In late 2024, a small team at the University of Melbourne was drowning in enquiries, managing pre-placement compliance for thousands of students with no extra resourcing. Michael Roldan, with no IT background, decided there had to be a better way and built an AI tool to help.

That decision led to BLAKE, a staff-led governance framework for building safe, effective AI tools. Response times dropped from days to same-day, staff confidence improved, and student privacy and compliance were never compromised. BLAKE has since been adopted by teams at UNSW, AUT Auckland, RMIT University and the University of Guelph Canada, and is the subject of a peer-reviewed paper currently under editorial review in the Work Integrated Learning Journal.

This session is not about the technology. It is proof that any professional staff member can spot a problem in their own workflow and build a practical, governance-sound solution to fix it. Attendees will see the framework in action and hear what colleagues at other institutions have built with it.

Imagine handing off the repetitive parts of your role to a tool you built yourself, freeing up time, energy and control for the work that needs your judgement. This session shows you the how, showcases what others have already built to inspire your own ideas, and leaves you with a proven AI framework to take back to your team.

Michael Roldan, Senior School Operations Officer, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, Faculty of Science