Dean Ahlgren.

Why work with me

I’ve built online training for 25 years. For 21 of them, at the Academy of Art University, I worked with subject matter experts across very different fields and turned what they knew into courses that gave students skills they could use. I ran each course from kickoff through launch, then kept it current for years after. At its peak, that work reached more than 18,000 students.

Since 2025 I’ve helped train frontier AI models, judging what they produce and writing the guides that define a good answer. I also led a team of six experts. That work shows me what AI does well and where it slips, and everything we set up is built around both.

I didn’t start at a desk. I restored antique Persian rugs and ran my own restoration business in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and built a passive solar, rammed-earth home by hand near Taos. Years later I worked closely with the crews on a condo remodel in Kapolei and a full house remodel in Hilo, so I know what it’s like when a job depends on everyone showing up and doing their part.

As a licensed massage therapist in Santa Fe and on Maui, I learned to read people and put them at ease. Then, at a Silicon Valley startup in 1999, I learned web design on the job, so I know what starting from zero feels like. It’s common to be unsure about AI at first, so I explain it in your own language and match your rhythm.