In 2025, we pushed AI for higher education forward.

We believe AI should do more than answer questions or automate isolated tasks. It should act on institutional goals, integrate directly with admissions and student systems, and drive measurable progress across enrollment and student success.

That belief shaped our product direction all year.

Across admissions, engagement, and student support, we launched major new capabilities and delivered more than 1,900 enhancements across the platform. Institutions are using these releases today to support application review, proactive outreach, academic risk detection, and coordinated student engagement at scale.

This rewind highlights what we built — and how we’re continuing to raise the standard for what AI should deliver in higher ed.

Launch of Bolt Agent Jobs: Goal-Driven AI for Enrollment

One of the most significant releases of the year was Bolt Agent Jobs.

Bolt Agent Jobs allow institutions to define a concrete objective — such as completing an application, registering for an event, or submitting required documents — and assign AI agents to actively move students toward that outcome.

With Jobs, we introduced:

• Proactive outreach logic that initiates engagement based on student status and timing
• Outcome tracking tied to defined milestones
• Human approval checkpoints where oversight is required
• Flexible enrollment through segments, triggers, or manual assignment
• Real-time visibility into progress

This release changed how AI operates inside enrollment teams. Rather than waiting for manual triggers, AI now participates in the execution of defined institutional goals.

Advanced Voice Mode: Integrated Voice Support Across Channels

In 2025, we expanded AI engagement beyond text with the release of Advanced Voice Mode.

Advanced Voice Mode enables real-time, natural conversations through both Messenger and phone, supporting inbound inquiries and outbound engagement.

Key capabilities include:

• 24/7 AI-powered voice conversations
• Outbound call campaigns connected to defined enrollment objectives
• Direct integration with student records and communication history
• Unified reporting alongside email and chat interactions

Voice engagement is now part of the same operational environment as messaging and application tracking, allowing institutions to scale communication without adding staff capacity.

Embedded Admissions Intelligence: Application Reader and Transcript Evaluation

We expanded AI inside admissions decision-making with two major releases:

• Application Reader Agent
• Transcript Evaluation Agent

The Application Reader Agent operates directly within the Decision Board, providing structured first-pass evaluation aligned to institutional criteria.

The Transcript Evaluation Agent extracts, normalizes, and evaluates high school and college transcripts automatically, generating structured academic insights for admissions teams.

These capabilities improve consistency, accelerate review timelines, and reduce administrative burden while preserving institutional control over final decisions.

Expanded Student Success Capabilities: LMS Integrations and Grade Risk Detection

In 2025, we strengthened academic monitoring and early intervention capabilities by expanding LMS integrations (Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, OpenLMS) and introducing the Courses data type.

We also launched Grade Risk Detection, which continuously monitors academic performance trends and categorizes student risk levels automatically.

With these updates, institutions can:

• Identify performance declines in near real time
• Trigger targeted outreach through Bolt Agent Jobs
• Assign advisor follow-up tasks based on risk thresholds
• Segment at-risk populations for coordinated intervention

Academic data now informs engagement directly, enabling earlier outreach and more coordinated student support.

Platform Improvements and Infrastructure Enhancements (1,900+ Updates)

In addition to major feature launches, we delivered more than 1,900 enhancements and improvements across the platform.

Notable updates include:

• Identity verification for applications to reduce fraud risk
• Expanded Decision Package access across Application Sites and StudentHub
• Google and Outlook calendar integrations for appointment scheduling
• Improved AI-powered conversation summaries with actionable insights
• Expanded Access Rules and refined permissions controls
• Enhanced sitemap transparency and automated Knowledge Hub updates
• Redesigned Google Tag Manager integration for more consistent tracking

While smaller in scope individually, these improvements strengthen performance, security, governance, and usability across the system.

What This Signals for Institutions

The capabilities we launched in 2025 represent more than feature expansion. They reflect our view of where AI in higher education must go.

AI should:

• Act on defined institutional goals
• Operate directly inside admissions and student systems
• Monitor academic signals continuously
• Support voice and text engagement at scale
• Provide clear visibility into measurable outcomes

We’ve built the platform accordingly — and institutions are already using these capabilities to execute on enrollment and student success priorities.

The standard for AI in higher ed is moving. We intend to keep moving it.