Hi everyone,
I’m Olivia, and I’m excited to officially introduce myself as the Product Manager for IgniteAI Agent.
Before joining Instructure, I spent several years as a PM at Microsoft, where I worked on bringing the power of AI into Excel for millions of users. My career has always lived at the intersection of complex technology and everyday workflows, figuring out how to make powerful tools feel intuitive, trustworthy, and genuinely useful.
Outside of work, I live in Idaho, spend time with my Shiba Inu, Bento, and love video game design, reading stories that ask big questions, teaching at Boise State University, and learning new things. That curiosity is what ultimately brought me to Instructure.
I came here because I heard about the IgniteAI Agent.
For those of you who weren't at November’s New & Next Showcase: IgniteAI in Action, the Agent is a conversational AI assistant that helps educators complete complex, multi-step tasks with a single prompt. It works across more than 500 Canvas APIs, turning time-consuming workflows into quick, automated actions. Whether an instructor needs to adjust deadlines, generate course materials, or take bulk actions, IgniteAI Agent handles the heavy lifting while keeping the educator in control. By removing manual steps and streamlining everyday tasks, it frees up time for teaching and student support.
When I first learned about the vision for an Agent grounded directly in teaching and learning workflows, I knew I had to be involved. The opportunity to build a tool that actually works where educators are every day, with the right guardrails, transparency, and institutional control, felt different from anything else happening in the space.
In my first 90 days, I’ve heard from almost 100 early adopters across K-12 and Higher Ed, and those conversations have shaped how we think about what comes next.
Here’s what I’ve learned so far.
Our biggest fans consistently describe the Agent as “fabulous,” “quick,” and “easy.” Many told us it helped unlock creativity when they felt stuck, and that they could “finish the job faster and better” compared to manual workflows.
The most common use cases we’re seeing today include:
- Content creation and iteration
- “Create a new module for me on <topic>”
- “Help me create a quiz with questions based on <module name>”
- Formatting and cleanup
- “Format <page> like <other page>”
- “Check <pages> for consistency”
- Organizing complex information
- “Rewrite <page> as a structured lesson”
- Quickly finding or summarizing what already exists
- “Show me the grade distribution for <course name> - how many A’s, B’s, C’s, etc.”
- “Summarize the topics covered in the course”
Across the board, early adopters emphasized one thing: the Agent will be the most valuable wherever it can save educators time on menial tasks.
We’ve also heard clear feedback about where expectations are still evolving, where clarity is needed, and what users want to see next as the Agent scales. That feedback is actively informing our roadmap, which includes both experience improvements and new features like file uploads and prompt sharing.
This is just the beginning.
You’re going to be hearing from me a lot in the coming weeks and months as we continue to expand access, refine the experience, and learn alongside you. If you’re participating in an Early Adopter Program or exploring the Agent for the first time, thank you for helping us shape what responsible, in-context AI for education can look like.
More to come soon.
— Olivia
