted.
“We’re going to be bringing our academic side of the house for our AI programs to be co-located with us, so then we’ll have even more of this crucible of innovation for our students, and for business and industry to co-mingle a lot more often,” she said.
Buszka, who joined WCTC in May 2025, worked previously as the senior relationship manager and technology strategist at Stanford University. She’s also held positions at UW-Madison.
While most people’s exposure to AI involves working with generative language models like ChatGPT, Buszka highlights other applications of the technology such as process automation.
She also touches on how AI might reshape higher education, pointing to applications in personalized learning, as well as the workforce.
“There’s a lot of folks who are asking me, ‘Okay, how do I bring AI into supply chain, how do I bring that into manufacturing?’ What is the intersection of AI and the manufacturing floor, right, that physical AI component?” she said. “So we’re doing a lot of work in that area, and I expect to see that play out more over a decade.”
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
