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Hi {{first_name|everyone}},today we're looking at a new school that swaps "what do you want to be?" for "what have you tried so far?" It's an interesting take on figuring out your direction after high school.
After that, there are a few handy tools, some quick updates from Anthropic and OpenAI, and a fun AI creation to check out.
Let’s get started!
🤿 DEEP DIVE
A School for Trying Things
The projects may tell students as much as the classes do.
One of the hardest things to know after high school is what you actually like doing. You can have a pretty clear idea in your head, but it helps to try the work with other people and see if that idea holds up.
That seems to be the thought behind the Horowitz Andreessen Academy, a new private, full time school in San Francisco for young people coming out of high school.
The Academy describes 3 parts of student life. There are courses, work opportunities called co-ops, and “Pursuits,” which are projects students choose for themselves. A Pursuit might be a startup idea, a question they keep coming back to, or something they want to make. Students would work on these ideas with coaches and mentors while also taking classes and, potentially, working with partner companies during the year.
The co-op part is interesting because the Academy wants students to try different roles and find out what fits. And if the first role feels right, they can keep going with it. That’s a fairly simple idea, but it changes the question from “What do you want to be?” to “What have you tried so far?”
AI is part of the school’s thinking too. The announcement argues that assignments should be difficult enough to require students to use AI, or ask them to come up with problems AI cannot yet solve. Its proposed courses include AI Inference Engineering and The Modern Software Developer, alongside subjects such as selling and interpersonal skills.
But the piece keeps returning to another part of education that’s easy to overlook. Other students.
The Academy’s founders want young people to meet in person, make things together, and learn who they work well with. That’s why they’re building an in-person school in San Francisco, rather than treating a network of online friends and collaborators as enough on its own.
It’s an ambitious pitch, and the announcement describes what the Academy intends to offer. The idea that sticks with me is more modest. You learn a lot about your direction by trying things, and a lot about your collaborators by trying things together.
The quick take
The Horowitz Andreessen Academy is a private, full time, in-person school in San Francisco for young people after high school.
Its student experience centers on courses, work opportunities during the year, and self-directed Pursuits.
The proposed curriculum includes AI-focused courses and interpersonal skills.
The Academy also places a strong emphasis on students meeting and building with peers in person.
🤝 FROM OUR FRIENDS
A quick share we thought you might find useful
What’s still sitting on your to-do list?
You don’t need an AI team to build an AI agent. With Skydive, the person who knows the work can create the agent to do it.
Start an agent off with a role, teach them how your team operates, connect your tools, and put them to work.
🤖 AI MADE THIS
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⚡ QUICK HITS
The latest in AI, tech, and productivity worth knowing
Anthropic has released Claude Opus 5.5, which it says costs 40% less than Opus 5 on typical workloads and generates output more than 30% faster. The company also says it scored highest on its automated behavioral audit, though it acknowledges that testing cannot catch every real world failure.
OpenAI has introduced GPT 6 Sol and Luna, with API prices 50% below their GPT 5.6 promotional prices. Both are available in ChatGPT Work and Codex for paid users, with a gradual rollout planned through the day. They are not yet available in Chat.
⚒ TOOL SNAPSHOTS
Futuristic tools within AI, no-code, and productivity
🤖 Solid
Hand off an app build or a workflow that keeps growing.
Why it’s useful: Its agents can set up the machines, accounts, and services a longer job needs, within budgets and approval rules you set.
🗣️ WZRD
Let people ask questions about the files you share.
Why it’s useful: A team can turn a document, slide deck, sheet, or form into something people can explore and respond to by voice or text.
📬 ToneBird
Get help replying when the backstory matters.
Why it’s useful: It draws on past conversations and connected files to draft a reply in your voice, which you review before sending.
ℹ️ ABOUT US
The Intelligent Worker helps you to be more productive at work with AI, automation, no-code, and other technologies.
We like real, practical, and tangible use-cases and hate hand-wavy, theoretical, and abstract concepts that don’t drive real-world outcomes.
Our mission is to empower individuals, boost their productivity, and future-proof their careers.
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