Meet Jorge Villalon: Seasoned Academic, AI Expert, and uPlanner’s New Chief Operating Officer
uPlanner recently welcomed Jorge Villalon, PhD in Artificial Intelligence from The University of Sydney, as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO). Jorge’s journey to this pivotal role is as fascinating as it is inspiring, beginning with his early interest in programming and video games and evolving into a distinguished career in education and AI. At uPlanner, Jorge is set to lead transformative changes, focusing on optimizing internal processes and enhancing the company’s ability to support universities in delivering quality education that meets today’s challenges. With his deep expertise and passion for innovation, Jorge aims to make a significant impact on the future of education through advanced AI solutions and the customer at center.
Can you tell us a bit about how you first became interested in artificial intelligence and what led you to choose this career path? How did your passion for AI begin?
From a very young age, I fell in love with two things: educational environments and video games. Both my parents were academics and I remember being fascinated by watching them teach at the university.This fascination with teaching and academia arose from seeing my parents in action, which made me think that I wanted to be a part of that world.
On the other hand, the first computers and video game consoles also captured my interest. At that time, video games were an incredibly exciting pastime. I used to help a local store in exchange for tokens to play, which led me to a deep curiosity about how these games worked.
How did your transition to programming and artificial intelligence happen?
When a programmable computer appeared in my life, the first question I asked myself was, “How is a video game made?”. I immersed myself in learning to program. At the age of 8, together with my brother, we used magazines to learn how to program. We spent hours writing code to create our own games. It was a very educational experience, although sometimes we lost all progress when we turned off the computer.
In college, I chose engineering because I had always been interested in mathematics and computing. I realized that I had a passion for making video games that were more interesting and challenging. I remember an anecdote where I got frustrated with certain games, like Mario Bros, because the characters didn’t seem to behave realistically. This led me to research how to improve artificial intelligence in video games.
Can you tell us more about your experience with artificial intelligence in video games?
During my time at the university, I had the opportunity to work on a very exciting project. I met Professor Miguel Nussbaum, who was researching how video games could help children learn. Through his class, I was invited to participate in a project to program video games for Nintendo’s Game Boy, aimed at teaching children to read and write. This project was not only fascinating, but it also allowed me to travel to the United States.
In the process, I transformed this project into academic research for my master’s thesis, focused on how to create artificial intelligence for video game characters that were more believable and offered more of a challenge to players.
That’s fantastic. What did you work on next?
After working on that project, I joined a startup during the dot-com era, around the year 2000. I worked at a startup that specialized in technology and video games. Although I continued teaching at the university, I immersed myself in the world of entrepreneurship and emerging technology, which allowed me to explore new frontiers in artificial intelligence and video games. After that stage, I realized that I was very passionate about education, which is why I accepted an invitation to join the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, where they sought to change the way engineering was taught. I found this opportunity fascinating, so I dove in.
What steps did you take to restructure the teaching and learning process within the faculty?
I encountered a system that produced graduates unable to communicate or collaborate effectively. I decided to get involved to change the structure of the curriculum, where I was offered complete freedom to transform it. In the end, we implemented a more practical, problem-based approach, integrating liberal arts, philosophy, and psychology.
The transformation was significant. We went from 13 professors and 400 students to 118 professors and several thousand students. This new approach fostered innovation and entrepreneurship, creating a dynamic and enriching educational environment.
Can you tell us about a project that has been particularly meaningful to you and why?
A project that I will always remember is one that started as a simple need but turned into something much more powerful. In 2012, a professor asked me for help because he was overwhelmed by having to mark exams by hand and wished he could grade them on an iPad. From that idea, we developed a complete suite for electronic exam correction called “eMarking.” This project not only made grading easier, but it also allowed professors worldwide to digitize their students’ assignments and receive instant feedback, significantly improving the quality of teaching. The impact was enormous, to the point that today, tens of thousands of exams are corrected digitally at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez and other institutions using this tool. This project taught me a lot and continues to have a significant impact on education.
How did you meet Juan Pablo Mena, uPlanner’s CEO?
I met Juan Pablo Mena at the Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez before I left to complete my PhD. When I arrived at Adolfo Ibáñez, I realized that the university didn’t have a platform for students to upload assignments or content or to communicate, basically no LMS. So, with a server, I set up the university’s first LMS, which they later called “Webcursos.” Then, the Director of Mathematics came to see me with the idea of creating some math and computing labs so that students could study and reinforce their knowledge in their free time. He already had someone in mind to help with the project: an excellent student from Universidad Santa María named Juan Pablo Mena. We were introduced, and we started working together in 2004-2005, setting up the computational math lab. Since then, Juan Pablo and I have worked on several projects and he invited me to work with him. I called him when I was ready for a new challenge, and here we are.
You’re an expert in AI. How do you see it evolving over time and uPlanner’s advantage with this technology to date?
I think there’s a lot of hype today around generative artificial intelligence, but the most important thing to understand is that artificial intelligence needs to be trained and won’t produce results on anything it hasn’t been trained on. To train AI, two things are needed: first, knowing what and how to prompt – because when it starts producing nonsensical results, it is necessary to guide and correct it – and secondly, having data. In this sense, uPlanner is in a very advantageous position, as it integrates and centralizes relevant data from different higher education institutions. This integration of information is the basis for effectively training any artificial intelligence algorithm.
Moreover, uPlanner already has a solid data foundation and accumulated experience with various institutions, which is crucial for providing proper guidance. With this foundation, we can use artificial intelligence to offer more consultative solutions, generating data-driven and experience-based suggestions, and helping universities solve specific problems with the information they have available.
How do you believe AI can have the greatest impact on institutions: within academic environments or in administrative functions?
The impact of artificial intelligence could be considerable at the management level. The reality is that many universities globally face the problem of having dispersed and poorly managed data. No matter how sophisticated an institution is or how it ranks, many have data scattered across different systems and locations, making it difficult to generate real value from the information.
The key lies in the integration of information. uPlanner excels in this area because it not only consolidates data from various sources into a single place but also facilitates creating value from that information. Many universities are attempting to implement generative artificial intelligence, but results can be mixed, and they may face difficulties if they do not have a solid foundation of integrated data. The right approach is to focus on management, as it is the area with the most control and where information can be managed more effectively with fewer decision-makers involved.
Administrative areas can also benefit greatly from effective data integration. Tools that facilitate these processes and enhance efficiency are essential for providing a better service to students.
How do you expect the North American higher education market to evolve in the coming years?
The North American educational market is going to face significant challenges. Primarily, universities need to reduce costs while improving efficiency. They need to reuse resources, optimize processes, and make strategic decisions to manage their budgets better. It involves doing more with less and institutions will need to adapt quickly to these pressures to remain viable and effective organizations.
What are some of the key challenges you’ll face in your role and how is uPlanner positioned to help them navigate them?
Adapting to the diverse needs of different institutions and managing complex data sets. We will focus on iterative improvement, ensuring our solutions evolve with the needs of our clients and remain effective within the unique north american context.
We’re well-positioned to address these challenges by leveraging the extensive data we have from various universities. Our approach will continue to focus on providing strategic insights and support, enabling universities to optimize their operations and meet the evolving demands of the market. We plan to help institutions understand their unique contexts and help them make data-driven decisions to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.
Will uPlanner adopt a more consultative role in the future?
Yes, uPlanner will adopt a more consultative approach. We recognize that institutions often need more than just tools—they need ongoing support and guidance. We will provide this by offering ongoing consulting services to help them navigate their specific challenges and make the most of our solutions. This will involve not only implementing our tools but also assisting with strategic planning and decision-making.
