From Tech Consumers to Creators: AI, Agency, and Student Work with Alexander Kutulas

Students are entering a job market where AI can produce code, applications, and polished personal brands faster than ever. So what actually helps a young person stand out?

Alexander Kutulas and Jason Padgett dig into agency, real-world experience, student creativity, and the skills that matter when the technical floor keeps rising. Alexander brings a student-builder's view from Purdue, where he studies computer science, organizes creative technical communities, and works on better ways to translate club experience into career evidence.

The conversation moves from hackathons and cross-campus collaboration to entry-level hiring, fractional work, AI literacy, and the difference between consuming technology and creating with it.

WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY

Why clubs, projects, and real experiences can teach what coursework alone cannot

How AI changes the value of technical skill without removing the need for judgment

Why students should learn to create with technology instead of only consuming it

What employers miss when they rely on resumes and polished online brands

Why agency, adaptability, and human conversation matter in an uncertain future

Try this after the episode: choose one experience outside the classroom and document what you built, who you worked with, what changed, and what you learned.

ABOUT ALEXANDER KUTULAS

Alexander Kutulas is a Purdue University computer science student, entrepreneur, event organizer, and software engineer. His work includes HackFromScratch, Purdue Hackers, and Milestone, a project that helps students document club and hands-on experiences and translate them into career evidence.

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-kutulas/

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Purdue Hackers

https://www.purduehackers.com/

Scratch Foundation

https://scratchfoundation.org/

TechPoint Xtern

https://techpoint.org/xtern/

Center for Humane Technology

https://www.humanetech.com/

TOOLS AND PLATFORMS MENTIONED

ChatGPT

Claude

Codex

LinkedIn

CONNECT WITH JASON PADGETT

Jason Padgett | AI Solutions Architect | Co-Founder, Wooden Boy Industries | Host, AGI Podcast | AI Adoption, LLM Systems & Human-AI Workflows

AGI - Advance Grow and Innovate with AI Podcast Network

🌐 https://schoolsout.agipodcast.ai/

CoFounder, Wooden Boy Industries

🌐 https://woodenboyindustriesai.com/

Chief Solutions Architect, Chakra AI Solutions

🌐 https://chakrasolutions.ai/

📧 jason@agipodcast.ai