Center for Applied AI

           

Mission

Accelerate responsible AI adoption across industries through joint AI R&D, create a highly skilled workforce, and drive sustainable economic development.

CAAI connects university research, students, and industry partners to solve real-world problems, bridging expertise across academic units with the needs of industry and government agencies.

 

 

   
   
   
   

Strategic Priorities

  • Establish a national center of excellence in AI
  • Support applied AI research across all disciplines

  • Create research infrastructure (data & AI Compute)

  • Upskill existing workforce; partner with other colleges to prepare students for jobs tomorrow

  • Outreach and industry engagement

   
   
   
   

Ongoing Activities

  • NSF AHeAD Center (planned): Proposed NSF IUCRC, with Georgia Tech, Tulane, and the University of Florida, to build AI-augmented decision-support systems for equitable, high-quality healthcare. (nsfahead.org)

  • Health Data and Intelligence Platform (active): Statewide partnerships with Ochsner and LDH Rural Health to advance AI-augmented decision support, anchored by a >$60M CMS-funded rural health data and analytics platform (rhtla.net). ~$0.7M in current funding supports development of a $4M NIH PRIMED-AI proposal.

  • AI-Ready America (proposal submitted): Joint proposal with LA.IO to help small businesses adopt AI, with UL Lafayette as statewide hub for AI readiness training and capacity building.

  • Multi-disciplinary AI-R&D: Several ongoing projects & proposals in energy (DOE Genesis), Manufacturing (NIST, NSF), Cyber-physical security (Raytheon), Engineering Design (GIS)

  • AI Training for Emergency Management and Public Health (active): Specialized training at the GOHSEP Academy and for public health professionals on using AI for disaster response, situational awareness, and emergency communication.

   
   
   

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Latest and Greatest

October 12th, 2026

AI4HealthOutcomes Monthly Webinar Series

Topic: The Last Mile Begins in the First: Insights from Developing Technologies For Autism and Aging Agata Rozga, PhD... Read More ➝
September 21st, 2026

UL Lafayette has been awarded $2.1 million to address rural healthcare needs.

The University’s Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at UL Lafayette (CAAI)– along with its Louisiana Center... Read More ➝
September 21st, 2026

AHeAD Leadership Presents at State AI Symposium

On August 12-13, 2026, Dr. Raju Gottumukkala and Dr. Aron Culotta presented at the Louisiana Department of Health... Read More ➝