· 6 min read
What am I without a internet connection and an AI model
On my flight from Dubai to San Francisco, I had the luxury of Starlink.
The AI with Breakfast Challenge · Start any day from 23 October
Go from AI-anxious to AI-confident in 23 days.
You don’t need to be technical, and it’s not too late to start. 15 minutes over breakfast each morning, in plain English, and by day 23 you’ll:
- Understand what AI really is, and what it's bad at
- Use it on real work every day, safely
- Build your own AI tool, with no coding background
That’s $1 a day. Read it, listen to it or watch it.
How it works
Three steps. No homework. Just breakfast.
- 1
Join for $23
That’s $1 a day. Start any day from 23 October.
- 2
A lesson with breakfast
Every morning for 23 days, a short lesson lands in your inbox. Read it, listen to it or watch it in up to 15 minutes.
- 3
Day 23: you're AI-confident
You use AI on real work every day, and you've built your own AI tool.
Feeling behind on AI?
You don't need to know everything. You need the right 23 lessons, in the right order.
AI moves every week and it's hard to know where to start, or what you're missing. So we've done the sorting for you: 23 short lessons, one a day, that take you from "what even is this?" to using AI on real work and building your own tools.
Days 1 to 7
Understand AI and use it well
You know what AI is, what it's bad at, and how to brief it for answers that are actually useful.
Day 7: You can brief AI like a pro
- Get AI to do whole jobs, not just answer questions
- The five-part brief that gets great answers every time
- Why AI sounds human, and when not to trust it
- Treat AI like a new starter and watch it get better
- Use AI to learn anything faster
- Use AI at work without getting caught out
- Put it to work: three real tasks, done with AI
Days 8 to 14
Build your first tools
You can turn an everyday annoyance into a working tool, with no coding background.
Day 14: You've built your first tool
- Why most people stop at the basics, and how to go further
- Software made just for you, in an afternoon
- Spot the everyday annoyances AI can fix
- Describe what you need, no tech words required
- Build your first AI tool, step by step
- Turn information you already have into answers
- Make a tool you'll actually keep using
Days 15 to 23
Put AI to work for you
AI is part of how you work, and you've built a tool you use every day.
Day 23: You're AI-confident
Days 15 to 22: Put AI to work on what matters to you
- Test a new idea fast
- Hand routine work to AI
- Run a team of AI agents
- Get your team using AI
- Rethink your business with AI
Day 23 · The finish line
Build an AI tool you'll use every day
Up to 15 minutes a morning. Read it, listen to it or watch it.
Who's teaching
Built from 2,500+ people's first steps with AI.
- years as an engineer
- 25years as an engineer
- years as a business owner
- 15years as a business owner
- people trained in AI
- 2,500+people trained in AI
I’m Lee Mallon, an AI lead with 25 years as an engineer and 15 years as a business owner. My work today spans Yalpop, personalised learning; my podcast The AI Shift and Rarely Impossible, my privacy-first app studio.
I wrote Dynamic Knowledge Rendering (DKR) and I’m writing my next book, HALO. I’ve worked and travelled all over the world, and I’ve trained more than 2,500 people in AI across different industries, roles and levels of starting confidence.
I use this technology around 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you don’t have to. The challenge turns what I’ve learned, and the thoughts and experiments I share every week, into short lessons you can take with your coffee.
From people Lee has trained
What learners say
“Best training I have ever done.”
Sarah
“He really knows his stuff.”
Moz
“Can't believe what I understood in 15 minutes that other courses took hours.”
James
“Recommended 3 friends already.”
Muhammad
The AI with Breakfast Challenge
23 mornings to AI-confident. $23.
Less than a coffee a week. Start any day from 23 October.
A lesson with breakfast, every morning
23 short lessons, one a day, sent to you first thing.
Read it, listen to it or watch it
Every lesson as a page, an audio or a video. Up to 15 minutes.
Prompts you can copy
Ready-made prompts to try on real work the same day.
Your own AI tool by the last day
By day 23 you've built a tool you actually use. No coding needed.
