📣 Summer camps are now open: Early bird pricing extended until April 20. Build a real AI app in a week; Go from AI-curious to AI-ready this summer!
🌟 Founder musings
Technology is no longer the bottleneck
This week I got to speak to a senior class at CU Boulder. We talked about what the AI conversation is really about, why being AI-fluent matters, and what hiring managers actually look for in an AI-first economy. The answer surprised even me a little. Adaptability and critical thinking, not AI knowledge. Those qualities matter more than ever now, because someone has to provide the judgment when AI is doing the work.
We built a chatbot and an agent together. One student built an agent to scan medical provider websites and identify doctors who'd be good customers for their medical devices. Another streamed his Strava running data into an agent that helps him tweak his training plan for a marathon at the end of the month. Solid, creative, and useful ideas - technology is not the bottleneck anymore, thinking is!
Over the weekend, our Flintolabs students had a special session on Claude, AI-assisted coding, agents, subagents, skills, and more. Middle and high schoolers learning something many employees are still figuring out. We added it to the curriculum because waiting isn't an option when the tools are moving this fast. Adaptive curriculum for the win.
And this Sunday, I'm judging the semifinals of CU Boulder's High School New Venture Challenge. I'll be watching the finals too. I can't wait to tell you what these students have built.
-Janani
🗓️ Opportunities to not miss for high schoolers!
Pre-registration: Open now · Full registration opens: May 1, 2026 · Submission deadline: October 26, 2026
What: The Congressional App Challenge is a nationwide, district-level coding competition hosted by members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Students build an original app on any platform, in any programming language, that solves a real-world problem or creates something meaningful. The winning app from each congressional district is showcased in Washington, D.C. at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration at the U.S. Capitol.
Who: Open to all middle and high school students in the U.S. Students can compete individually or in teams of up to 4. At least half the team must live or go to school in the same congressional district.
Format: Students register, build their app over the competition period, and submit by October 26, 2026. District winners are selected by local judges and announced in late November or December. Winners are invited to present at the U.S. Capitol in spring 2027.
Why it's great: This is one of the most recognized coding competitions in the country, backed by Congress and with national visibility. Winning, or even placing, is a genuine standout on a college application — and the process of building a real app from scratch is exactly the kind of hands-on experience that separates applicants who talk about technology from those who build it.
Perfect for: The student who has an app idea they've been putting off, who wants to build something real this summer and have a prestigious deadline to work toward.
🚀 Stay Inspired
🤖 AI agents aren't coming. They're already running the show.
The question most companies were asking two years ago was "should we try AI?" The question they're asking now is "how do we get our agents into production?" Databricks' 2026 State of AI Agents report, built from data across more than 20,000 organizations including over 60% of the Fortune 500, shows how fast this shift is happening, and how few organizations are actually ready for it.
The numbers are striking. Multi-agent workflows grew 327% in just four months. AI agents now create 80% of new databases, up from 0.1% just two years ago. And yet, according to a 2025 MIT NANDA report cited in the same study, 95% of generative AI pilots never make it into production. Building an AI demo is easy. Building something that actually works at scale, with governance, evaluation, and real-world constraints, is a completely different skill.
The report highlights what separates organizations that succeed from those that stall: companies using AI governance tools get 12 times more projects into production. Companies using AI evaluation tools get nearly 6 times more. The gap isn't about access to the best model. It's about the judgment to deploy responsibly and iterate fast.
For students, the takeaway is this: the world isn't looking for people who can describe what AI agents are. It's looking for people who know how to build, test, and ship them. That's not a skill you develop by reading about it.
🎓 AI makes college students switch majors. You still have time.
A major new Gallup and Lumina Foundation study published this April surveyed nearly 4,000 U.S. college students and found something striking: 42% of bachelor's degree students say AI has caused them to seriously reconsider their major, and 16% have already switched. AI is not a future concern for college students. It is actively reshaping the decisions they are making right now, mid-degree.
