{"id":1792,"date":"2026-09-29T22:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T22:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/?p=1792"},"modified":"2026-09-29T22:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T22:21:12","slug":"from-defense-systems-to-higher-education-innovation-how-manny-smith-and-edvisorly-are-transforming-college-admissions-with-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/?p=1792","title":{"rendered":"From Defense Systems to Higher Education Innovation: How Manny Smith and EdVisorly Are Transforming College Admissions with AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

For seven years, Manny Smith served in the United States Air Force, designing and building satellites and complex software systems for critical defense infrastructure. Yet, even while on active duty and pursuing his Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley\u2019s Haas School of Business, Smith turned his analytical focus toward a different kind of complex challenge: modernizing the deeply entrenched administrative systems that higher education institutions rely on to evaluate academic transcripts, award transfer credits, and shape the futures of aspiring students across the nation.<\/p>\n

Today, the company he founded, EdVisorly, partners with more than 100 higher education institutions across the United States. Its core mission is to help college admissions and enrollment teams drastically improve their operational capacity and decision-making processes through the strategic application of artificial intelligence. In an era where colleges face mounting pressure to process record volumes of applications with fewer resources, Smith\u2019s venture seeks to bridge the gap between institutional backlog and student opportunity.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Smith discussed the operational realities facing modern enrollment teams, how his own background as a low-income, first-generation college student informed the creation of EdVisorly, and how institutions can embrace emerging technologies without losing the human empathy that lies at the heart of education.<\/p>\n

What EdVisorly Does and the Challenge of Modern Enrollment<\/h3>\n

When describing the daily work of EdVisorly, Smith points directly to the administrative strain currently placed on higher education professionals. At its core, the company helps colleges and universities automate enrollment workflows, freeing admissions teams from the crushing weight of manual paperwork so they can focus on guiding students through pivotal life choices.<\/p>\n

Enrollment departments across the country are routinely asked to accomplish more with fewer resources. They are tasked with processing extraordinarily high application volumes, evaluating increasingly complex networks of transfer credits, and returning admissions decisions to anxious applicants faster than ever before. Frequently, this high-stakes work must be handled by limited staff utilizing legacy software platforms with restricted functional capabilities. In many institutions, the foundational workflows governing these critical decisions still rely heavily on tedious, manual reviews of paper or digital records.<\/p>\n

\"3<\/figure>\n

To combat this bottleneck, EdVisorly developed its proprietary EddyAI platform, designed specifically to automate time-consuming administrative tasks. These include transcript parsing, transfer credit evaluations, and grade point average recalculations. The overarching objective is to empower institutions to deliver high-quality, rapid, and efficient admissions decisions, ultimately fostering a more transparent and reassuring experience for prospective students.<\/p>\n

The real-world impact of this technological shift can be monumental. Smith highlights an operational milestone where EdVisorly successfully partnered with an institution to process a staggering 120,000 transcripts in just six weeks. Capacity shifts of this magnitude fundamentally change the equation for enrollment teams struggling to meet deadlines, while profoundly easing the anxiety of students waiting on admissions verdicts that will dictate the trajectory of their lives.<\/p>\n

The Personal Journey of a First-Generation Founder<\/h3>\n

Smith\u2019s drive to reform college admissions is deeply personal. Growing up in a low-income household in Georgia with parents who had no prior college credits, the concept of pursuing higher education felt entirely out of reach. His initial post-high school plan involved entering the workforce immediately or enlisting in the military. To help alleviate financial pressures at home, Smith took on every odd job he could find. Navigating the labyrinth of college admissions was an alien experience, one that felt insurmountable to a teenager without familial guidance or institutional familiarity.<\/p>\n

A transformative turning point arrived when Smith earned a full scholarship to the United States Air Force Academy, where he also competed as a Division I athlete. That single opportunity fundamentally altered the course of his life, opening doors to advanced education, honorable military service, global travel previously unimaginable to a child from his background, extensive leadership training, and, ultimately, entrepreneurship. Because of that lived experience, Smith harbors an unwavering belief in the power of higher education to serve as a primary engine for economic mobility and expanded opportunity for anyone harboring dreams of a better future.<\/p>\n

As a former low-income, first-generation student, Smith intimately understands how confusing, opaque, and intimidating the college admissions process can appear from the outside. For millions of applicants, enrollment is fraught with uncertainty and labyrinthine procedures. Prospective students are left wrestling with fundamental, high-stakes questions: How much will this education cost? Will my hard-earned community college credits or military service credits actually transfer to my new institution? Exactly how many semesters will it take to graduate? Am I making the correct life decision?<\/p>\n

For millions of young people and returning adults, the enrollment office serves as the front door to opportunity. Yet, all too often, that door remains partially closed or exceptionally difficult to navigate for the very students who stand to benefit the most. EdVisorly was founded to assist institutional enrollment teams in streamlining their back-office operations, thereby providing students with the absolute clarity required to successfully complete their degree programs.<\/p>\n

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The stakes associated with degree completion extend far beyond immediate employment prospects. Statistical data shows that every student who successfully completes a bachelor\u2019s degree increases their overall lifespan by an average of seven years and boosts their lifetime earnings by nearly $900,000. These figures represent profound, generational shifts in equity and socioeconomic mobility. These are the students entrusted with building a better world than the one they inherited, ranging from future physicians and nurses to classroom teachers and technical professionals who rely on higher education to deliver on its promise.<\/p>\n

The Role of AI in Admissions: Enhancing, Not Replacing, Human Judgment<\/h3>\n

As artificial intelligence rapidly permeates every sector of modern industry, college admissions professionals frequently voice understandable anxieties regarding the technology’s ultimate impact on their livelihoods. Smith notes that when speaking with admissions teams across the country, one of the most frequent questions he encounters is whether AI is ultimately designed to replace human workers.<\/p>\n

For EdVisorly, establishing institutional trust begins with absolute transparency regarding the specific boundaries of what the technology can and cannot do. Smith is unequivocal on this point: EdVisorly does not make final admissions decisions for prospective student applicants. Those determinations always remain strictly within the purview of human college and university enrollment professionals.<\/p>\n

At its fundamental core, education is an inherently human endeavor, relying heavily on caring, mission-driven professionals to evaluate candidates holistically and deliver thoughtful admissions outcomes. However, the operational reality is that most enrollment teams in the United States are currently pressured to drive superior institutional outcomes with diminished budgets and shrinking support staff.<\/p>\n

In this context, artificial intelligence functions not as a replacement for human empathy, but as a critical operational tool designed to assist campus personnel. By intelligently streamlining administrative workflows, ensuring greater consistency in processing labor-intensive back-office tasks, and eliminating redundant paperwork, AI frees front-line enrollment team members to dedicate their time and energy where it matters most: engaging directly and meaningfully with prospective and current students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For seven years, Manny Smith served in the United States Air Force, designing and building satellites and complex software systems for critical defense infrastructure. Yet, even while on active duty and pursuing his Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley\u2019s Haas School of Business, Smith turned his analytical focus toward a different […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[3335,80,1602,3332,79,3334,1611,18,81,3333,1950,1099,1054],"class_list":["post-1792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-and-career","tag-admissions","tag-career","tag-college","tag-defense","tag-education","tag-edvisorly","tag-higher","tag-innovation","tag-jobs","tag-manny","tag-smith","tag-systems","tag-transforming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xesi.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}