Insights & Reflections

When I work with teams – city departments, nonprofits, small businesses, and schools – I hear the same two statements over and over again.

“We’re not ready for AI.” and “I just don’t trust it.”

People usually think these are separate issues: one about skills, and one about reliability. But after years of teaching adults and guiding organizations through change, I’ve learned something different.

People don’t feel ready because they don’t trust AI. And they don’t trust AI because they don’t feel ready.

For years, most conversations about AI learning experiences have centered around one goal: AI literacy. Teach people what AI is. Explain the terms. Cover the risks. Share the benefits. Build awareness.

And to be clear, literacy matters. It’s the first step. But as the technology has accelerated, something has become obvious: AI literacy alone doesn’t prepare people for the world they’re working in.

Everyone has at least one skill or ability that stands taller than the others. For a long time, I thought mine was building programs. I believed my strongest talent lived somewhere between logic and code – the product of years spent studying Management Information Systems (MIS) and Computer Science (CS).

I was wrong.

Many of you know pieces of my story – a project here, a post there – and maybe you are part of my story, but the full picture connects in ways you might not expect. Looking back, every chapter has been driven by the same thing: curiosity – about people, learning, and how technology can bring them together. I’d like to share it with you, not just to tell where I’ve been, but to show how each chapter led to what I’m building now.