Systems to Scale · Practical AI cohort
Turn your curiosity about AI into something useful.
Build a useful AI project with a clear workflow, reliable data, and costs you understand. Six guided sessions for individuals, solo owners, and teams, combining practical AI development with sound systems thinking. No coding experience or existing business required.
- Dates
- Sept 16 – Oct 28, 2026
- Sessions
- Six live 90-minute sessions, Wednesdays 4:00–5:30 PM MT
- Small group
- Eight participants. 5 seats remaining
- Investment
- $2,500 per seat
- Enrollment
- Closes Friday, September 11, 2026
Explore the tech stack, APIs, data storage, and project costs
When this matters
Start with a question, a task, or an idea.
Maybe you want an assistant that knows your work, a better way to use your tools, or a small app you have been meaning to build. Maybe you are still figuring out where AI fits. There is room for each of those starting points here.
Understand
See how your work fits together and where AI could help.
Explore
Try the tools, learn the concepts, and choose a project that matters to you.
Build
Create a useful first version with guidance and room to experiment.
We start with systems thinking: how work, information, and decisions connect. Then we explore AI development concepts and practice choosing the right approach. Some tasks benefit from AI, some need a simple automation, and some work best with a person. You will learn how to tell.
Who this is for
Come as you are. Build from where you are.
This cohort welcomes:
- Individuals curious about AI for their work or a personal project
- Solo owners, freelancers, and people exploring a new business idea
- Business owners and team members who want to learn and build
- Beginners looking for a practical introduction, with guidance
- People already using AI who want to develop a more useful project
- Any starting point: no revenue, team size, or paid-tool requirement
The tools and the thinking behind them
Build with AI. Give it a dependable foundation.
The systems foundation stays with us throughout: clear workflows, reliable data, documented decisions, and a way to check the result. We will introduce the tools below through guided examples and choose the pieces that fit your project. You do not need to learn or subscribe to the whole stack.
AI models and assistants
ChatGPT, Claude, and model APIs
Practice instructions, examples, and reference material. Learn the difference between using a chat app and calling a model from your own workflow, then compare output quality and cost.
Connections and workflows
n8n and APIs
An API is a defined way for one tool to request information or an action from another. Use n8n to connect steps, understand credentials and permissions, and handle a request that fails or returns unexpected data.
Data and file storage
Supabase, spreadsheets, and your existing tools
Learn when a spreadsheet is enough and when a database helps. Explore Supabase for structured records and file storage, choose a source of truth, and plan access, backups, and what information AI actually needs.
Building and publishing
AI coding tools, GitHub, and Vercel
See how an idea becomes a small app. Use AI to help create and explain code, GitHub to track changes, and Vercel to preview a web app before publishing. Learn how to review changes and return to a working version.
See how the pieces connect
A request becomes a draft you can review.
For example, a form collects a request. A workflow retrieves only the relevant records, asks an AI model to prepare a draft, and saves it for your review. The API moves the information; the database keeps the record; you decide whether the draft is ready to use.
- 01Capture a request
- 02Retrieve relevant data
- 03Create an AI draft
- 04Save with its sources
- 05Review and approve
A workflow you can explain
Name the inputs, decisions, output, and person responsible. Keep a short operating guide so you or a teammate can understand and maintain the project.
A result you can check
Define what good looks like, test normal and unusual cases, and keep a record of failures. Add human approval before a project sends, spends, or changes important records.
A plan for everyday use
Set access permissions, limit retries, and decide who responds when something breaks. Know how to pause the workflow and finish the task manually.
Cost-conscious AI development
Know what it costs before you scale it.
A chat subscription and API usage can be billed separately. We will unpack tokens—the chunks of input and output used to meter many models—and include workflow runs, storage, hosting, and human review in your project budget.
- Choose the lowest-cost model that passes your quality checks. Use ordinary rules for predictable steps.
- Send only useful context, keep outputs focused, and reuse valid results when the information has not changed.
- Limit retries and agent steps. Set usage alerts and add a stop condition so a loop cannot keep spending.
- Estimate costs at normal and higher volumes. Track cost per accepted result, including failed attempts and review time.
Your takeaway: a simple running-cost estimate, a spending limit, and a way to compare cost with usefulness.
Explore the tool documentation: OpenAI, Claude, n8n APIs, Supabase, and Vercel and Git.
Who runs it
Learn and build with Blake Linde.
Blake Linde
Fractional Chief AI Officer, Company Vitals
Blake leads the AI and systems practice at Company Vitals. His background is ERP and data integration — NetSuite and Business Central environments for small and mid-sized businesses, built on an MIS degree from BYU’s Marriott School of Business. He brings that experience into practical examples of how AI, data, and everyday tools fit together.
His work inside owner-led businesses informs the sessions: choosing a useful problem, connecting the right tools, and checking whether the result helps. Expect clear explanations and time to apply the ideas to your own project.
You will build with guidance, ask questions as they come up, and get support choosing a scope that fits your starting point.
What's included
What you will learn and take with you
Pricing
A small group. A useful project. Support along the way.
$2,500 per seat
Six live sessions. Space to learn and practice.