Up to 15 minutes a morning. Day 1 lands the morning after you join, from 23 October.
Questions
Before you start
Everything people usually ask before their first morning.
Do I need any tech skills?
No. The challenge is built for people who feel behind on AI. Every lesson is in plain English, and by day 23 you'll have built your own AI tool without writing any code.
How much time does it take?
Up to 15 minutes a morning. Each lesson comes as a page, an audio and a video, so you can read it, listen to it or watch it over breakfast.
When can I start?
Any day you like. Join, and day 1 lands in your inbox the next morning. The challenge opens on 23 October, so if you join before then, day 1 lands that morning.
What if I miss a day?
Nothing's lost. Every lesson stays in your inbox, so you can catch up whenever it suits you.
Which AI tools do I need?
Any of the main AI assistants, such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. A free account is enough to get started.
Will it work for my job?
Yes. Days 1 to 14 give everyone the same foundations. On days 15 to 22 you pick the track that fits your work, from testing a new idea to getting your team using AI.
Why $23?
It's $1 a day for 23 days. Low enough to say yes to, and enough to make you show up each morning.
What happens after day 23?
You're AI-confident, and you can stop there. If you want to go deeper, the Academy has eight courses, a weekly briefing and a library of AI tools. Your $23 comes off your first year: $137 at the founding price.
Can I bring my team?
Yes. Team places start at 10 people. Use the "Talk to Lee about teams" button and we'll set it up with you.
After day 23
Want to go deeper? The Academy is next.
Eight courses, a weekly briefing and a library of AI tools, for when you're ready for more. Founding members pay $160 a year, and challenge graduates get their $23 back off it: $137 for the first year.
AI Foundations
Understand what AI really is, brief it like a capable colleague and use it safely.
6 lessons →
From Using to Building
Turn everyday annoyances into your own working tools, online in an hour or two. No coding background needed.
7 lessons →
Represent First
Turn an idea into something people can see, test and buy, before anyone builds it properly.
5 lessons →
Redesigning Work from First Principles
Redesign a workflow so AI does the routine work and your people make the calls that matter.
6 lessons →
Leading a Team of Agents
Run several streams of agent work at once and own a whole outcome yourself.
6 lessons →
Leading AI Adoption
Lead AI adoption that keeps going after the first push, from culture and managers to hiring.
8 lessons →
Reinventing the Business
Rethink what your business sells, how you price it and who you need to run it.
8 lessons →
Building with AI for Young People
Help a young person go from "I had an idea" to "so I built it" in four guided sessions.
3 lessons →
Take your whole team through the challenge
Team places from 10 people. Lee has trained more than 2,500 people across industries, roles and confidence levels, and can help you roll it out so it sticks.
Thoughts
Free to read, every week
Sharp, practical takes on what AI is really changing about work, value and organisations, so you see it coming.
· 3 min read
Being the coolest parent at school (ish) with a Custom Cursor App
Today I am at my children’s school parent cafe, drinking a green tea and enjoying a lovely blueberry muffin.
· 6 min read
Silicon Valley trip and the future is here
I am writing this from San Francisco, nearly a week into a trip for OpenAI’s annual developer conference. San Francisco is beautiful, though it remains a very stupid place to put a city, given the terrain and the fault line.
Experiments
Built before breakfast
Real tools built with AI in a single morning. In the challenge, you build one of your own.
macOS ·
My Own Dictation App
Hold a key in any app, speak, and your words land wherever the cursor is.
macOS ·
GitWorkstream
One screen to watch every branch, PR and deployment your agents are working on.
Tools
Tools that make you better at AI
Academy members get the whole toolkit, and we add new tools all the time.
- New
Prompt Improver
Paste a prompt and get a clearer version back, with a note on what changed and why.
- New
AI Confidence Check
A five-minute check on how you use AI today, with the best place to start learning.
- New
Lesson Tutor
Ask questions inside any lesson. It knows the lesson, your level and your goals.
- New
Prompt Library
Tested prompts and templates by role and task, kept up to date as the models change.