Ohio State University (US) is deepening its ties with the business community, focusing on research partnerships, student entrepreneurship, and workforce development. President Ravi V. Bellamkonda shared this vision during a leadership conversation with Columbus Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Derrick R. Clay, held at the Athletic Club of Columbus.
“Excellence is a way of behaving, thinking, and really a way of being, much more than a state,” Bellamkonda said. “So, to me, the conversation we are having within Ohio State is, do we have this confidence to behave as a leader, a true leader? Because we are a great university in a great state, and we are positioned to do amazing things because of the people who went before.”
Growing research and startup opportunities
Bellamkonda said his aspiration is to be the most business-friendly university in the nation. He offered several examples of where Ohio State is leading or planning to expand opportunities in consequential ways to be among the best in the nation.
Ohio State has extended research and development opportunities for local businesses to partner with the university to improve their innovation while protecting intellectual property. Bellamkonda also pointed to executive training opportunities at Fisher College of Business and online courses for small business leaders to improve their knowledge of artificial intelligence.
Supporting state and local businesses is only part of the goal to help the university and the state succeed. Bellamkonda said it is also important for Ohio State to add new businesses to the region.
“We’ll be announcing a programme where by 2029-2030, I’d like 100 investable startups to be coming out of Ohio State every year,” he said. “One hundred startups that are not paper startups, not projects for education, but investment-worthy startups every year. This is entirely doable.”
Preparing graduates for an AI-fluent workforce
Ohio State’s new president also discussed the efforts to prepare students for the workforce of the future. He pointed to Ohio State’s AI Fluency initiative, the unique, groundbreaking initiative to prepare students to be “bilingual” in the use of AI: fluent in both their discipline and the responsible, intuitive use of AI.
Bellamkonda also highlighted how Ohio State is preparing graduates for the future workplace through its AI Fluency initiative, which combines discipline-specific expertise with practical AI skills. He noted that this dual fluency means Ohio State graduates arrive ready to apply AI meaningfully from day one, regardless of their field of study.
Looking ahead, Bellamkonda expressed confidence that Ohio State, alongside the Columbus Chamber and the wider business community, can help drive the region’s continued growth through collaboration, describing the partnership as key to building lasting, shared success across the Midwest.
