Chris Chism is a nationally recognized educational leader, speaker, and innovator with 30 years of experience in public education. As Superintendent of Pearl Public School District, he has become known for his forward-thinking leadership, strong command of data-driven decision making, and pioneering work in artificial intelligence within K-12 education. A former baseball player at the University of Florida and a graduate of Mississippi State University, Chism has built a reputation for blending practical school leadership with emerging technology in ways that directly benefit students, teachers, and school systems.

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Under his leadership, Pearl Public School District has earned an “A” district rating in each of his three years as superintendent. His work has also contributed to major gains in student outcomes, including significant improvements in graduation rates and one of the highest graduation rates in the state for students with special needs. His leadership has been recognized repeatedly, including being named Administrator of the Year twice by Pearl Public School District, being honored as the Outstanding Administrator and Practitioner of Distinction by the University of Mississippi School of Education, and he was selected as a member of the 2019 East Mississippi Community College Athletics Hall of Fame. In October of 2025, Chism was selected as the 2025–2026 Mississippi Association of School Administrators State Superintendent of the Year.

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Chism is widely regarded as a leading voice in the use of artificial intelligence in education. Over the last 26 months, he has delivered more than 270 presentations in 17 states on AI across education, business, and industry, and he has trained administrators and teachers in 71 school districts across Mississippi during the last 20 months. He has served as a keynote speaker across the country and has provided AI training for the Mississippi House and Senate, the Mississippi Governor’s Office, and companies in Washington D.C. and New York. He has also spoken at the Mississippi Capitol to a joint task force on AI, served on a panel in Washington, D.C., appeared on radio and television to discuss practical uses of AI, and testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Education Committee in April 2025 on the use of AI in K-12 education.  More recently, Chism was invited to present multiple times for Dell Computers at Dell World in Las Vegas in May of 2026. Chism has not only spoken about innovation but also implemented it at the district level. Pearl Public School District has been operating its own AI server for the past 18 months and develops across 10 different language models with both administrators and teachers. The district was one of the first, if not the first, school districts in the nation to employ an on-premises AI server. In recent months, Chism has worked extensively with OpenClaw, building a personal network of AI agents to create websites, applications, and design solutions for finance, business, and education. In addition to his leadership in public education, Chism is also a founder of Ascended Intelligence, a new Florida-based AI company designed as an all-in-one solutions platform for school districts. His work continues to center on helping organizations use artificial intelligence in practical, responsible, and highly effective ways. At the core of all his work is a deep passion for students, teachers, and the future of education. Chism believes AI should be used to expand opportunity, improve efficiency, and equip people with the tools they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world.