If students are to encounter AI in their future careers, our classrooms should reflect how AI is actually used in industry. This interactive session explores how CTE educators can design instructional sequences that mirror real professional AI workflows such as drafting, analyzing data, optimizing processes, and supporting decision-making. Co-led with AI Fellows participating in a statewide CTE initiative, this session features tested examples and practical insights from real experiences. Together, we will examine how industry-informed AI integration strengthens curriculum relevance, reinforces technical and employability skill development, and creates meaningful opportunities for students to apply integrated knowledge in authentic scenarios. We will also address how educators can ensure that classroom technology reflects evolving workforce expectations while maintaining ethical guardrails and instructional integrity.Participants will learn a repeatable process for identifying authentic industry use cases, aligning them to pathway standards, and translating those workflows into classroom tasks. Attendees will leave with a practical industry-to-classroom AI design template and a drafted activity aligned to their own CTE course.
