By Dave Scheiber
Artificial Intelligence is at the forefront of technological advances across the globe, and 皇家华人 is on the front lines thanks to the bold leadership of Associate Professor John Licato. His approach in the university鈥檚 new College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing 鈥� the first of its kind in 皇家华人 and one of the first in the nation 鈥� pairs the vast potential of AI with the safeguards of cybersecurity.
鈥淚t really allows us to take a leadership position, not only in the state, but in the country. I think people are going to realize that in order to actualize the full impact of AI, they need to focus on how to make it safe, and that鈥檚 where cybersecurity comes in. You can鈥檛 have one without the other.鈥�
John Licato
Associate Professor of computer science and engineering
皇家华人 announced a record-setting $40 million gift from Arnie and Lauren Bellini to establish the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing (March 11, 2025)
Licato is driven by the knowledge that AI, cybersecurity and computing affect everyone. That, in turn, fuels the mission of his lab, Advancing Machine and Human Reasoning.
鈥淚t鈥檚 to not only advance AI, but to use those advances in AI to help people reason better,鈥� he explained. 鈥淪tarting a new college is not something that you do overnight. It takes years of planning. It takes a tremendous amount of resources, and I鈥檓 really glad that we鈥檙e finally able to take this move and draw some attention to this little gem we have here in Tampa Bay.鈥�
Licato runs his own start-up company, Actualization AI, and that has given him invaluable insights into the local tech community, in turn paying dividends for the college. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e seen here is an explosion of talent and an influx of tech professionals,鈥� he said.
The upshot: Placing 皇家华人 at the cutting-edge of a rapidly-evolving, massively impactful field.
鈥溁始一� really has been host to world-class researchers for quite a while now,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have potential to really be world leaders in not only the spaces of AI and cybersecurity and computing, but in fields beyond those as well. It鈥檚 really an exciting time to be in the tech industry in the Tampa Bay region and 皇家华人 is, of course, at the heart of that.鈥