Beginning January 1, 2027, a free workshop series will help children ages 7–15 explore artificial intelligence, ask better questions and begin creating their own software—with parents encouraged to learn alongside them.
What will the world of work look like when today's seven-year-old turns eighteen?
It is a question parents cannot answer with certainty. Artificial intelligence, automation and software are changing how people work, solve problems and interact with the world. The tools a child encounters today may look very different by the time that child chooses a career.
We can still prepare children for that uncertainty. We can help them become curious learners who ask thoughtful questions, examine an answer before trusting it and approach an unfamiliar problem with confidence.
That is the purpose behind Youth Workshop — A CEO's Workshop for the Next Generation, a new, completely free educational initiative from JWilliams & Associates, LLC, launching January 1, 2027.
An opportunity to understand technology
The program is personally championed by Jeffery Williams, CEO and Principal Architect of JWilliams & Associates. Drawing on decades of enterprise technology leadership and software engineering experience, Williams is making a personal commitment to helping the next generation develop practical skills and the confidence to explore.
The goal is not to turn every child into a software engineer. It is to give every interested child an opportunity to understand technology, question what it produces and discover that creating something useful is within reach.
The workshop's guiding message is simple:
Explore AI. Ask Better Questions. Build Something Remarkable.
No previous programming or AI experience is required. Activities will combine clear explanations, practical exercises, experimentation and progressively more advanced projects. The primary learning tracks are designed for ages 7–15, while parents, educators, older students and other curious learners are welcome.
Learning paths that grow with the student
Ages 7–9: Discovery and curiosity
For younger learners, the starting point is curiosity: What is artificial intelligence? How does a computer work with information? What makes one question more useful than another?
Students will explore simple creative technology projects with adult guidance. They will practice asking thoughtful questions, using their imagination to solve problems and recognizing that an AI answer can be incorrect even when it sounds confident.
The emphasis will be on discovery and confidence. Learning to pause and ask, “Does that make sense?” is a valuable part of the experience.
Ages 10–12: Building a personal AI studio
This track introduces the difference between AI running on a family computer and AI accessed through a remote service. With a parent or guardian, students using compatible equipment will explore setting up Ollama and running a small Qwen language model.
They will ask questions, compare responses and learn how a model's capabilities and limitations influence the results. Simple interactive applications will introduce the process of turning an idea into something another person can use.
Testing, troubleshooting and improving a project will be part of learning. Students should begin seeing themselves as people who can create technology.
Ages 13–15: From ideas to working software
Older students will explore programming fundamentals and AI-assisted software development through small, functional applications. They will learn how data, logic and application behavior fit together, along with an introduction to organizing a program's parts.
Responsible use of AI-generated code will be central. Students will be encouraged to explain what a program is supposed to do, test whether it does that and investigate what happens when something goes wrong.
The experience will connect debugging and software testing with a broader habit: understanding and verifying the work. Students will also consider real-world problems that technology might help them solve.
These age groups describe the primary learning paths, not a restriction on participation. Other interested learners are welcome to share in the experience.
A personal AI studio at home
One of the initial hands-on experiences will introduce families to a small personal AI environment built with Ollama, a compatible small Qwen language model and a suitable family computer.
A local model performs its work directly on a computer, so conversations can stay on that computer rather than requiring each exchange to be processed by an external AI service. Families will learn to distinguish local operation from features that connect to a cloud service. Ollama's documentation explains this distinction.
Qwen is a family of AI models, with small models available through Ollama. The workshop will use a model suited to the selected activity and the family's compatible equipment.
Every household computer will not support the same setup. Compatibility and performance depend on the operating system, processor, available memory and storage, as well as the model selected. Installation and model storage have their own requirements, illustrated in Ollama's Windows guidance.
During registration, parents or guardians will be asked about the computer configuration they expect to use. That information will help organizers prepare appropriate technical guidance.
Installation activities should be parent-supervised. Running AI locally does not make its answers automatically correct or remove the need for adult guidance. Protecting personal information, evaluating responses and understanding that AI makes mistakes will remain part of the learning experience.
Parents belong in the workshop, too
Parents and guardians are strongly encouraged to participate, especially during hands-on activities and software installation. They do not need to be programmers or technology experts.
A parent who starts with no knowledge of AI can learn alongside a child. Families can ask questions together, experiment with an idea, work through a mistake and celebrate the moment a project begins to work.
That shared experience has educational value of its own. It creates room for conversations about what technology can do, when an answer deserves a closer look and when to ask another person for help.
AI does not replace parents, teachers, traditional education or human judgment. Youth Workshop is an opportunity to build understanding with those people involved.
Registration is open now
- Program: Youth Workshop — A CEO's Workshop for the Next Generation.
- Launch: January 1, 2027.
- Cost: Completely free.
- Primary learning ages: 7–15, with interested learners of all ages welcome.
- Registration and notifications: Open now at newsforgeai.com.
- Availability: Space is limited.
Visit the website and select Youth Workshop to register your interest. Parents or guardians can provide the number of children they would like to enroll and identify the computer equipment they expect to use.
These details will help organizers understand participation needs and prepare suitable guidance. Families are encouraged to join the notification and registration list early. Submitting interest does not guarantee placement when capacity is limited.
Sharing experience with the next generation
Technology leaders have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to share practical knowledge before young people begin making important educational and career decisions.
Schools, libraries, families and business leaders all have roles to play. Youth Workshop puts JWilliams & Associates' commitment into practice by opening a door to exploration without a workshop fee.
The software and AI models used today may eventually become obsolete. The curiosity, confidence and problem-solving abilities young people develop can remain useful throughout their lives.
Tomorrow's innovators are sitting in today's classrooms
Some will become engineers. Others will enter medicine, manufacturing, finance, education, skilled trades or professions that do not yet exist. Whatever path they choose, understanding technology can help them participate more confidently in the world ahead.
We cannot tell children exactly what their future will look like. We can give them opportunities to help shape it.
Youth Workshop begins January 1, 2027. Participation is free, and space is limited.
Visit newsforgeai.com and select Youth Workshop to register your interest.