Ask an Alum is our AI-led digital networking tool that connects students and alumni to seek advice. Through smart use of AI, Ask an Alum enables students to receive valuable career insights, creates opportunities for networking with our alumni community and facilitates building longer-term connections. Since its launch in October 2022, it has facilitated more than 3,700 connections between students, recent graduates and alumni.
With 12,500 students booking more than 6,055 hours of career appointments annually and with a growing alumni community predicted to be at 300,000+ by 2030, we looked at new technology to scale engagement. Educate for Global Impact is at the forefront of our strategy, and Ask an Alum enables students to develop their networks with alumni across regions and sectors they otherwise may not have access to, gaining career advice and the opportunity to develop longer-term connections. With AI, we can support all students in this way, while engaging alumni with personalised volunteering opportunities relevant to their expertise.
Being the first institution in Europe to implement this tool has come with challenges, and we’re still learning. So far, we have worked through:
- Implementation
LSE has robust processes to follow when implementing a brand-new tool. We needed to have stakeholders on board very early on in the process, including senior management and key divisions. This involved a partnership between LSE Philanthropy and Global Engagement (PAGE) and LSE Careers to lead on the proposal, with a vision that AI would transform the student experience, scale engagement with the growing global alumni population, create targeted engagement for prospects and donors and increase operational efficiency across LSE. As a new volunteering opportunity, this feeds into our Shaping the World Campaign volunteering target, and lines up prospects and donors.
Engaging data protection and cyber security teams early on was essential, alongside key advocates who understood how transformational this could be. Working together to advocate for the impact it could have and identifying what the logistics were to help us get there made a real difference.
- Launch
A new AI tool cannot have impact unless key stakeholders across the institution have bought into it, understand how and why it works, and feel passionate about sharing it with their audiences. We brought together a working group at an early stage prior to launch, with colleagues from PAGE, Careers and Communications to plan how to share the new tool with our specific target audiences.
Building a toolkit of resources that departmental colleagues could use in their own materials and meeting with them regularly to collaborate on new ideas has been essential in strengthening institution-wide collaboration and the tool’s impact on our students.
- Embedding
Working closely with our careers team, we have embedded the tool into careers activities – on social media and the website, careers consultant appointments, events and more. This has resulted in over 25 per cent of questions being referred from careers activities. PAGE promotes Ask an Alum across the year, with a focus on embedding within key events, such as “Welcome” to engage new students with the tool, and “Graduation” to encourage recent graduates to use Ask an Alum in their search for next steps.
Earlier in 2024, we began embedding the tool into the curriculum, working with the course directors of LSE100, an interdisciplinary programme for all undergraduate students. This encouraged students to engage alumni as part of their early-stage research, asking them for their insights and expertise. Course teachers worked this into lessons and supported the groups to draft their thoughts into questions, helping them with their project work while building a foundation of confidence in engaging with alumni and building their networks from year one.
- Growth
To encourage students to use the tool, we realised we needed to build their confidence both in making that first approach, and in how to frame their question. We put together guidance questions based on the topics discussed with our careers team, embedding these within the tool itself and sharing examples at events. Students mostly ask to connect with alumni to hear about their experiences working in an industry or company, about moving to a new city or starting conversations about their interests to build networks.
We also started an Ask an Alum video series to showcase alumni sharing their advice. This put a real face to the AI and created rich content and a further volunteering opportunity for graduates around the world. It also shared student voices speaking about the value they got out of connections they made. Sharing impact stories is important, to show the outcome that these initial connections can have – from CV advice to job referrals and longstanding mentoring relationships. The tool not only enables career conversations but fosters a sense of belonging and community.
“Getting advice from alumni makes me feel supported and like there’s a whole community out there that wants me to succeed,” said one undergraduate student.
- Future vision
We are constantly looking strategically at how the tool can improve the student experience. This involves engaging senior stakeholders to better understand need and where we can embed the tool to further support students. For example, we have rolled out use for student societies to connect with alumni for panel events and continue to explore new areas where AI can have positive impact. The tool also prompts feedback, and we have maintained a satisfaction score of 9 out of 10 since launch.
AI is moving incredibly fast so we aim to keep on top of the topic and keep the conversation going – to have the freedom to explore how we may transform our programmes as our communities continue to grow.
Wallis Spence is alumni engagement projects manager in the Philanthropic and Global Engagement Division at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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