This past Tuesday, May 30, we held Innovating in the Age of AI, an event organized by Founderz and Microsoft to launch our new joint master’s program in Artificial Intelligence and Innovation. We held this launch event in Madrid, at the Microsoft Iberia headquarters.
The turnout was as unexpected as it was spectacular. More than 300 people came from every corner of Spain to join us in person, and more than 1,400 connected online.
If you couldn’t make it, don’t worry. Here’s how it went and everything that happened in the room where things changed for us.
Why Founderz: “The education system is broken”
Pau García-Milà, CEO and co-founder of Founderz, opened by explaining our reason for being, which can be summed up in one quote:
“Education was the sector that stood to gain the most from applying technology. To us, it’s a system that’s broken.”
Pau García-Milà, CEO and co-founder of Founderz
That’s because we found several problems and needs within the education community:
- There weren’t good options for getting quality, up-to-date learning on new and interesting topics as adults, at least not without turning your whole routine upside down.
- Traditional business schools are expensive and fairly exclusive.
Given this, we wanted to build an educational model that was immersive, short, and adaptable to working professionals’ lives. We wanted to create innovation programs that delivered real value and quality while staying within everyone’s reach.
That’s how we decided to launch the unconventional online business school you know today as Founderz.
A Partnership with Microsoft to Train Professionals in AI and Innovation
Artificial intelligence is here to stay. After several months of ChatGPT making headlines in newspapers around the world, we set out to help our students master this groundbreaking, and admittedly unsettling, technology.
At Founderz, we wanted to build a program that would meet the needs of everyone looking to learn Artificial Intelligence for their career. And we didn’t want to do it alone. That’s when Microsoft said yes: the company leading the innovation sector worldwide.
Carolina Castillo, Head of Operations and Marketing at Microsoft, took part in the launch event and shared these words with us:
“This is a cultural shift. A shift in the democratization of technology on a scale we’ve never seen before, and I believe we’re all going to learn together.”
Carolina Castillo, Head of Operations and Marketing at Microsoft
Enrique Ruiz, Director of Employability at Microsoft, also left us with this inspiring quote:
“Starting from backgrounds tied to fields with low employability, people become highly employable once they gain enough knowledge in technology.”
Enrique Ruiz, Director of Employability at Microsoft
The goal of this program was never to turn people into programmers. It’s to strengthen our students’ careers by putting artificial intelligence on their side, with no coding required!
The Platform That Surprised Everyone
Finally, we wrapped up the launch event by showing the new learning platform to the audience, most of whom were students in the master’s program.
The overall reaction was amazement, and the platform exceeded everyone’s expectations.
In short, the platform combines short 15-minute video lessons recorded by AI experts from around the world, including members of the Microsoft team.
It also has an interactive side, where students present their hands-on activities and learn from their classmates’ work, creating a collaborative environment where everyone learns from everyone else. These activities are also submitted as videos, where students can (and should!) leave comments, give feedback, or even react as if it were a social network.
Beyond the platform, the master’s program’s learning method rests on two more pillars: the metaverse, where live meetups and events such as masterclasses and professor interviews take place, and the Discord group, where students have shared hundreds of tools, links to current news, interesting prompts, and more since day one.
Cocktails and Networking
As you’d expect, once the event wrapped up, professors, guests, and students alike stuck around to enjoy a cocktail together. It was the perfect excuse to meet fellow students and network. We had such a great time!
Thank You, Thank You, and Thank You
We don’t want to close out this article without thanking:
- Microsoft, for believing in and backing this new way of learning so firmly with such an innovative program.
- Andrés Espinosa (academic director of the master’s program) for bringing all his knowledge and passion for education.
- All of our speakers and professors who made room in their schedules to join us and share their warmth and closeness. We were joined by, among others, Carolina Castillo, Enrique Ruiz, Borja Garzón, Laura Lacarra, David Carmona, David Soto, Jose María Caffarena, Marías Cordero, and David Hurtado.
- The Princess of Girona Foundation for joining us and helping many students through the scholarships we’re going to offer.
- A big thank you to Jaime García for getting involved in building the entire program and making it happen.
And most importantly, we want to thank all Founderz students for the trust you’ve placed in us, and, of course, for attending and sharing your warmth and company on such a special day. You could feel the sense of community from the very first minute.
We’re still taking in what this means. We’re changing the reality of education through innovation. It’s a milestone that so many people, companies, and institutions have backed this project since the very beginning.
Let’s keep changing the rules of the game. The future is here, and we’re going to lead it together, because together we are UNSTOPPABLE.
