July 2026 cohort starts July 6· join by July 3

Four weeks to become an AI-native operator.

Learn to run your business with AI the way it's actually meant to work — by building real things alongside it. You'll walk out with a working website, a social and content system, an open brain, and your own AI agent. Proof you can do this — not just talk about it.

Apply for the cohort → See what's inside

By application 4 weeks · 4 real builds Lifetime community check-ins — no renewal, ever

— From the workshops this grew from

"You just save me over $26,000 a year in 2 days!" Workshop operator · text message · April 2026

01 Why this is different

Capability first. Tools second.

The curriculum is built backward from one question: can you sit down with AI and get real work done? No vague AI literacy. No pile of prompts. You build real systems because building them is what turns you into an operator.

— 01

You don't need another AI overview.

You need to become the person who can sit down with AI and get real work done — a working website, an agent that does useful work, and the confidence to build the next thing without asking permission.

— 02

You become an operator through reps, not theory.

Prompt tricks don't become capability until they're wired into a real page, a backend, a content workflow, or the knowledge your operation runs on. You learn it by building things that actually work.

— 03

The point is how you operate after week four.

This isn't four weeks and gone. You walk out operating differently — with a longer-tail project underway and a room to keep building in.

The gap isn't curiosity.
It's shipping.

You don't need to become technical. You need to become the operator who can build — and leave with the proof you are.

02 What's inside

Four weeks of building. A new way of operating.

Four weekly builds, one enrollment. Each week you build something real on your own business — and by week four, reaching for AI to get work done is just how you operate. The artifacts are the proof you got there.

4 weeks

The build sprint

Week 01 · Website
Build and host a real website, then wire it into backend functionality — commerce, booking, CRM, Airtable, Sheets, forms, auth, or the integration your project needs.
Week 02 · Social agent
Build a social media agent system that can research, draft, repurpose, schedule, or monitor content for a real business context.
Week 03 · Open brain
Set up the business brain: docs, notes, SOPs, offers, examples, and client context organized so AI can work from the same source of truth you do.
Week 04 · Agent rig
Tie the site, social system, and open brain into a custom agent workflow — then choose the longer-tail project you'll keep building after the cohort.

You leave with working artifacts — pages, integrations, workflows, sources, and agent instructions. Yours, transferable, ready to extend.

Lifetime

The community

Weekly working sessions — members shipping new systems in front of each other, live, every week.
The back-archive of every cohort's builds, searchable. Vendor-invoice parsing, sales follow-up, hiring funnels — yours to copy from.
A members-only channel for stuck-points, vendor warnings, and what's working this month.
No renewal. No expiration. The room runs for as long as the academy does — and you're in it.

Come back with the long-tail project after week four. Show progress, clear blockers, and keep borrowing patterns from builders in later cohorts.

03 Who it's for

Built for operators, not enthusiasts.

The work is plain. The pace is steady. The bar is whether the things you build can be opened, tested, demoed, and extended after the cohort — by you, your team, or a client.

This is for you if —

You run something real — a shop, a service, a small team — and want AI assets that plug into the operation.
You want portfolio pieces or client demos that prove you can build, not just talk about AI.
You can spend a focused few hours a week for four weeks.
You'd rather become genuinely capable than collect thirty lessons you'll never open.

Skip it if —

You want a vendor stack recommended to you. We build around the outcome first, then choose the lightest tools that fit.
You want a course you can binge in a weekend and check off. This is reps, on a real business, with people doing the same.
You want to be sold on AI in the abstract. We don't pitch — we build.

04 Who's teaching

Taught by someone who's shipped this in a small business.

Cohorts are run live, every week, with office hours and a private channel for the in-between. You learn from the work, not a recorded course you'll mean to watch.

Tal Swicegood

Founder, LevelUp AI Academy

I've spent my life building things — stategov.io, a political-intelligence platform used by lobbyists and government-affairs teams; Town Square Podcast Studio; and a handful of community projects in Russellville, Arkansas. The workflows in this curriculum are the ones I actually use to run all of it.

Writes in plain language because the audience is operators, not engineers. Will tell you when the tool isn't the right answer — which is more often than the vendors will. Also hosts the AI in Action podcast — operators putting AI to work, in their own words.

05 Proof

From the cohort — and the workshops it grew from.

Newest first: a member of the live cohort, mid-build. Below that, the receipts the method is built on — Jordan's video, text-message results, Google reviews, and comments from people who actually used the systems.

Live from Cohort #1 · Call 1

“This is really my first time dipping my toes in AI — other than just being like, “ChatGPT, what is this?” Anything past that, I'd never done it. I'm really liking that it's simple. It's in-depth enough that I know what I don't know about it yet.”

Spencer Maske · Cohort #1 · Call 1

“There's another layer past that, but right now it's at the point where it's like — okay, I can see how I can learn the rest of it. It doesn't feel overwhelming to look at or use.”

Spencer Maske · Cohort #1 · Call 1

Jordan Hardgrave · video testimonial

Featured — on camera with Jordan

“I am completely mind-blown. Things I thought would never be within reach now feel within reach.”

