Goshen College Names Tech Innovator Raj Biyani '92 as First-Ever Chief Innovation Officer

Microsoft and AI Veteran Returns to His Alma Mater to Help a Liberal Arts College Lead the Human Side of the AI Revolution

GOSHEN, Ind., April 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Goshen College announced the appointment of Raj Biyani '92 as its first-ever chief innovation officer. A former Microsoft executive with more than 30 years of experience in technology and artificial intelligence, Biyani returns to the Indiana liberal arts college where his journey began — this time to help define what responsible AI leadership looks like in higher education.

The appointment is both strategic and personal. Goshen College is making a deliberate bet: that the future of AI in higher education is focused on cultivating our human wisdom to use these new tools at our disposal.    

"Raj brings strategic clarity, entrepreneurial energy and humility in a rare combination. He listens first, generates trust, and brings out the best in others. We are fortunate to have him not only as an accomplished alumnus, but now as a colleague who will help shape our institutional strategy and advance innovation for Goshen College and our students."

— Rebecca Stoltzfus, president of Goshen College      

From Goshen to Global Tech, and Back

Since returning to campus for Homecoming 2025 to accept Goshen College's Culture for Service Award, Biyani has volunteered his time to help the college prepare for a world being reshaped by AI, reflecting both his commitment to his alma mater and his conviction that this moment demands new forms of leadership, learning and service.

After graduating from Goshen College in 1992, Biyani earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago and later completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. At Microsoft, he served as the managing director of Microsoft IT's India operations and drove a transformation so significant it became a case study at Harvard Business School, the Indian Institute of Management and Singapore Management University. Earlier, he served as general manager of strategic initiatives reporting to Microsoft's CIO, and he was the founding product manager of what would become the Microsoft App Store.

He co-authored To the Cloud: Cloud Powering an Enterprise (McGraw Hill, 2012), co-produced a CNBC documentary on India's IT industry that reached an audience of approximately 15 million viewers, and holds multiple U.S. patents.

Already Moving the Needle on AI at Goshen

Biyani's volunteer work at Goshen College quickly created momentum. Since September 2025, he has delivered guest lectures in more than 25 classes, engaged more than 100 regional business leaders, and designed and taught a 12-part AI seminar customized for Goshen faculty and staff. He has also been the catalyst behind Goshen College's AI Innovators Program, which has already generated 45 funded innovation projects from faculty and staff across 14 academic departments and 10 administrative offices — a signal of the creative energy being unleashed across campus.

"At Goshen College, we are not limiting ourselves by just asking what AI can do, but rather what we should do with it and why. I am excited to contribute to this mission because those are questions worth dedicating the next chapter of my life to," Biyani said.

About Goshen College

Goshen College is a nationally ranked, private, liberal arts college situated in Goshen, Indiana. From its Anabaptist-Mennonite faith roots, the college has derived a spirit of peacemaking, stewardship, community and service. The college, which has an enrollment of around 800, gathers students from more than 40 denominations, is a federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution and around two-thirds of the student body comes from Indiana. https://www.goshen.edu/

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SOURCE Goshen College