The AI academy built for Africa first

Build the AI systems small businesses run on.

A free core track and 6-week cohorts from Vertex, the studio that builds websites, booking flows, AI front desks and content for small businesses. Made for phones. Priced for where you live.

Join the waitlist How it works

Already building for clients? Work with the team

  • Free core track
  • 6 weeks per cohort
  • 8 to 10 people per pod

What you'll be able to do

Four ways the skills pay off.

  1. 01

    Deliver AI services to businesses

    Websites, booking and payment flows, AI front desks and content that owners use every day.

  2. 02

    Work as an AI operator

    Run automations, content systems and lead pipelines inside a business or an agency.

  3. 03

    Build your own AI-run venture

    A small business where agents do the repeat work and you run the decisions.

  4. 04

    Earn a place on the Vertex bench

    Certified graduates can be invited to paid tasks on real studio projects, checked by the studio before anything reaches a client.

How it works

Start free. Ship to move up.

Nothing unlocks for watching or posting. Every step ends with something you built that passes a checklist.

Step 1

Free core track

10 to 15 hours on your phone. How small businesses make money, working like a professional, AI tools as a workbench, your first offer and your first graphic.

You get: the Core badge
Step 2

6-week cohort

A pod of 8 to 10, a named facilitator, one live call a week and a capstone for a real business that agreed to take part.

You get: a delivered project
Step 3

Certified

Your shipped work is reviewed against each module's checklist. Your certificate has its own page that clients and employers can check.

You get: VCA Certified
Step 4

The bench

By invitation, when the studio has work. A paid trial task first, then paid tasks, every one checked by the studio.

You get: paid studio work

A cohort week

One lesson. One call. One thing shipped.

Live calls are never required to certify. If the power goes or data runs out, the recording and a written summary are up within 24 hours.

  • Mon
    Lesson dropsShort reading, small animated loops, a 4-minute voice note.
  • Tue to Wed
    Build with your podQuestions and feedback in your WhatsApp pod.
  • Thu
    Live call, 60 minutes17:00 UTC. 18:00 Lagos, 19:00 Johannesburg, 20:00 Nairobi. Audio first, camera optional.
  • Fri
    Office hours30 minutes with your facilitator.
  • Sun
    Weekly ship updateWhat you shipped, the checklist result, what blocked you. 5 of 6 to certify.

Tracks

Pick the work you want to do.

Service Builder

First cohort

Build and sell the services small businesses pay for, from the first audit to the delivered project.

  1. Week 1Read a business and pick a niche
  2. Week 2The website
  3. Week 3Booking, payment, follow-up
  4. Week 4The AI front desk
  5. Week 5Content that sells the service
  6. Week 6Pitch, price, deliver, demo day

AI Operator

Next cohort

Run automations, content operations and lead pipelines, with the checks that keep them honest. Ends with three working systems and a recorded walkthrough.

Venture Builder

Later

Choose a venture, price it for your market, decide what agents run and what you run, and get your first real users.

You learn on tools anyone can sign up for, like n8n, Make, Cal.com, Paystack test mode, Canva and Figma.

Built for how you actually learn

Your phone, your data, your currency.

Phone first

The whole free track works on a phone. Lessons save for offline reading.

Light on data

Text and small animated loops instead of video. Calls are audio first, about 30 MB an hour.

Power cuts happen

Nothing live is required to certify. Recordings and written summaries within 24 hours.

Local money

Pay in naira, shillings, cedis or rand, with mobile money and instalments. No loans, no income-share deals.

Scholarships

Every four seats fund one.

Full-price seats pay for full scholarships. They go to learners in Africa and students anywhere who show they will finish. Students also pay half price in every region.

  1. 1
    Join the VCA communityOur WhatsApp community is where cohorts, calls and scholarship rounds are announced.
  2. 2
    Finish the free core trackThe mini project earns your Core badge. Finishing is the real application.
  3. 3
    Share what you builtPost your mini project publicly and tag Vertex with your "Built at VCA" link.
  4. 4
    Send 150 wordsWhat you want to build and who for. That is the whole form.

What we promise

Real skills and honest numbers.

We don't promise income. Nobody honest can. What we promise is the training a working studio uses, reviewed work you can show, and a straight answer about results.

After every cohort we publish how many people joined, finished, got certified and earned from their skills, counted over everyone who started, including those who earned nothing.

Who runs it

A studio that does this work every week.

Vertex builds websites, booking and payment automations, AI front desks, motion content and outreach systems for small businesses. The academy teaches the skills behind that work.

Visit vertexcore.studio

Work with the team

Already building? Work with us.

If you already deliver websites, automations, AI front desks or content for clients, skip the course. Apply to the Vertex bench. The studio team reviews your work and, if it's a fit, invites you to a paid trial task.

  • Reviewed by the studio team
  • A paid trial task before any client work
  • Work routed when the studio has projects, never promised

Waitlist · first cohort forming

Get a seat in the first cohort.

The free track and pilot prices go to the waitlist first. Two minutes. We'll email you, and WhatsApp you if you add a number.

  • Free core track access when it opens
  • First look at pilot cohort prices in your currency
  • Scholarship rounds announced here first
Where are you starting?
What do you want most?
What do you deliver? choose all that apply

FAQ

Straight answers.