applied ai June 24, 2026 4 min read
Cohort-Based Programs at Scale: Where AI Helps and Where Mentorship Can't Be Automated
Cohort programs work because of intensity and intimacy. Scaling them with AI is tempting and easy to get wrong — the answer is to automate the machinery of delivery and leave the mentorship, the matching commit, and the community to people.
How to use applied AI across the lifecycle of a cohort-based program — delivery, mentorship matching, and alumni community — while keeping a human in the loop where it counts.
Eli Wood
CEO, Black Flag Design