Pick the work you want to ship
Pick the track closest to the work you want to do, or start with General AI Fluency. Every specialization includes the universal fluency foundations.
Start from the work you want to do.
Choose by the kind of artifact you want to leave with.
I want to shape product screens
Start with UX if you want research and rationale. Pick FE if you want the working interface to be the artifact.
I want to build the engine
Start with Backend AI for RAG, agents, and eval harnesses. Pick Machine Learning when data modeling and semantic analysis are the main challenge.
I want to grow the business
Start with Marketing for audience systems, campaign experiments, and growth loops.
General AI Fluency
Build the habits, judgment, and workflows that make AI a reliable teammate.
- Best for
- Cross-role AI fluency, workflow design, and judgment before specialization.
- Prerequisites
- Curiosity and willingness to ship small public work. No engineering background required.
- Pace
- 4-6 hrs/week
- Capstone
- Personal AI operating system scored against the four ladder dimensions.
Machine Learning
Build intelligence layers on messy data with a measurable quality bar and clear business impact.
Includes General AI Fluency foundations
- Best for
- Search intelligence, semantic modeling, clustering, classification, and opportunity scoring.
- Prerequisites
- Basic coding and spreadsheet comfort. No ML degree required.
- Pace
- 6-10 hrs/week
- Capstone
- Reproducible notebook or script with insights, recommendations, and presentation outline.
AI Marketing
Build repeatable AI-assisted content and distribution systems.
Includes General AI Fluency foundations
- Best for
- Audience research, positioning, content systems, distribution, and measurement.
- Prerequisites
- Writing and research curiosity. No analytics stack experience required.
- Pace
- 5-8 hrs/week
- Capstone
- Campaign kit, content package, or AI-assisted content operating system.
Front-end AI Engineering
Ship a responsive, mobile-optimized website or ecommerce-style project with clean Tailwind execution.
Includes General AI Fluency foundations
- Best for
- Personal websites, ecommerce-style builds, responsive implementation, Tailwind, and pixel-perfect execution.
- Prerequisites
- Basic HTML, CSS, and JavaScript help. React, Tailwind, and template patterns can be learned in the track.
- Pace
- 6-10 hrs/week
- Capstone
- Choose one: personal site, Shopline/Shopify build, or client-style responsive site.
Backend AI Engineering
Build reliable server-side AI systems (retrieval, structured output, and eval harnesses) that survive real use.
Includes General AI Fluency foundations
- Best for
- RAG, agents, structured outputs, APIs, integrations, and evaluation harnesses.
- Prerequisites
- Comfort with one programming language helps. Production backend experience is not required.
- Pace
- 6-10 hrs/week
- Capstone
- RAG prototype, structured-output pipeline, agent workflow, or reliable backend service.
UI / UX Design
Use Claude Design, Google Stitch, Figma, and critique loops to create practical UX/UI and graphic design work.
Includes General AI Fluency foundations
- Best for
- AI-assisted UX/UI, graphic design, Figma workflows, team critique, and design handoff.
- Prerequisites
- Figma or another design tool helps. A polished portfolio is not required.
- Pace
- 5-8 hrs/week
- Capstone
- Choose one: FlyRank site redesign, small client project, or AI-assisted design system slice.
Free-tier friendly by default.
Each track has a practical tool stack, acceptable alternatives, and caveats before you apply. Paid tools are not assumed unless a participant chooses them for a capstone.
General AI Fluency
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another general AI chat tool
Free tiers are enough for manifesto, workflow, and checklist work.
Cursor, Copilot, Claude Desktop, or another IDE-integrated assistant
Helpful for Practice assignments; chat-only is acceptable for fluency-only path.
GitHub repo, deployed page, published post, or portfolio link
The Output assignment requires something another person can open without extra context.
Machine Learning
Local Jupyter, Google Colab, or another notebook runtime
Your prototype must be reproducible from a script or notebook.
Public datasets, sample CSV exports, BigQuery sandbox, or synthetic search analytics data
Do not share private client data. Use public or synthetic data for submissions.
pandas, scikit-learn, sentence-transformers, HDBSCAN, or equivalent open-source stack
Pick tools that fit your time budget; depth of thinking matters more than stack polish.
AI Marketing
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or another general AI writing/research tool
Use AI for research, outlines, variants, and critique; final claims need human review.
Docs, Notion, LinkedIn, newsletter tools, CMS drafts, or a static page
Public posting is optional if the capstone includes approved sample assets and a launch plan.
Manual tracking, platform analytics, UTM links, Search Console concepts, or Sheets
Simple, honest before/after metrics are enough.
Front-end AI Engineering
Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, or another editor plus ChatGPT/Claude
You can use any editor if you can run, edit, and explain the code.
Next.js/React, Vite/React, Astro, Tailwind, Liquid, or another template-based stack
Use the stack that fits the site; clean responsive execution matters more than framework complexity.
Shopline, Shopify theme concepts, static storefront mockups, or a simple product catalog
A live paid store is not required; reviewers need a clear public artifact or walkthrough.
Vercel free tier, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, or GitHub Pages for static projects
Your final link must be public enough for review.
Backend AI Engineering
Next.js route handlers, Express, FastAPI, or another HTTP backend
Use the stack you can deploy and explain clearly.
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI Studio, local models, or a course-provided tool
Use low-cost or free options where possible; document any paid API use.
Supabase free tier, Neon, SQLite, or a hosted Postgres project
A small persistent dataset is enough for most capstones.
Google Sheets, CSV, notebook, or a small test script
A modest eval set is better than a large demo with no quality check.
UI / UX Design
Figma free tier, Penpot, Canva, or high-fidelity slides if necessary
Figma is preferred for prototypes and handoff, but artifact quality matters more than the tool.
Claude Design, Google Stitch, ChatGPT, Claude, or another AI design assistant
Show prompts and iterations so reviewers can see how you directed the tool.
FigJam, comments in Figma, annotated screenshots, Docs, or a feedback notes file
Capture what changed after critique; the collaboration loop is part of the work.
Figma prototype links, screenshots, Loom walkthrough, or annotated PDF
Use a format reviewers can open without paid access.
Ready to pick a track and apply?
Apply with LinkedIn when you know which track fits. You can still start with General AI Fluency.