UC Tech News is excited to launch the UC Tech Leaders Q&A Series in 2026—designed to spotlight the voices shaping technology across UC. voices shaping technology across UC.
What is Your Name?
Valerie Jones
What is Your Title? UC Location?
Director, Data & Information Management at UC Irvine
What are Your Top IT/Security Priorities in 2026?
Launching our new data lake architecture, starting with student data, to enable scalable analytics with machine learning and AI. Developing user-centric data products that simplify access to analytics tools for the campus, supporting campus initiatives such as Compass student success. Continuing collaborations with our campus partners, such as the recent launch of a dashboard for enrollment trends, to ensure data products directly address their evolving needs.
What Emerging Tech Excites You for Higher Ed?
I am excited to explore how artificial intelligence could help automate tasks that currently require manual attention, such as managing our rapidly expanding data catalog. Additionally, we are exploring the use of AI chatbots to support our campus community. As our catalog of data products continues to expand, we need to provide tools that can help the campus find all the analytics resources available to them.
What Emerging Tech Worries You?
Using AI to make decisions based on biased or incomplete data, the continued advancement of AI generated images, sound and videos and the impact on media consumption, and the long-term impact of AI on our environment.
What Principles/Values Shape Your Leadership?
Authenticity, trust, and vulnerability are the values I use as my foundation for my leadership approach. Trust is vital—without it, you can’t build the solid footing needed for an organization to grow and flourish. That’s why I have a standing item on my leadership meeting agenda giving everyone a chance to share their team’s successes as well as lessons learned. By openly sharing my own lessons learned with the team, I demonstrate vulnerability and authenticity, encouraging others to do the same and fostering a culture where everyone feels safe to grow.
What Books are You Currently Reading?
Telling Your Data Story by Scott Taylor – He has such a unique way of communicating data stories, just search the web for “data puppets” and you’ll understand. I’m also a fan of dystopian and horror fiction – I just read The Bewitching by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia, and I just started reading Margaret Atwood’s Book of Lives.
What’s Your Favorite Thing to Do Outside of Work?
I love discovering new restaurants and really look forward to my food adventures in LA on my days off. My favorite LA food trip was a “taco crawl” my husband and I did a couple of years ago, where we tried most of the taco trucks and stands that were finalists in a taco competition. I also really look forward to our family game days while my teenagers are still at home.
Thank you for the conversation, Valerie!
Valerie Jones
Director, Data & Information Management
UC Irvine
Tech Leader Spotlights
UC Tech News is excited to launch the UC Tech Leaders Q&A Series in 2026—designed to spotlight the voices shaping technology across UC. The UC tech community values hearing directly from its leaders, and this series aims to be both inspiring and informative.
Are you a tech leader at UC? We’d love to hear from you! To participate, please complete the short Q&A form and please include a photo.
