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Adan Design Academy

Power up your craft with AI, on a real problem

Short, live cohorts for people who design, sell, look after a brand, run a team or teach. You show up with something that eats your time at work, we spend four weeks on it, and on the last day you present it working in front of the group.

See the next cohort Free open class
  • 4 weeks
  • 8 live sessions
  • Real project
  • Maximum 15 seats
Sesión de mentoría con un equipo frente a una pantalla
Live mentoring · Genius Arena
Director since 2023Talent AI Academy

AI programs, workshops and curricula for companies, universities and schools.

Executive directorGenius Arena

14,000 participants and 1,080 mentors across Talent Land hackathons.

CofounderISAPIA

An AI nonprofit. There, like in everything we teach, ethics and safety come first.

Adan has trainedTeams, teachers, business owners and government

Work teams, leaders, teachers at every level and government officials.

Live cohorts

Cohorts by field, 15 people max

Most AI courses are heavy on theory, with no real problem on the table. People leave knowing what a language model is, but not what to do on Monday with their strategy, their campaign or their team. Here everyone works on their own case.

Next cohort · Date TBD

Professional use of AI to modernize your company or institution

For people who run a department, a business or an institution and want their team to actually use AI, not just pay for licenses. We cover where it pays off most, which processes to change first, the rules for using it safely and how to measure whether it's working.

Format
4 weeks · 8 live sessions of 90 min
Project
Your own work problem, presented working in the last session
Certificate
Co-signed with Talent AI Academy
Seats
Maximum 15 people
Tuition
$ TBD per company or person
Save your seat See the syllabus
Tracks

Five tracks, for now

All of them run 4 weeks. After the assessment we adjust the syllabus to the group's level, so what's below may shift a little.

01

AI to modernize your company or institution

next up

For doing more with the same team and bringing everyone along, role by role, with clear rules.

  1. PREAssessment and picking the process to change
  2. WK 1Use cases by area and ROI
  3. WK 2Role-based paths and process redesign
  4. WK 3Governance, risk and usage rules
  5. WK 4Measurement and rollout plan
Final project · one process already running on AI, plus the plan to roll it out
02

AI marketing: a system that sells consistently

From one-off prompts to a system you can repeat.

  1. PREAssessment and picking your problem
  2. WK 1Strategy, audiences and positioning
  3. WK 2Content in your brand voice
  4. WK 3Campaigns and automation
  5. WK 4Measurement and iteration
Final project · one of your own campaigns, with its automated workflow
03

Websites and online stores with AI

Adan was a designer at Dolphin Graphics in San Francisco, doing design work for Bay Area web companies. This track puts that craft together with what AI can do now: research, prototype and ship faster, with the judgment calls still yours.

  1. WK 1UX research with AI
  2. WK 2Prototyping and design systems
  3. WK 3AI-assisted development and your online store
  4. WK 4GEO: getting AI to find and cite your site
Final project · your site or store, redesigned and live
04

On-brand content, images and video with AI

For opening up more options before you decide. A brand built on prompts alone sounds like every other brand, and people notice fast.

  1. WK 1Brand research and voice
  2. WK 2Images: visual exploration with AI
  3. WK 3Video and social pieces
  4. WK 4A brand assistant for your team
Final project · voice guide, brand assistant and your first pieces
05

AI for teachers and trainers

Adan has trained teachers at every level and corporate trainers. This track covers using AI to prep your classes and courses and the hard part, which is teaching your students to use it responsibly.

  1. WK 1AI literacy
  2. WK 2Lesson design with AI
  3. WK 3Assessment, integrity and ethics
  4. WK 4Classroom projects
Final project · a unit or course ready for your group
Don't see your craft?

We'll build a custom track for your team

Sales, customer support, HR, operations, finance. Same way of working, with your company's cases.

See the team program
How a cohort works

What a cohort looks like from the inside

Everything is live. The hackathons Adan runs taught us that people learn fast when they have a concrete problem and not much time: in 2024, at Expo Guadalajara, 420 people worked more than 72 hours straight on challenges from real companies. Cohorts are calmer, but the idea is the same.

01

Level assessment

Before the first session we send you a few questions. That tells us where you're starting and which problem you'll work on.

02

Live sessions

Two a week, 90 minutes each.

03

Real project

Every week you push your case forward with what we covered, bring it to the next session and we go over it together on a shared screen, until on the last day you present it working and leave with notes from us and the group on what to fix next.

04

Certification

Show up, deliver your project, get the certificate.

Lifetime access to recordings for your companyCourse templates and promptsCohort community
Formats

On your own, with your team, or for a whole institution

What changes is the size of the group and what we measure at the end.

Join an open cohort

This works if you freelance, run your own business, or nobody at your company has set up an AI program yet. You share the group with people who do what you do.

