Case Studies
The 5-Star Approach has been a key strategic partner in advising Utah Valley University transformation to AI-era education
The Chief AI Officer of Utah Valley University (UVU) recruited The 5-Star Approach to advise on the creation and launch of an AI certificate, two AI associate's degrees, an AI-integrated Bachelor’s emphasis, and an AI Master's degree that prepare students for jobs requiring mastery of emerging AI technologies.
The 5-Star Approach talent had advised and directed the development of both academic and corporate learning programs before. However, the rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) was cause for new research.
After robust research, we found that the field of computer science in the United States was in rapid decline, and had been since 2019, with all indications of a continued drought for new entrants (i.e., fresh graduates). Therefore, we advised UVU that rather than focusing on programming languages and software engineering skills, to focus the degree programs on skills in strategic business problem solving and leveraging AI product development.
This realization drove dramatic shifts in content and pedagogy, and complemented early efforts to drive more AI tool usage into traditional coursework. These programs have shown continued successful refinement, and registration rates have more than doubled projections from 20 to 48.
Other successful projects include:
- Development of AI curriculum for 50,000 faculty, students, and staff
- Strategy development for departments where entry-level jobs are highly exposed to automation
- Leading scholarly research on assessment redesign (a paper called “Value-Creation Learning in the Age of AI: A New Pedagogical Framework for Post-Traditional Assessment”)
- Facilitating the creation of paid AI industry work for students
Early indications demonstrate that this curriculum will be well-received, actionable, and will accelerate dramatic improvements across the University. According to Utah legislators, The 5-Star Approach is helping UVU maintain relevance as a pillar of value in the community, and lead Utah in proactively responding to dramatic shifts in entry-level employment.
The 5-Star Approach drove strategic process and solutions for a commercial training company in partnership with RizeNext Corp
When a prestigious, global training company specializing in agile project management asked RizeNext Corp for help with their AI transformation, The 5-Star Approach was quickly recruited to advise and execute.
Work began with executive interviews, strategy development, and process design. It was determined that the goal of operational time savings would be accomplished with a series of workflow automations.
To identify which automations would represent the largest gains in productivity, The 5-Star Approach designed an analysis process that was fitting for the scope and scale of the operations department, which quantified their daily operations into a set of prioritized automation projects. After executive alignment, we set to work building automation tools for staff, then implemented change management plans to announce, train, and support the usage of these tools.
Thanks to the generous collaboration of subject matter experts, tool developers, and executive and partner coordination, the project was a complete success as we accomplished a time savings of 10 hours per month per staff member.
How The 5-Star Approach Helped a Texas Private Equity Firm Use AI to Transform Its Strategy and Operations
This Texas-based private equity firm had a wide range of operations and needed automations and productivity enhancements across functions.
Through careful prioritization and executive alignment, we created many business improvements, including the following:
1. Creation of rigorous acquisition due diligence tools.
2. Communications analysis tools (e.g., building and developing expanded contact database).
3. Creation of a new brand and AI-driven brand strategy.
4. Development of marketing materials with AI (e.g., music, videos, images, ads, call center scripts).
5. Recommendation of specific automation tools for outreach and appointment setting.
6. Development and implementation of new accounting analysis AI tools.
Working with this client has led to many opportunities to research, implement, and create new AI tools to automate undesirable work, saving hundreds of hours of manual labor and building a structure for easier, higher-quality acquisitions that promise growth and improved profitability.
The "Infinite Consultant": Scaling Expertise Without Burnout
A management consulting firm, specializing in strategic transformation for mid-sized organizations, needed to convert their books into a unique, adaptive, immersive, structured, multi-month experience for every client.
We proposed an AI transformation strategy, and have begun building the following:
1. Automated Assessment Reports with Personalized Results: We used their books and other materials to create a database for AI to generate compelling assessments and personalized reports.
2. AI Agent Guided Coursework: We designed and developed the UX and technology for an AI agent to walk each user through a progressive, personalized learning experience where each interaction built on previous interactions.
3. AI UX Analysis: We used AI to analyze prototypes and carry out UX research to improve designs.
4. Cybersecurity: We introduced cybersecurity policies and procedures to keep all client data secure.
This work in progress is projected to generate millions in revenue while preserving the lifestyle and sanity of leadership and consultants.
The $108,000 Lesson: Why Strategy Must Precede Development
A successful software firm with a proven but highly dated platform, wanting to invest in growth.
The leadership team had recently experienced a highly lucrative exit and had turned their attention to an app company in their portfolio that they had been running on a plateau for some time. “It’s time to grow this!” they said, earmarking a substantial budget.
They hired us for initial strategy work for their app. We were able to map the competitive landscape of their industry, identify their niche and key messaging, and recommend very cutting-edge technologies for engaging their target market at a low cost of customer acquisition. We also encouraged them to hire us to advise their product management and development functions, because we saw their development team lacked agility, transparency, UX processes, and feedback loops.
Contrary to our advice, they decided to continue with their development team as it was.
After three more painful months, the executive team finally decided to have the tough conversations and pivot their development team. The out-of-pocket cost of turning down our advice for three months was $108,000, plus opportunities that were never realized.
