THE FUTURES PROGRAMME
Build Real Products With AI. Get Hired.
Futures is a free, 6-week build programme for 18–24 year olds. You'll use AI tools to build working software, present it to employers, and leave with a portfolio that proves what you can do.
Is This You?
The School Leaver
“I didn't go to uni, but I'm not less capable.”
You're 18–19, ambitious, and chose not to go to university. You're looking for your first real opportunity but every job listing wants a degree or two years of experience. You know you can do more — you just need someone to give you a shot.
The Stuck Graduate
“I did everything right and I still can't get a job.”
You've got a degree but the graduate schemes are shrinking and the applications go nowhere. You're smart, capable, and frustrated. You need a skill that makes you stand out from the other 140 people applying for the same role.
The Career Pivoter
“I'm working, but this isn't where I want to be.”
You're earning a living in retail, hospitality, or admin, but it's not where you want to stay. You know AI is changing everything and you want to be part of it — you just don't know how to get there without spending thousands on retraining.
What You'll Actually Do
Build a real product with AI
You won't sit in lectures or watch tutorials. From week two, you're building — using Claude, Cursor, Lovable, and n8n to create working software that solves a real business problem.
Work on a real business challenge
Corporate sponsors set genuine challenges for each cohort. You're solving real problems for real companies — and they're watching you do it.
Learn the tools the market is moving to
Prompt engineering, systems thinking, natural language coding, agentic workflows. These are the skills employers are hiring for right now and almost nobody is teaching them.
Present to employers on Demo Day
At the end of the programme, you present what you've built to the companies who sponsored your cohort. They've seen you work for 6 weeks. This is where hiring conversations start.
Leave with proof, not promises
Every participant finishes with a working product in their portfolio, the skills to build the next one, and direct exposure to companies who are actively looking to hire.
6 Weeks. One Working Product.
The programme follows a clear build arc — from understanding the landscape to shipping a product and presenting it to employers.
- 1
Week 1 — The Architect's Mindset
Understand how AI is reshaping entry-level careers and what it means for you. Learn to think with AI — prompt engineering, systems thinking, and how to scope a product that's achievable and valuable. Map out your career direction and the skills you'll build over the next six weeks.
Outcome: A career plan and a clear understanding of what you're building and why.
- 2
Week 2 — Discovery & Design
Master advanced AI interaction: personas, deep context, chain-of-thought reasoning. Use AI to research your market, validate a product idea, and translate it into a technical blueprint. By the end of the week, you know exactly what you're building.
Outcome: A validated product idea and a technical specification ready for the build phase.
- 3
Week 3 — Build Sprint: Foundations
Start building. Import your blueprint into Lovable and establish the core structure of your application using natural language instructions. Learn the "vibe coding" methodology — iterative, conversational design that turns your intent into a working product.
Outcome: A functional base application with core navigation, database structure, and UI.
- 4
Week 4 — Build Sprint: Hardening
Move beyond the happy path. Implement error handling, secure authentication, and multi-step agentic capabilities. Learn to troubleshoot, debug, and make your product resilient enough for a live demonstration.
Outcome: A hardened prototype that handles real-world conditions.
- 5
Week 5 — The Agentic Engine
Connect your product to the outside world. Use n8n to build agentic workflows that pull data from and push actions to external services. Your standalone app becomes a dynamic system that can research, communicate, and automate.
Outcome: A connected product with at least one working agentic workflow.
- 6
Week 6 — Demo Day
Refine, test, and prepare your pitch. Learn to frame your product in terms of commercial value and present with confidence. Then deliver a live demonstration to corporate sponsors and invited employers.
Outcome: A portfolio-ready product, a compelling pitch, and direct employer exposure.
What Participants Build
These aren't hypothetical exercises. Every participant ships a real, functional product. Examples include:
How the Programme Works
Futures is designed around how people actually learn to build — by building. The programme is self-paced, AI-first, and structured so you never get stuck.
Self-paced, not slow-paced
Each week is designed to take a maximum of 4 hours. You work through structured lessons at your own speed, with clear checkpoints so you always know if you're on track.
AI is your build partner from day one
Every lesson puts AI tools in your hands. You don't read about prompt engineering — you do it. You don't study app development — you build an app. Theory is always followed immediately by execution.
You'll never get stuck
The programme uses scaffolded learning: high support at the start of each new skill, fading as you gain confidence. Every technical step includes the exact prompts to use, common pitfalls to avoid, and verification checkpoints.
Coaching when you need it
Facilitators provide guidance through the build phase — feedback on your product, help with technical challenges, and preparation for Demo Day.
You check your own work
Built into every lesson are "stop and check" gates where you verify your output before moving on. You learn to evaluate AI-generated work critically — a skill employers value as much as the building itself.
What You Walk Away With
A working product in your portfolio
A real, functional product you built with AI — hosted, demonstrable, and ready to show any employer in under two minutes.
Direct employer exposure
You don't just get a certificate and go job hunting. You present to corporate sponsors who have been watching you build for 6 weeks. Hiring conversations start on Demo Day.
Skills the market is hiring for
Prompt engineering, AI orchestration, natural language coding, systems thinking, agentic workflow design. These are the capabilities employers are actively seeking and struggling to find.
Proof that you can deliver
Six weeks of building, iterating, debugging, and presenting gives you real evidence of capability — the kind that makes CVs, applications, and interviews dramatically easier.
A career direction
You'll finish knowing what "building with AI" means in practice, where the opportunities are, and what to learn next. No more guessing about what skills matter.
Ready to Build?
The next Futures cohort starts soon. Apply now — it's free, and it could be the thing that changes your career trajectory.