Companies & institutionsMarketingWebsites & online storesContent & brandTeachers & trainers
Tuition
$ TBD
Payment
Personal or invoiced to your company
Includes
8 sessions, templates and certificate
Save my seat
Free · every month

Open class: 45 minutes of AI-powered strategy

We work through a case on screen, live, and take questions at the end. If you want to see how we teach before paying for a cohort, start here.

Next
Ask us for dates
Length
45 minutes, live
Topic
Based on what the group needs
Cost
Free
Keynotes

Talks on AI, talent and innovation

Adan Avelar, our CEO, speaks in Mexico and abroad, about what he's seen happen in companies, classrooms and hackathons, with examples people can take back to work the next day.

  1. 01

    Applied AI: from pilot to everyday work

    Why so many AI projects stall at the demo.

  2. 02

    Technology + the human factor

    Talking about Genius Arena in 2024, Adan put it this way: “This isn't Shark Tank. Nobody's selling ideas here; we solve concrete problems.” This talk is about how winning teams combine the tools with the human factor, and why the person who uses the tool best often walks away without a prize.

  3. 03

    Talent and innovation: what 50 hackathons teach

    How to find and keep the people who solve problems, told from the floor of the Talent Land hackathons, with 1,080 mentors and 14,000 participants along the way.

  4. 04

    Responsible AI without slowing your team down

    Ethics and safety rules people actually follow. Of all his talks, this is the one Adan cares most about giving.

Formats

Keynote
30 to 60 min for a full room
Workshop
2 to 4 hours, laptops open
Panel
Moderator or panelist
Languages
Spanish and English
Fee
$ TBD
Included with every talk

An AI assistant trained on the talk

Your audience can ask it whatever they didn't get to ask in the room. We also send you the transcript and the slides.

Invite Adan to your event
Retrato de Adan Avelar
Provisional portrait · replace with current photo
Who teaches

Adan Avelar

Adan has spent more than 15 years in graphic design and more than 10 in digital marketing and web platforms, and he has worked with AI since early 2023. He designed for web companies in San Francisco, organized a design conference in Mexico City and started blogvecindad.com, a graphic design blog and community.

These days he teaches what he uses. And at the Academy, before any tool, we talk about ethics and safety.

  • 2023 –Director of Talent AI Academy. AI programs, workshops and curricula for companies, universities, schools and training centers.
  • Genius ArenaExecutive Director of the Talent Land hackathons: 50 hackathons and 14,000 participants from 2016 to 2026.
  • ISAPIACofounder of this AI nonprofit.
  • 2008–2009In 2008 he helped organize México Web 2.0 in Cancún. In 2009 he was Content Director for the first Campus Party in Mexico.
  • StagesInternational speaker and mentor.
“What matters is who manages to combine technology with the human factor to solve their problems.”Adan Avelar · in Líder Empresarial, 2024

What people ask before signing up

Do I need prior AI experience?

No. What you do need is to know your own work well. The assessment shows us where you're starting and we set the pace from there. If you already use AI every day, the project will push you harder.

How much time per week does it take?

Three hours of live sessions (two 90-minute sessions) plus time on your project, which we recommend keeping to about 2 hrs a week. Since you're working on a real challenge, that time moves your actual work forward too.

What if I miss a session?

Every session is recorded and stays available for life.

Do I get a certificate?

Yes, if you attend and deliver your project. The certificate is co-signed with Talent AI Academy.

Can my company pay for it?

Yes. You can pay as a company and receive an invoice. If you need to convince your manager, use the ask-your-boss kit: a ready-to-send email.

Are cohorts offered in English?

Open cohorts are taught in Spanish. Team programs and Adan's keynotes can be in Spanish or English. The first open cohort in English is being planned date TBD.

Save your seat

There are at most 15 seats per cohort. Leave your details, we'll write back to confirm your challenge and send you the level assessment.

  • No payment at this step.
  • If you're coming with your team, we'll send a group proposal.
  • If the cohort fills up, you get first access to the next one.
Kit: ask your boss to pay for it

Copy it, fill in the brackets and send it.

Subject: Training request: AI for our team Hi [name], I'd like to join the "Professional use of AI to modernize your company or institution" cohort from Adan Design (with Talent AI Academy). It runs 4 weeks, with 8 live sessions of 90 minutes. What sold me is that I'd work on a real challenge from our team: [describe the challenge]. By the end I'll have [deliverable] up and running, plus a certificate. Tuition is $ TBD per person. Afterwards I can share what I learned with the team in an internal session. Could we approve it before [deadline]? Thanks, [your name]

Professional use of AI to modernize your company or institution · next cohort
Step 1 of 2

We only use your details to confirm your seat and write to you about the cohort.