Students learn AI by building something real
Students learn AI fastest by building something that works. This program puts them on real, live businesses, with AI agents doing the repeatable work.
Download the curriculum v0.4
Our AI builders' success stories
Marko Sipilä
Marko Sipilä is the founder of HVACQuote.ai and CoatingLaunch, and he runs an agency that makes the phone ring for local service businesses. He co-created the "Hold Your Marketing Agency Accountable" guide with me.
Brennan Agranoff
I have coached Brennan Agranoff since he was 17. He went from making socks alone in his room to running a factory in Portland where moms hand-make every pair for HoopSwagg.
George Paladichuk
George Paladichuk is a University of Colorado Boulder graduate and podcast host whose AI call center, NaiL AI, booked $3.5M for 100+ roofing companies in one month. He did it with no sales reps or cold calls and is on track for a $20M exit.
Cam Hazzard
Cam Hazzard is the 2026 DUNKMAN world champion, the #1 dunker in the world in a $500K league, and was selected by Shaq. He has built a positive-mentions agent and a marketing agent, has a Google Knowledge Panel, and was a triple major and full-scholarship athlete at Abilene Christian.
Jack Allard
Jack Allard, an Arizona State University graduate, has gone from 0 to 11 clients for his agency. To get clients, Jack has never needed to prospect, cold-call or sell.
Caleb Guilliams
Caleb Guilliams, a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point graduate, is an expert in systematically maximizing wealth through legal tax strategies. He hosts a podcast, and his mission is to help people reach their highest potential.
David Carroll
David Carroll is the foremost expert on Facebook list targeting. He built Dope Marketing to a $100M valuation.
Why hands-on
The piece of paper students get at graduation is worth only as much as the real-world, hands-on experience we can provide them. I believe hands-on client experience is the only valid, provable way to learn and demonstrate AI competency.
Young adults have a huge advantage in implementing AI for local service businesses. I love seeing students start digital agencies serving their parents and their community. Young adults in our AI Builder Program say it's way more valuable than what they learned in 4 years of college.
Can you actually cook, or do you just talk about how delicious steak is?
Why now
Over the next two years, a lot of young people are going to graduate college and find there's no job waiting for them. At least not the white-collar job they were promised.
The opportunity is real, but it won't last forever. I think we have
18 months, maybe 24.
This is the window.
Relationships are the edge
Once the machines can do the technical work, the only part that's still valuable is relationships. If you're good with people and you have EQ, you can gather what the AI needs to do its job: real stories, real expertise, real content.
Start with the podcast interview
Interviewing someone on a podcast is the single most valuable skill you can learn right now. A podcast interview is how you make friends with people who would otherwise never return your call, and it's how you get content that's real.
Build an agent to understand one
An agent isn't a file you download. It's skills, access, scheduled jobs and context all working together. You have to build one to understand it, so we build them together.
Three ways to bring it into a course
Pick the format that fits your course, from one session to a full semester.
Guest lab
A 60 to 90 minute guest lab. Students build something live instead of watching PowerPoint slides.
Six-session sprint
Six sessions. The guide includes Johns Hopkins' official six-session course record.
10-12 week studio
A full implementation studio with a current agent curriculum and a color-coded 90-day human and agent plan.
Who does what
Students bring the judgment. The agents carry the repeatable load.
Students
Students create and secure their own accounts. They bring the relationships and judgment, approve consequential actions, and explain the result.
AI agents
AI agents handle most of the repeatable research, building, testing, measurement, and documentation.
What you need
The setup is simple. Here is what each side brings.
Each student
A computer with at least 16 GB of RAM and one paid AI plan. I prefer Claude or ChatGPT, but students can use the model that fits their work.
The university
A classroom or Zoom space, a faculty liaison, a cohort, and approved project context.
Where I have taught, visited or partnered
I teach at Johns Hopkins University, where students get hands-on experience helping local service businesses rank better on Google over six weekly sessions. I taught social media marketing in person with Dr Karen Sutherland at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia. I have guest lectured with faculty at Loyola University Chicago and the University of Louisville, taught at Oklahoma Christian University, and gave the keynote at WVU Integrated Marketing Communications on how faculty and students can create social media jobs together.
Universities are my favorite place to hold hands-on AI workshops, like the one I led at WSU Tech in Wichita. Higher ed like DSDT College, Delta College, and other schools asked us to help tweak their AI curriculum and provide hands on deployment. I have also partnered with or spoken at Hofstra University, BYU, Ensign College, San Diego State University, Shepherd University and Universidad de La Sabana in Colombia.
What people said
Bring it to your campus
We need more forward-thinking professors and administrators who bring in real-world practitioners. If you lead an entrepreneurship, communications, marketing, or AI program, download the curriculum.
Download the curriculum v0.4Curriculum v0.4 · 24 October 2026