Exploring AI at a Mile High

Artificial Intelligence for Everyone: EforAll’s students embrace AI in Longmont, Colorado

Generative AI helps to level the playing field, and those who know how to use it will succeed in the new world that’s rapidly unfolding.

Phil Nugent

Boulder, Colorado

Last updated on Dec 23, 2024

Posted on Dec 23, 2024

AI: It's not just for techies anymore.

It’s been two years since the asteroid known as ChatGPT exploded into our lives, and as overly dramatic as that image may seem to some, it’s probably not hyperbole for most readers of Colorado AI News. However, what may be most compelling at this two-year mark is to see that AI is not just a plaything for billionaires and Silicon Valley tech bros, but that it's been helping to make real change for real people across the country.

For just one example, I’d encourage you to take a look at a noteworthy nonprofit known as EforAll Colorado, located in Longmont. Its parent organization’s official name, Entrepreneurship for All, conveys the group's underlying mission: “to help under-represented individuals successfully start and grow a business through intensive business training, mentorship and an extended professional support network.”

Founded in Massachusetts in 2013, the national 501(c)(3) organization EforAll has expanded to a handful of states so far, with Colorado joining the community in 2019. In the spirit of inclusive entrepreneurship, EforAll doesn’t charge its students for any of its business accelerators or other programs, relying instead on donations for 100% of its funding. Additionally, more than 200 volunteers across the country offer their time as mentors, subject matter experts, interviewers, and more.

Perhaps most impressive, despite its limited footprint, is that EforAll has helped to launch more than 1,720 startups nationally since its founding. Looking at the numbers from 2023, these startups produced more than $56 million in revenues and created 2,277 jobs around the country.

Regina Rodriguez-Manzanet has been the executive director of EforAll Colorado for the last 18 months, and in that time she’s helped the Longmont-based group dramatically increase its sponsors and donations. This, in turn, has led to the group being able to double the number of entrepreneurs that it's been able to bring into its programs. Additionally, fully half of the business accelerator cohorts at EforAll Colorado are now taught in Spanish under the name EparaTodos.

AI comes to EforAll

Interestingly, Rodriguez-Manzanet has witnessed another dramatic change since she came to EforAll Colorado: the striking increase in the number of its entrepreneur-students who are using AI to help them be more productive and creative, and to help them improve at a multitude of tasks.

Rodriguez-Manzanet is a daily user of AI in her personal and professional life, and she's a strong proponent that the thoughtful use of AI can make everyone better at what they do. Additionally, she's quick to point out that this is true for all types of businesses, and not just those focused on technology.

Dan Murray teaches an EforAll class on artificial intelligence and entrepreneurship. (Image courtesy of Nicole Saice.)

One EforAll volunteer who has witnessed the sharp increase in the use of AI among the organization's students is Dan Murray, who happens to be the founder of RMAIIG, the Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group. For the last couple of years, Murray has given presentations to each of the new cohorts of students at EforAll Colorado on how entrepreneurs can best use AI. In the past, these presentations have been focused mostly on encouraging the students to try AI and giving them some introductory lessons, tips, and tricks.

However, when Murray presented to the latest cohort earlier this month, he was struck by how much this group differed from previous ones: No longer did all the entrepreneurs describe themselves as either beginner or intermediate users of AI, but a full third of them called themselves advanced AI users.

And these students are using ChatGPT (or one of its competitors) to help with more than just their social media, marketing strategy, and pitch presentations. According to program manager Ally Barth, there’s another key place where AI is showing up: in the entrepreneurs’ applications to the program.

The larger lessons of AI use at EforAll

All of a sudden, Barth notes, the applications have been showing up with longer, more well-written essays, frequently organized into carefully headlined sections – just as ChatGPT is known to do. Barth was quick to mention that everyone who passes this first test of the application process still has to undergo a 30-minute interview over Zoom, so it’s not as if AI will usher unqualified applicants into the program.

But this anecdote provides a boots-on-the-ground view of how AI tools are already changing society – and not just at the college, corporate, or professional level. All organizations need to understand GenAI and be able to recognize its use by others – and that expertise can be applied only if everyone in these organizations is using it themselves.

Regina Rodriguez-Manzanet (third from right), EforAll staff, and students.

Ultimately – even if this growing use of AI causes some to have to play catch up, what we’re witnessing is a meta-example of AI for Good. Similar to the rise of personal computers and the internet back in the 1990s, GenAI is a new tool that is shepherding in a new reality for everyone. And similar to the birth of the web, just as not everyone will see its value, those who do will be able to seize the many opportunities it brings.

What’s next for EforAll

With 2025 around the corner, EforAll has big plans for the year ahead, with continued expansion across the country. Programs will be coming to Texas next, and California is also on the agenda. Closer to home, EforAll Colorado is looking to expand across the state with a mix of online-only and hybrid three-month business accelerators.

As Rodriguez-Manzanet likes to say, “We're not just building businesses; we're creating a supportive ecosystem where entrepreneurs can thrive.” Successful entrepreneurs do more than just recognize an opportunity; they know how to seize it. With that in mind, look for even more entrepreneurial thriving throughout Colorado in the months and years ahead.

The writer of this article is a member of RMAIIG's Executive Committee.

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