00 — Durham, NC · A free evening · The date is yours to pick
Make yourself the obvious hire again
A free night — built by our community, for our community.
We're asking the people in this room to help us build something that creates real value: a free, hands-on evening in Durham where you turn the expertise you already have into working assets that make you the easy yes for employers in the new economy. No webinar, no pitch.
higher pay for workers with AI skills — and those roles are growing while overall postings shrink.
PwC · 2025 AI Jobs Barometer
jobs the Durham metro shed in 2025 — even as Raleigh added thousands.
BLS via Axios · Apr 2026
dip for early-career people in the most AI-exposed roles — while experienced workers held steady.
Stanford/ADP via CNBC · Aug 2025
Nobody needs another evening about AI — so we're not running one.
01 — Why this, why now
Nobody needs another evening about AI — so we're not running one.
Michael Valverde and Ronan Pinho keep having the same conversation with people in this community: sharp, experienced, and quietly worried the ground is moving under their work. So we're doing something about it — in person, in Durham.
Not a talk. A working night where you turn what you already know how to do into something that makes you harder to replace, and easier to hire.
The ground really is moving — here's the honest picture.
02 — The ground is moving
It doesn't only cut — it rewards. The same shift reshaping work in the Triangle is paying a premium to the people who learn to put it to work. This night is about being on the right side of that line.
A generic role · 2026
Five tasks become a feature of the tool. One stays yours.
- draft reports→ now a feature
- summarize research→ now a feature
- format data→ now a feature
- first-pass copy→ now a feature
- schedule→ now a feature
- judgment from 12 years of doing this→ still yours
This is the part that's still yours. The night is about re-pointing it.
Local context, not fear. Epic Games cut 211 Cary roles this spring; Pendo (Raleigh) reduced its team about 10%, with leadership citing AI. Your experience didn't lose its value — it needs re-pointing.
So what's the one move actually worth your evening?
03 — If this is you
Come as you are.
The night works whether you're between roles or sitting in a job you're not sure stays the same.
Between roles
You bring the experience you've already built.
you leave with — a working tool you can show in interviews
Watching your role change
You bring the quiet worry you don't say out loud.
you leave with — one real next step, and people in the same boat
Getting ahead of it
You bring the drive to stay sharp.
you leave with — proof of your edge you can show at work
You lead or hire
You bring the gap that slows your team down.
you leave with — something you can bring back to them
Here's what you'll actually do in the room.
04 — The night itself
Here's the part we don't lead with: you'll do it with AI. Not by watching someone demo it — by building something yourself, in plain language, step by step. You don't need to be technical. If you can describe how you do your job, you can build this.
Step 01 — describe
Or pick a flavor
This is the same pattern you'll run in the room — in plain language, with a partner beside you.
› waiting for input… pick a flavor or hit Build →
Two and a half hours, hands-on, with a partner beside you and two people guiding the room. You leave having built a real, working tool of your own — not slides, not theory.
The point isn't to keep up with AI. It's to be the person who wields it.
One tool is the start. What do you actually walk out with?
05 — What you leave with
Four artifacts. All yours. All in your hands by the end of the night.
# weekly-report-builder role: ops analyst output: 1-page brief, ready to paste → Support: 312 tickets (+22%). Driver: refund backlog Tue–Wed. → Onboarding: 84% completion (within range). → Revenue: $182K (+4% vs last week).
The run of show
Two and a half hours, end to end.
Arrive
The room, and why we're here.
Set up
Everything you need, working — no setup anxiety.
Build one
Your first working tool, from your own expertise.
Trade
Test a partner's. They test yours.
Go bigger
Chain it into something more capable.
Build two
Your own small system, running.
Capture
Save everything you made. Nothing's lost.
Your story
Turn it into résumé and interview language that lands.
Close
One commitment you actually walk out with.
Who's on the other side of the room with you?
06 — Who's behind it
Two operators. One night. Built for the people in the room.
isonew · the build
Ronan Pinho
Operator, not consultant. Runs isonew, a GTM engineering studio in the Triangle — he ships working systems, not slide decks. He'll guide the build.
“Everything you'll do that night is what I actually run in my own companies — not theory, not slideware.”
The Coherence Lab · the why
Michael Valverde
Co-founder of The Coherence Lab and Carolina Commons; sat on the AI Leadership Council at Envestnet. He works on positioning and the human side of a shifting market.
“The goal isn't to chase the tools. It's to get clear on the value only you bring — then make it impossible to miss.”
Built by two people from this community — not a vendor, not a course.
07 — But what about…
The honest answers to the four questions we hear most.
— Help design it
We'd rather build it with you than guess.
Three honest minutes shapes the whole thing — the date, the focus, who it's for. Help us help each other.
Free · No pitch · Your answers shape the night
When
A weekday evening in Durham. You help pick the date.
What you need
A laptop, and something you already know how to do. That's it.
What it costs
Nothing. No pitch in the room, no upsell after.
Our promise
You leave having built something real — or we've wasted your evening, and we won't.
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