Daniel Friedman is the Director of Technology at Hicksville Public Schools on Long Island, where they support district-wide systems, infrastructure, and classroom technology for staff and students. With three decades in public education, Daniel’s path into technology leadership began in the arts: they started as a music teacher, later stepping into supervisor and administrative roles before moving fully into district technology. That career arc, teaching, coaching, leading, and then building the systems that enable instruction, shapes how Daniel approaches innovation today: practical, educator-centered, and grounded in day-to-day realities.
Over more than a decade at Hicksville, Daniel has guided the district through multiple waves of device and platform shifts, including large-scale one-to-one initiatives (from iPads to Chromebooks). In the episode, Daniel reflects on how each technology cycle comes with a familiar pattern, new tools, new vendor promises, new implementation challenges—and why the current AI moment feels different. For Daniel, the shift isn’t only about adopting another product; it’s about gaining the ability to “look under the hood,” experiment, and build solutions that match local needs.
A key area of Daniel’s focus is the idea of districts exploring local LLMs and safe, internal environments for student learning. Rather than sending sensitive interactions and data outside the district, Daniel is interested in approaches that allow students to research and experiment with AI models inside a “walled garden” where districts can better understand what’s happening, manage risk, and keep context local. In the conversation, Daniel also speaks candidly about the reality of turning big ideas into reality, budget cycles, capacity, and the gap between experimentation and scalable infrastructure.
Daniel is an active member of NYSAIC (New York State Artificial Intelligence Consortium), participating in a growing network of educators who share builds, ideas, and hard-won lessons. Daniel is known for helping connect people across roles and districts, pairing problems with the right collaborators, and for championing a mindset that treats innovation as a community practice rather than a procurement decision.
