AI API Gateway: A new IT@UMN virtual team

A cross-University Virtual Team is officially underway to build and operate the University of Minnesota's ​new AI API Gateway​, a shared platform that provides secure, governed, and scalable access to leading large language models (LLMs) through a ​secure common Application Programming Interface (API). 

This initiative brings together 11 IT professionals representing nine different units across the University, combining expertise from across our distributed IT community to build a shared capability. The team is led by Ilya Begelman (Graduate School), who serves as Product Manager, and Brad Kaufman (Carlson School of Management), who serves as Product Owner. Supporting the team are Monica Kocon (Institutional Analysis) as Scrum Coach and Ashley Gilles (Internal Audit) as Team Coach. Additional team members include Vern Wehrle​ (RIO), Peter Nelson​ (CSE), Char Miller (Dentistry), Paul Rubenis (OIT), Jack Nemitz (OIT), Travis Sobeck (OIT), Ham Lam (MSI), and Kelly Nelson (Crookston). 

Together, the team will make it easier for developers and campus partners to innovate with AI by providing reliable infrastructure, responsive support, practical documentation, proactive communication, and streamlined access to enterprise AI services. The AI Gateway Virtual Team is another example of what we can accomplish when we bring together talented people from across the University to solve challenges as one IT community.

Learn more about Virtual Teams on Atlas (University of Minnesota sign in required).