Jordan came in skeptical, then recorded this after seeing how an AI system could work inside his real business instead of sitting in a demo.

See every testimonial screenshot →

Text message from a workshop operator: "You just save me over $26,000 a year in 2 days!" — Workshop operator · text message · $26K/year saved

Text message from operator J: "This has already saved me $30,000 just from that alone. Those are real hard numbers." — Operator J · text message · $30K from one hire

5-star Google review by Brock Girard about the LevelUp AI Academy workshop being practical, clear, and actually useful. — Brock Girard · Google review · 5★

5-star Google review by Cody Ackley: "Tal would be my go-to every single time." — Cody Ackley · Google review · 5★

5-star Google review by James Johnson about saving time on invoicing and estimates. — James Johnson · Google review · 5★

Facebook comment from Jordan Hardgrave: "Worth every penny but honestly extremely under priced. $750 Tal? This should be $30,000." — Jordan Hardgrave · Facebook comment

Slack message from Marc Arango: "Amazing as always thanks for everything you do!" — Marc Arango · Slack · May 2026

06 By week four

What you walk away with.

You walk out operating differently. The shipped assets below are how you'll know it — and how you'll prove it to a client, a boss, or yourself.

— 01

A hosted website with backend functionality.

A real site connected to something useful: commerce, booking, CRM, Airtable, Sheets, forms, auth, or another backend your business or client can use.
— 02

A social media agent system.

A repeatable workflow that researches, drafts, repurposes, schedules, or monitors content so the business has an actual publishing machine.
— 03

An open brain for the business.

Docs, notes, offers, SOPs, examples, and client context organized so your AI can search, reason, and work from the same operating memory you do.
— 04

A custom agent rig plus the next build.

Your own integrated agent workflow tying the site, social system, and open brain together — plus a longer-tail project to keep developing after week four.

07 Enrollment

By application. One time. No add-ons.

One enrollment. Four weeks of structured work. Lifetime in the room. No tiers, no renewals, no upsells. The cohort is small on purpose, so I take applications rather than open enrollment — apply, and if it's a fit I'll send you the details.

24 days left to apply for the July 2026 cohort Apply after that and you're looking at the next cohort, a month out

Enrollment

The cohort is small and by application. Tell me what you're building — if it's a fit, I'll send you the link to enroll and everything you need to start.

30-day action-based guarantee. Show up, attempt the weekly deliverables, and if it isn't worth it, full refund within 30 days. No phone call, no retention pitch.

Apply for the cohort →

What's included

Four weeks of live cohort work with Tal
Hosted website + backend integration build
Social media agent system build
Open brain setup and source organization
Custom agent rig and long-tail project map
Lifetime community access and weekly check-ins

08 FAQ

Questions operators actually ask.

I'm not the owner — is this still for me?

Yes. Operators who don't own the business are explicitly welcome — GMs, ops leads, or the trusted person quietly championing AI internally. The work is the same; what changes is that you become the person the operation runs through. We suggest looping the owner in before you apply.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. Nothing in the cohort requires code. If a build touches a spreadsheet formula or a no-code tool, we walk through it together in the live session.

What tools will I need to pay for?

We design every build around tools you likely already have — a calendar, an inbox, a notes app, one of the common LLMs (a ~$20/mo ChatGPT or Claude subscription). We don't sell a stack or take vendor referrals.

How much time per week?

Plan on three to five hours per week for four weeks — one live session, the rest is building the weekly deliverable in your own business or portfolio. After week four, the community runs at whatever pace you want. Some builders check in weekly; some come back every quarter to keep shipping.

What does "lifetime community" actually mean?

Once you've done the cohort, you're in the room for good. No renewal, no annual fee, no expiration. Weekly working sessions, members shipping new systems, a back-archive of every cohort's builds — yours to use, for as long as the academy exists.

What does the 30-day guarantee actually mean?

Show up for the cohort's live sessions, attempt the weekly deliverables, and tell us in writing the work did not create a usable system for your business or portfolio. We refund every penny. No phone call, no retention pitch.

When does the next cohort start?

Cohorts begin the first Monday of each month. The current intake is the July 2026 cohort, starting July 6. Applications for it close July 3.

Is this a course or a community?

Both. The cohort is the on-ramp — four weeks, structured, taught live, and organized around shipped deliverables. The community is where it keeps going — lifetime, member-driven, the place you come back to for the long-tail project and the one after that.

What's the alternative if I don't do this?

Honestly: hire a part-time AI consultant ($150–250/hr for someone good — a single afternoon adds up fast), grind your way through YouTube and Twitter threads on your own time, or wait another quarter while your peers ship. The cohort is the cheapest version of skipping all three. The expensive version is doing nothing.

July 2026 cohort · July 6 start · apply by July 3

Four weeks to become an operator. Lifetime to keep building.

The cohort is small and by application. Tell me what you want to build and run with AI — if it's a fit, I'll send you everything you need to start.