The Thinking Is the Work — A One-Day AI Intensive

You've used AI. You've probably been disappointed by it. Not because it isn't capable — because of what sits between you and it. Which, for most people, is nothing. You open a chat window. You explain who you are, what you're working on, what you already tried. You get something decent. You close the tab. Tomorrow you do it again, from zero. That's not a tool problem. That's a missing layer. This is a one-day intensive on building that layer — and then watching people actually use one. MORNING — THE LAYER (9:00 AM – 11:30 AM) The case for putting something between you and the model. We'll cover what a cognitive architecture actually is, in plain language: a layer that holds your information, your data, your context, and the way you think — so the model starts every conversation already knowing all of it. You'll see why this is the difference bally useful and AI that compounds. We'll use Refracted Cortex as the worked example, but the concepts are portablealuate any AI tool by asking the right question: what does it remember, and whatdo I have to re-explain? AFTERNOON — SHOW YOUR WORK (12:45 PM – 3:30 PM) Tactics. No slides. A series of practitioners come on stage, one at a time, and solve a real problem in front of you — narrating what they're doing and why as they go. Claude Code. IDEs. The Claude app. Whatever they actually use. Not a demo reel. Not a product pitch. Someone working, out loud, while you watc Daniel goes first and sets the format. WHY ATTEND Understand why your AI results plateau — and what's actually missing Get a mental model that survives the next model release Watch real practitioners work, unedited Spend a day around people asking the same questions you are Leave with a way to evaluate every AI tool you touch WHO THIS IS FOR Consultants, operators, founders, and knowledge workers who already use AI and ost of it on the table. You do not need to be technical. You do need to bewilling to think out loud. SCHEDULE 8:30 — Doors, coffee, check-in 9:00 — Welcome + framing 9:15 — The Gap: why most AI use plateaus 10:15 — Break 10:30 — The Layer: cognitive architecture, and Refracted Cortex as the worked example 11:30 — Lunch 12:45 — Show Your Work begins 2:15 — Break 2:30 — Show Your Work continues 3:20 — Close + what happens next WHAT TO BRING Yourself and something to take notes with. A laptop if you want to follow along-and-learn, not hands-on-keyboard, so it's optional. COMMON QUESTIONS Do I need to be technical? No. If you use AI at all, you're the audience. What's the difference between the tickets? Full Day includes the afternoon Show Your Work sessions. Morning Only covers thork — a complete talk that stands on its own. Is this a Refracted Cortex sales pitch? No. RC is the worked example in the morning because it's what Daniel built and knows deepest. The concepts apply to whatever you use.