Everyone has a place to start.
Growth begins with curiosity. We meet people where they are, creating a space where every question is welcome and every learner can move forward with confidence.
About Novativ AI Academy
From learning AI to leading with AI.
We help people and organizations move from wondering what AI can do to using it with confidence, through practical, workforce-ready learning that produces real results.
Not theory. Not a recorded course you work through alone at eleven at night. Live teaching, real practice, and something built and working before you leave.
Why this exists
AI is transforming the world around us. We exist to make sure people are transformed by opportunity, not left behind by change.
I started Novativ AI Academy because I did not want people to miss out on one of the biggest opportunities of our generation.
I watched AI open doors that had never existed before. People solved problems faster, created things they never thought possible, and discovered new ways to work, learn, and grow.
Yet at the same time, the conversation quickly became crowded with hype, jargon, and promises that made AI feel complicated, intimidating, and out of reach. I watched countless people doubt themselves. Not because they lacked the ability, but because they were surrounded by so much noise, complexity, and the feeling that everyone else had already figured it out. The truth is, they had not. What people needed was not more hype. They needed a clear path forward.
Novativ AI Academy was built to be that path. A place where people gain confidence, discover what is possible, and learn how to turn AI into a tool that helps them thrive.
Nobody should feel behind before they have even had the chance to begin.
Novativ AI Academy exists to make AI feel less intimidating and far more empowering. We believe learning should be human, interactive, and grounded in real life. That is why every experience is live, every question is welcome, and every learner leaves with more than knowledge. They leave with confidence, momentum, and something built with their own hands.
What I keep seeing is not really about software at all. It is a person discovering they are capable of something they had quietly decided was not for them. Then it is a business finding hours it did not know it had, and doing work it had been turning away.
That is the transformation. The technology is just how we get there.
My career has never followed a straight line.
For thirty years I have been helping people through change. Sometimes the change was technology. Sometimes it was a business. Sometimes it was a life.
For twenty-four years I ran a technology company that implemented systems for government and corporations. Multi-year programs, multi-million dollar budgets, mission-critical solutions in environments where accuracy, trust, and accountability make a real difference in people’s lives. I trained hundreds of people in systems, applications and tools.
Here is what that taught me, and it has almost nothing to do with software. Projects do not fail at the tool. They fail at implementation, testing, quality control, and handoff.
The most successful projects are not defined by what gets built. They are defined by what endures. A solution’s true value is not proven when its creator can make it work. It is proven when others can understand it, trust it, improve it, and build on it.
Alongside the technology work I spent ten years as a board-certified psychotherapist, and I earned a Master of Education. Two things I learned in those years sit underneath everything taught here. Adults do not learn by watching, they learn by building. And people rarely describe what they are carrying as heavy until another person names it first.
When AI arrived in 2023 I did not watch from the sidelines. I enrolled in everything I could find. I experimented, I built, I tested, I failed, and I learned. I experienced firsthand what happens when AI is put to work in the real world. Inside my own businesses, work moved faster. Ideas became reality more quickly. What once required significant time, budget, and support became achievable by a single person with the right guidance and tools. For the first time, I saw everyday people gain access to capabilities that had once seemed out of reach, and I knew that opportunity needed to be shared.
Novativ AI Academy was never meant to be another course people start and never finish. Information alone changes nothing. Confidence does. Action does. Seeing what is possible, and having someone help you take the first steps, does.
People are not transformed by information. They are transformed by belief, opportunity, and action. When someone sees what is possible and experiences their own ability to create it, everything changes.
Merilyn Thompson. Founder, Novativ AI Academy and Novativ Technology Solutions. PMP, Certified Scrum Master, Maxwell Leadership Certified Team Member, MBA, Master of Education, BSc Information Technology.
Six beliefs that shape every experience
They decide how a day is built, who stands in front of the room, and what you walk out holding.
Learning happens through doing.
Knowledge becomes capability through action. That is why every session is hands-on, practical, and built around creating something real.
People drive transformation.
Technology is a tool. The real breakthrough happens when people gain the confidence, judgment, and skills to use it in meaningful ways.