The study also found that 57% of college students are using AI in their coursework at least weekly. But using AI to summarize notes or edit essays is very different from knowing how to build with it. The students filling lecture halls today largely grew up without hands-on AI education, and they are feeling that gap in real time.
Here is what makes this data so relevant for high schoolers: the students entering college in the next two to three years have a window that current college students did not. The choice of whether to arrive on campus AI-ready, with a portfolio of real projects, or to figure it out after the fact is still open. One in seven college students now says that preparing for AI was a factor in why they enrolled. That number will only grow.
The students who will have options are the ones who stopped waiting for school to teach them and started building.
💻 Student spotlight
A Flintolabs summer: AI-curious to AI-ready
Every summer, students walk into Flintolabs with curiosity and zero experience building AI applications. One week later, they leave with something most college graduates don't have: a real, working app they built from scratch, foundations that help them build any app, and the muscle memory of having shipped something.
Last summer's cohort is a good example of what that looks like in practice. Three students, all middle and high schoolers, came in with ideas rooted in problems they personally cared about. None of them had built an AI app before. All of them left with one.
Hamsavardini (7th grade) built Puppy Speak, a dog behavior and wellness app for first-time pet owners. The idea started with a real conversation: she was trying to convince her mom to get a dog and realized there was no single, trustworthy resource for new owners. So she built one. The app lets users upload photos of their pet to understand their mood, chat with an AI assistant about any dog ownership question, and earn points by completing quests. It's live and working, with real users and real feedback.
Khadija built Hypocats, an app for people who love cats but struggle with allergies. She saw the problem everywhere: cat lovers paralyzed by too many options and conflicting information online. Hypocats walks users through an interactive quiz that accounts for their lifestyle and specific allergy triggers, then delivers AI-powered breed recommendations with detailed care profiles. It turns a messy research process into a five-minute decision.
Nitheesh (10th grade) built Side Questz, a platform that turns screen time into earning potential for teens. The idea: instead of fighting the fact that teens are on their phones, build a system that rewards them for it. The app gamifies task completion and lets students earn points they can actually use.
Three different problems. Three different builders. Three working applications, built in one week at Flintolabs summer camp by students who started with no experience. Summer camp enrollment is open now. If your student has an idea they've been sitting on, this is the summer to build it.
🔥 Real AI skills. Real internships. Before college.
🎁 Summer camp enrollment open and May cohort closes soon
Summer is the perfect window to go from AI-curious to AI-ready. Whether your student has a few weeks or six months, Flintolabs has a path for them.
Here's what you get with just one hour per week for 6 months:
✅ Hands-on AI skills through building real applications, not watching lectures
✅ 3 transferable college credits from University of Colorado Denver
✅ Portfolio of real work that demonstrates capability to colleges and employers
✅ Small class sizes (capped at 20 students) ensuring personalized attention
✅ Advanced concepts like OpenCV, Minimax algorithms, computer vision, and more
✅ The critical thinking and problem-solving skills employers desperately need
College students are switching majors mid-degree because of AI. Flintolabs students arrive on campus already building. The difference shows up on applications, and in interviews.
May cohort starts Saturday, May 2!
Our program has a 5-star rating with reviews from both students and parents. Questions? Email us at [email protected]
🌞 Summer is coming and so is your first AI internship.
Flintolabs is launching two summer programs for students starting 7th grade:
AI Launchpad — 1 week, virtual, $399 early bird (ends April 20). Daily live Zoom sessions and hands-on labs. Students go from zero to shipping their own AI-powered app by Friday, covering APIs, OpenAI, Cursor, v0, Vercel, and GitHub.
AI Internship Track — 5 weeks, virtual, $949 early bird (ends April 20). Everything in AI Launchpad, plus a real 4-week internship project matched to the student's interests, a portfolio page, demo day with tech leaders, and real resume experience.
Spots are capped at 15 students per cohort. Weekly cohorts run from May 24 through August.
Found this valuable? Forward this newsletter to other high schoolers and parents who want to be informed about AI trends and what is needed to prepare for an AI-driven future. Every student deserves the chance to build real skills before college.
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