Why We're Betting on Clemson to Help Solve Enterprise AI's Hardest Problem
When we set out to build Langsmart, we knew that solving the enterprise AI governance challenge wouldn't happen in isolation. The complexity of securing, routing, and managing AI across global organizations requires fresh perspectives, multidisciplinary thinking, and a pipeline of talent that understands both the technology and the business stakes involved.
That's why, in January 2026, we launched a formal partnership with Clemson University's School of Computing through their Computer Science Senior Design / Capstone Program — and now, midway through the engagement, the results are already exceeding expectations.
Why Clemson?
Clemson's College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences is ranked #1 in South Carolina for computer science and #3 nationally for best value by Niche. The School of Computing is home to the AI Research Institute for Science and Engineering (AIRISE), and its computer science education program ranks #14 nationally by csrankings.org, with a #3 ranking in visualization. Undergraduate enrollment has surged 43% over the past five years, and the capstone program pairs teams of four to five upper-division CS students with real-world industry sponsors for semester-long, agile software development projects — delivering 450 to 600 hours of dedicated engineering time per engagement.
Under the direction of Professor Carrie Russell, Professor of Practice and capstone program director, students work through real development cycles with real customers and real deadlines. This isn't a classroom exercise — it's a professional engagement that prepares graduates for day-one impact in the workforce.
The capstone course provides upper-division Computer Science students a value-added learning experience. Students work in teams on semester-long, team-based software development projects with real-world clients, using agile project management and short development cycles to quickly provide value to the customer.
The Langsmart Capstone Team
Our Spring 2026 team brings together five senior Computer Science and Computer Information Systems students, each with significant industry internship experience and distinct technical specializations. Across a 15-week engagement, this team is tackling an ambitious, multi-workstream project spanning enterprise AI benchmarking, unit economics modeling, governance framework design, and SmartFlow platform development.
Meet the Team
Malia Fairbanks
Malia brings deep cybersecurity and GRC expertise to the project. She interned at RSM in New York City as a cybersecurity consultant, gaining hands-on experience with HIPAA, HITRUST, and PCI DSS frameworks and enterprise GRC platform implementation. She also worked at the Clemson Cybersecurity Operations Center supporting security operations, incident response, and threat analysis using Microsoft Defender, Splunk, and Elastic. Malia currently serves as Co-Director of CUhackit — South Carolina's largest hackathon — where she leads a cross-functional team of over 20 students.
View on LinkedInJack Huber
Jack brings production-grade software engineering experience from his internship at Itron, where he developed features for internal tools including REST APIs, web application functionality, and production bug fixes that supported new features and reduced manual work for engineering teams. His technical strengths in C#, .NET, SQL, and Azure — with a primary focus on backend systems and services — make him the team's go-to engineer for the SmartFlow platform's core infrastructure work.
View on LinkedInCJ Averette
CJ brings an impressive portfolio of enterprise internship experience spanning Cisco Meraki, GE Vernova, and BMW. At Cisco Meraki, he automated CI pipelines for real-time scale performance testing using Python, Ruby, and Grafana. At GE Vernova, he developed a proof-of-concept application using open-source LLMs and AWS SageMaker to improve processes for over 1,500 employees. At BMW, he created full-stack applications that digitized error-prone practices for over 150 associates. His strengths in Python scripting, front-end development, and database management are essential to the project's data analytics and automation workstreams.
View on LinkedInTristin Franklin
Tristin brings specialized AI and machine learning expertise to the team, with internship experience as a Machine Learning Engineer building and optimizing ML pipelines and applied research in Parameter Efficient Fine-Tuning (PEFT) with LoRA. Proficient in C/C++ and Python, he works closely with both technical and non-technical stakeholders to translate complex technical concepts into clear, actionable insights — a skill set proving invaluable for both the SmartFlow technical integration and the executive-facing white paper deliverables.