Humans lead the way.
AI can accelerate the work, but people remain accountable for the outcome. We teach learners how to apply AI thoughtfully, responsibly, and with confidence.
Clarity creates confidence.
Complexity is not a sign of expertise. We believe the best learning happens when ideas are explained clearly, simply, and in ways people can apply immediately.
Leave with more than knowledge.
Real learning creates momentum. Every program is designed so you leave with something you have built, a plan for what comes next, and the confidence to keep moving forward.
How we teach
- Live, always. Every session is led in real time by a real person who can answer questions and provide guidance.
- Built for connection. We keep groups small enough to ensure every learner is seen, supported, and engaged.
- Learning with purpose. Whether you are applying AI to your job, your business, a personal goal, or a new idea, you will learn by working on something that matters to you.
- Accessible to everyone. No coding experience is required. Our focus is on practical application, not technical complexity.
- Easy to begin. Preparation is simple and streamlined, so everyone starts together with confidence.
- Designed for participation. Every session creates opportunities to ask questions, get guidance, and apply what you are learning in real time.
- Support beyond the classroom. Learning does not end when the session does. Continued guidance is included in most of our programs.
- Practical and transparent. We help you understand not only what AI can do, but when to use it, when not to use it, and how to use it responsibly.
Structured learning hours are listed where applicable. Participants receive a certificate of completion. Novativ AI Academy is not a PMI Authorized Training Partner, and course hours may be self-reported but cannot be guaranteed for acceptance.
The company behind the Academy
Novativ AI Academy is built on a foundation of real-world experience. For more than twenty-four years, Novativ Technology Solutions, established in 2002, has helped government agencies and corporations deliver technology that matters. Not experiments. Not trends. Mission-critical solutions in environments where accuracy, trust, and accountability make a real difference in people’s lives.
That experience shapes everything we teach. Because successful technology adoption has never been just about the technology. It is about helping people use it with confidence, clarity, and purpose.
I did not create Novativ AI Academy because AI is the next big thing. I created it because I have spent twenty-four years watching what happens when people are given the tools, support, and belief they need to grow. AI may be transforming the world, but the real transformation happens when people realize they can be part of that future too. That is the experience this Academy was built to provide.
Who teaches here
Merilyn teaches every bootcamp and Summit herself. Our one-day courses are delivered by carefully selected experts with subject knowledge and proven teaching experience.
What actually changes
People do not arrive lacking ability. They arrive lacking certainty. Somewhere between the first session and the last, uncertainty gives way to confidence, hesitation becomes action, and what once felt out of reach starts to feel possible. That is the transformation this Academy exists to create.
People do not leave with more information. They leave with a new sense of what is possible.
- From AI curiosity to AI capability.
- From overwhelmed to empowered.
- From reacting to change to shaping it.
- From busywork to meaningful work.
- From learning AI to creating value with it.
- From wondering what is possible to confidently building what is next.
The practical results are easy to see. More time. Better work. New opportunities.
What surprises me every time is the human side of the journey. People who arrived uncertain leave believing in themselves again. They discover capabilities they never knew they had, and possibilities they had stopped considering.
That transformation is why Novativ AI Academy was created.
Where to start
You do not have to know everything to begin. You just need a starting point that turns curiosity into confidence.
The strongest journeys rarely begin with the right answer. They begin with the right foundation. Most people start with a single day. Some are ready for six weeks or twelve. If you are not sure, tell us where you are and we will point you at the right one, including when the answer is to wait.
Start with a single day.
Five one-day courses this fall, from plain-English foundations to building a workspace that already knows your business. Live, hands-on, and you leave with something working.
See the coursesBuild an AI workforce in your business.
Six Thursdays. Four AI employees with named jobs, built on your own business, plus the Business Brain they all draw from.
See the bootcampBecome the expert businesses hire.
Twelve weeks to a real consulting capability, finishing with a capstone you can put in front of a buyer.
See the bootcampOr write to us and tell us where you are starting from. There is no wrong answer to that question.