Becky Ginos
Davis Journals
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the wave of the future and has already become part of everyday life. According to a World Economic Forum report, AI may displace up to 85 million jobs by 2025, and it is also expected to create 97 million new roles, many requiring specialized AI knowledge.
To meet the demands of the burgeoning industry, Saras AI Institute, an AI-exclusive higher education institute, has launched in Utah, offering associate and bachelor’s degree programs in the field.
“I consider myself a dreamer and a builder,” said Anil Singh, founder and president of Saras AI Institute. “That’s a fancy way of saying that I’m an entrepreneur.”
Singh was co-founder and CEO of Hanu Software Solutions. After 15 years, the company was acquired by Insight in 2022. “It was a successful exit,” he said. “I stayed with them through the end of the year to help them with the transition. On Jan. 1, 2023, I was like a free bird. I had just turned 50 and at that time I thought I’d have at least 10 more productive years left but I didn’t know what to do.”
Being a dreamer and a builder, Singh said he wanted to build something again from the ground up. “Just like what I had done in the past, but I didn’t know what to build. So I was at a loss. Fortunately, I worked with a coach (Ayse Birsel) who helped me reflect on my journey up to that point.”
Singh said what came out of those discussions is that education is something that’s very close to his heart. “I strongly felt that the foundation of my success was built on good, quality education that I received in India as well as in the U.S. So now my life’s purpose is to help students get a quality education that is affordable and make higher education more accessible to students across the globe.”
The last 25 years have been about computer science and programming, he said. “We feel that the next 25 years are going to be about AI and that’s why we started.”
Saras launched in October 2024. “We are based in Utah,” said Singh. “We are licensed to do business as a degree drafting higher education institute and that license is given to us by the State of Utah.”
Singh said when they were looking at finding a home for Saras they looked at at least 10 different states. “Utah is one of the top states for both education as well as from a technology perspective. Another aspect is we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from everyone in Utah. So the warmth of the people was another reason.”
Saras is the first AI only 100 percent online higher education institute, he said. “So any student anywhere in the world can attend one of our programs. The first program is the Associate of Science degree in AI and the second program is Bachelor's of Science in AI.”
Singh said Saras is building the institute as the most student-centric educational institution on the planet. “So what does that mean? It means that we are outcome-focused. There are two specific outcomes that we are driving toward: one to help our students gain meaningful and rewarding employment in AI and the second is to help them become future AI leaders, compassionate and responsible leaders of tomorrow who are ready to change the world.”
Looking at the AI landscape, Singh said they identified the top three jobs in the AI space. “They are: AI/ML engineer, data scientist and Gen AI engineer. For each of these jobs we identified what technical skills are required for these jobs. So we went from jobs to skills and then once we had the list of skills that’s when we started designing our courses.”
It’s very different from a certification program, he said. “We’re helping students become real AI experts. So this is a longer program. We are looking for someone who is passionate about AI.”
Saras is currently offering a full-ride scholarship contest for Utah students, with one full-ride scholarship for an associate degree in AI and two half-ride scholarships for runners-up. It is open to current and prospective students. Go to sarasai.org/essay-contest-apply for more information.