- Six live 90-minute learning and building sessions in a small group
- Business and AI audit, AI spend tracker, and a guided review of your starting point
- Optional build clinics in sessions two through six, plus an October 14 build week
- Two one-to-one sessions, after session one and session five
- Project templates, practical AI use guidance, and session recordings
How payment works
Nothing is charged when you reserve. We send an invoice a few days before the cohort begins, due before the first session on Wednesday, September 16. Reserving now holds one of the eight seats. We will send your welcome materials and a short audit to help you choose a starting point. Seats are released if the invoice is unpaid at the first session.
Cancel any time before September 12 and owe nothing. Once Week 0 opens and the cohort is set, the seat is committed.
Support for your first build
Your seat includes live guidance, time to work on your own project, individual support, and reusable templates. Bring your questions and learn alongside people trying their own ideas.
Your six-session agenda
From your first idea to a useful first build.
Week 00
Share your starting point
Complete a short first pass through the business and AI audit. List the tools you use, if any, and bring one task or idea you are curious about. Estimates and not-applicable answers are fine; the fuller spend inventory can grow as we go.
What you will take away
Your interests, a simple tool inventory, and a few ideas to explore.
Week 01
Wednesday, September 16
Find your first AI opportunity
Use systems thinking to map a familiar task. Explore what to keep human, what to simplify, what to automate with rules, and where AI adds something useful. Name the inputs, decisions, handoffs, and owner. Choose a small experiment and a simple quality standard.
What you will take away
A first AI experiment and a clear reason to explore it.
Week 02
Wednesday, September 23
Give AI the context it needs
Practice prompts, instructions, examples, and reference material. Learn how retrieval helps an assistant use your information, and how to check whether an answer is supported. Turn a one-off conversation into something reusable.
What you will take away
A reusable assistant with instructions and sample inputs.
Week 03
Wednesday, September 30
Choose a stack that fits
Make sense of models, interfaces, data, APIs, hosting, and access. Compare buying, configuring, and building. Explore n8n connections, Supabase records and files, and existing spreadsheets. Estimate API, storage, and hosting costs and set a project budget.
What you will take away
A tech stack and data map, a running-cost estimate, and an AI use guide.
Week 04
Wednesday, October 7
Build your first useful version
Develop a reusable assistant, connected workflow, or small internal app with guidance. Explore AI-assisted building: describe the job, review what is created, and try a small change. Practice an API request, track changes, and preview an app with GitHub and Vercel. Test with sample information before connecting real work.
What you will take away
A first version of your project and a short list of things to test.
Week 05
Wednesday, October 21
Make it reliable for everyday use
Try normal cases, missing information, and unexpected inputs. Explore how agents use tools, where human approval belongs, and how to add source checks, usage limits, and a fallback. Limit retries and agent steps, document who maintains the workflow, and improve what the tests reveal.
What you will take away
A tested revision, a short operating guide, clear ownership, and a fallback plan.
Week 06
Wednesday, October 28
Show what you built and choose what is next
Share your project and what you learned. Review usefulness, quality, time, and cost per accepted result against your starting point. Revisit your tool choices and decide what to keep, explore, consolidate, or cancel as you plan your next step.
What you will take away
Your project showcase, a spend review, and a focused 90-day plan.
Each session includes a concept, a live example, guided practice, and questions. Plan for a small 30–45 minute experiment between sessions. You choose a project that fits your interests and experience, with optional clinics and two one-to-one sessions for support.
How we learn together
A little explanation. A live example. Time to try it.
Bring your own starting point
The audit helps us understand your interests, tools, and goals. Use a business task, personal project, or sample scenario. You do not need a polished idea before the first session.
Practice with support
Each 90-minute session includes discussion, a demonstration, time to build, and questions. Try a small experiment between sessions and use the optional clinics when you want extra help.
Understand your choices
Learn why a solution fits: when to buy or build, how data and tools connect, what an AI agent does, and where review belongs. The goal is confidence you can apply to your next idea.
Choose a manageable first project
We will help you scope a reusable assistant, a connected workflow, or a small internal app. Start with a first version you can test and improve. Your project can be for you alone or for a team; the learning works either way.
Different starting points, shared learning
You do not need a team to take part.
- An individual exploring AI for everyday work, a side project, or a new idea.
- A solo owner or freelancer who wants a useful assistant or a simpler way to get work done.
- Someone on a team who wants to understand the tools and practice building with AI.
Another way to work together
When you want it done for you.
Prefer an implementation partner for your business? Our Fractional CAIO engagement provides hands-on AI leadership and implementation. It opens with a $2,000 diagnostic.
Not sure which fits? The AI Readiness Checklist is 29 yes or no questions with an instant score, and it takes about five minutes.
Our process
From discovery to delivery
A simple, four-step path designed to minimize disruption.
Join the group
Reserve your seat before Friday, September 11, 2026, or while seats remain. You can join as an individual.
Share your starting point
Complete a short first pass through the audit. Bring your interests, the tools you use, and a task you would like to explore. Estimates are fine.
Learn, try, and build
Six live sessions across seven calendar weeks, with a build week for extra practice. Each session combines a concept, a demo, and time on your project.
Share and keep going
Show your first version, review what helped, and choose a manageable next step for the following 90 days.
FAQ
Common questions
Get Started Today
Ready to Take the Next Step?
Book a free, no-pressure discovery call. You will speak directly with a member of our leadership team, not a salesperson.