About AIIA

We built this because nobody was doing all three.

There are plenty of AI courses for ambitious professionals. A handful of government programmes for trades. Almost nothing for the people the AI shift is simply pushing out of work. We're trying to do the honest version of all three.

The why

"Learn AI" is bad advice for most of the people who need help.

Most reskilling companies sell hope. "Learn AI and you'll be fine!" That's true for some people — the ones whose industry is being reshaped, not removed. It's useless or worse for the data-entry worker in their forties, and it's borderline cruel for the 58-year-old who's just been managed out.

We started AIIA because the gap between what's needed and what's being offered is enormous. The big consulting firms talk to enterprise leaders. The bootcamps sell to ambitious twenty-somethings. State governments fund trades pipelines but don't run the awareness or guidance. Almost nobody is doing the assessment-first, three-pathway model that admits the obvious thing: people are in radically different situations.

So we built that.

Who's building this

Two co-founders. Different angles on the same problem.

Artem Zhivilo

Co-founder · Technical & strategy

Eight years inside enterprise automation and AI implementation. Currently consulting on the SRLA project for the Victorian state government. Previously deep RPA work, then AI agents and integration. Lives in Melbourne. Writes the strategy, builds the curriculum, runs the technical side, prefers being behind a screen-share to being on camera.

Why he's doing this: Spent enough years inside enterprise AI rollouts to know that the people most affected by them rarely get a useful word said to them.

Duke

Co-founder · Sales, partnerships & presence

Years of frontline sales and growth work, including building relationships with training providers and corporate buyers across Australia. The on-camera presenter for our YouTube content and the person you'll talk to if you're a partner or a corporate client. Believes you can do the right thing and run a real business at the same time.

Why he's doing this: Has watched people get told to "reskill" without anyone telling them how, by whom, or with what money. Wants to fix that, end-to-end.

How we work

Six principles we don't break.

Assessment first

We don't sell one solution to everyone. The quiz is the front door. If you don't fit a pathway, we say so and tell you where to actually go.

Practitioner-led

Our training is built by people who've actually done the work. Eight years inside enterprise AI is the bar — not "AI certifications".

Honest about limits

We're not a charity. We're not Google. Some things we won't be able to fix. We say so and point at who can.

Empathy is a brand keyword

Especially for Soft Landing. No defeatism, no "sorry you couldn't keep up". The system failed many people. We start there.

Australian focus, Australian English

Australian funding routes, Australian providers, AUD pricing. Programme, organisation, centre. This is built here for here.

Cross-subsidy is the engine

Corporate work funds the social mission. Pathway A and B enterprise contracts subsidise Pathway C so participants don't pay.

Where we're at

The honest timeline.

  1. H1 2026 — pre-launch (now). Site live, waitlist open, YouTube content starting, first university and RTO partnership conversations under way. Initial AI Readiness Assessments running with a small number of corporate clients.
  2. H2 2026 — soft launch. First version of the quiz live with a real recommendation engine. First cohort of the Pathway A "Upskill" course (accounting and operations tracks). First Melbourne Circle meetup for Pathway C participants.
  3. 2027 — scale. Multiple cohort tracks across pathways. Active Pathway B partner network across at least three states. Corporate Soft Landing programmes running. First community hub pilot.

We are deliberately small. This is a side project that's growing into something real. We'd rather under-promise and be useful than overbuild and ghost you.

Want to be involved?

Whether you're a future student, a corporate buyer, a training partner, or someone who just wants to see what we ship — the waitlist is where to start.