View on LinkedInJeremy Johnsonwall
Jeremy serves as the Graduate Teaching Assistant for the capstone program under Professor Carrie Russell, mentoring student teams on design reviews, stakeholder communication, agile delivery, and final presentations. A Clemson M.S. Computer Science student concentrating in AI and Machine Learning, he brings practical industry experience from LPL Financial, where he worked as a ServiceNow Administrator building catalog items, workflows, and dashboards. He holds certifications in ServiceNow System Administration, Google Cloud Data Analytics, and CompTIA A+, and is proficient in Python, AWS (Bedrock, Amplify, EC2, Lambda), and cloud infrastructure. An Eagle Scout, Jeremy is known for clear communication, mentorship, and reliable follow-through.
View on LinkedInExecutive Sponsorship: Dev Kewalramani
None of this would be possible without the vision and tireless efforts of our advisor, Dev Kewalramani. As Founder and Managing Partner of Alira Capital and a Langsmart advisor, Dev serves as the executive sponsor of the Clemson capstone program — driving value for all parties involved.
Dev Kewalramani
Dev is leveraging his extensive board-level network — spanning organizations like Michelin, BMW, TD Bank, NVIDIA, and Time Magazine — to open doors for the capstone initiative. He is championing the white paper collaboration, leading corporate partnership development to bring enterprise participants into the benchmarking study, and working to ensure the program delivers genuine value in every direction: for the students gaining real-world enterprise AI experience, for Clemson strengthening its industry partnerships, and for Langsmart advancing both its product and market positioning. His hands-on involvement in structuring the engagement and connecting the team to enterprise stakeholders is elevating this from a typical capstone project to a transformative experience.
View on LinkedInWhat the Team Is Building
The capstone project is structured around a formal research proposal: Enterprise AI ROI, Controls, and Practical Unit Economics — an industry-agnostic benchmarking study designed to answer the two questions every executive team must address in 2026: Are governance and security controls sufficient for scaled AI use? And what is the practical unit economics of AI-enabled work?
The project is organized across five distinct workstreams, each producing tangible deliverables as the team progresses through the second half of the engagement.
Executive Survey & Benchmark
A Clemson-led survey of participating organizations benchmarking AI adoption, controls maturity, cost visibility, and 2026 priorities — producing anonymized datasets, topline summaries, and publication-ready charts.
Practical Unit Economics Model
A framework that translates AI usage into cost per unit of work — not cost per token — across high-volume workflows like claim processing, customer contact, RFP generation, and service ticket resolution.
Governance & Controls Framework
A cross-industry governance model with controls checklists, maturity rubrics, and evidence-pack templates for risk committees and auditors — emphasizing security, auditability, and policy enforcement.
SmartFlow Telemetry Demo
An optional demonstration of how SmartFlow's control-plane approach collects AI economic telemetry — workflow tagging, cost driver identification, and optimization lever quantification.
The fifth workstream — the Publication Package — is bringing everything together: a Clemson-branded white paper and executive brief designed for C-suite audiences, with slide-ready visuals suitable for sales and marketing enablement.
"The best partnerships create value that flows in every direction. These students aren't just getting a resume line — they're producing enterprise-grade research, engaging real corporate stakeholders, and contributing to a product that's solving one of the hardest problems in AI governance." — Craig Alberino, Founder & CEO, Langsmart
A Model for Industry-Academic Partnership
Clemson's capstone program represents exactly the kind of partnership the AI industry needs more of. The students we're working with aren't just technically gifted — they arrived with production internship experience at companies like Cisco, BMW, GE Vernova, RSM, and Itron. They're intellectually curious, commercially aware, and hungry to solve hard problems. We intend to continue and expand our engagement with Clemson's School of Computing in future semesters.
For companies considering a capstone sponsorship, the value proposition is compelling: access to top-tier engineering talent, hundreds of hours of dedicated project work, a direct recruiting pipeline, and the opportunity to build relationships with a university whose computing program is rapidly ascending on the national stage.
Interested in AI Governance?
Langsmart's SmartFlow platform provides complete enterprise AI governance — security, routing, caching, and compliance in a single solution.
Learn More About Langsmart →
