How AI Actually Works A clear-eyed mental model of what's happening when you talk to AI
A working understanding of LLMs and a first hands-on session with Claude.
- Date
- Saturday, August 1, 2026
- Format
- Two hours on Zoom. 8:00-10:00am PT.
Veteran-built. In partnership with Cohen Partners
From service to strategy. Four weeks to real AI skills.Not another AI webinar. A capability you own.
CrossGen AI is veteran-owned, founded by Sean Patterson, a former submarine warfare officer who spent eight years in the U.S. Navy aboard the fast-attack boat USS Annapolis and Tactical Manual development for the Tomahawk Missile fire control systems. He deployed to the Horn of Africa, under the Arctic, and the Mediterranean. In his civilian career, he was the general manager of the largest defense circuit board manufacturing plant in the US. He also oversaw the A&D operations for TTM Technologies across North America. He was an executive at Amazon, where he built and scaled the operations team across North America middle mile (line-haul) and was the head of operations for Amazon's healthcare program. He has held C-suite roles at public, private-equity-backed, and family-backed companies, from 3D printers to defense products. Throughout his career, he continued to hire and create training programs for transitioning military personnel.
Sean Patterson
Founder of CrossGen AI. Former U.S. Navy submarine officer, USS Annapolis (SSN-760).
Four two-hour Saturdays, Aug 1 through Aug 22, 2026. 8:00-10:00am PT. Registration closed $100 per seat
Section 02 / Outcomes
What you'll walk away withSkills that transfer to every industry hiring right now
Four weeks of focused, hands-on work, built so the skills land in your real job search and your next role, not only in a notebook. You already think like an operator. This turns that into the AI fluency civilian employers are paying for.
- A working mental model of how AI actually works.
Enough to use any tool you pick up next with judgment, not guesswork.
- Hands-on proficiency in prompt engineering, automation, and AI-augmented analysis.
The exact skills civilian employers are hiring for right now. You show up ahead of the curve, not behind it.
- A way to translate military leadership and ops into language employers understand.
Your experience is valuable; this helps hiring managers hear it in their terms.
- Confidence navigating civilian workplace culture.
Decode the unwritten rules of office dynamics, communication styles, and team structures, so you walk in confident, not guessing.
Section 03 / Curriculum
Four sessions. Each one builds on the last.
Four consecutive Saturdays. Each session builds directly on the one before, so the work compounds instead of resetting. Live and hands-on, on Zoom.
From Search Box to Thinking Partner Stop using AI like a search engine. Work with it like a sharp teammate.
Working prompts for your real tasks: the job search, applications, and the work itself.
- Date
- Saturday, August 8, 2026
- Format
- Two hours on Zoom. 8:00-10:00am PT.
Automation and AI-Augmented Analysis Put AI to work on the tasks that eat your time, and on analysis you can trust.
A repeatable way to brief AI, and a feel for which work belongs with AI vs. to AI.
- Date
- Saturday, August 15, 2026
- Format
- Two hours on Zoom. 8:00-10:00am PT.
Owning the Capability The shift from using AI to owning it. Proficiency you carry into any industry.
A clear answer to where AI belongs in your next role, and the confidence to use it on day one.
- Date
- Saturday, August 22, 2026
- Format
- Two hours on Zoom. 8:00-10:00am PT.
Section 04 / Mechanics
How it works
- Format
- Live on Zoom. Every session is recorded for later access.
- Schedule
- Four consecutive Saturdays, August 1 through August 22, 2026. Two-hour classes, 8:00-10:00am PT. Short assignments between sessions put what you learned into real work.
- Who it's for
- Veterans of every branch and rank, whether you're mid-transition or already in a civilian role and want the edge.
- Who teaches
- Sean Patterson, founder of CrossGen AI and a former nuclear-trained submarine warfare officer aboard USS Annapolis (SSN-760), trained at the U.S. Naval Academy and Navy Nuclear Power School. After the Navy he spent 25 years in operations leadership across manufacturing, Amazon's logistics expansion, and healthcare scale-ups. He teaches this cohort himself.
- Partnership
- Offered in partnership with Cohen Partners.
- What you bring
- Your own Claude subscription (about $20/month), with the desktop app ready before week one. An open mind about how AI fits into the way you work.
- What you leave with
- Real, hands-on AI proficiency you own and carry into any industry you walk into next.
Registration closed
This cohort is full. The waitlist is open.
Enrollment for the From Service to Strategy veteran AI accelerator is closed and payment is no longer being accepted. We run this accelerator on a rolling schedule — join the waitlist and you'll hear about the next start date before it's announced publicly.
Questions
Section 06 / Questions
Questions you might have
Who is this for?
Veterans of every branch and rank. Whether you're early in your civilian transition or already working and want to get ahead of the AI curve, this is built for you.
Do I need a technical background?
No. If you can run a process and lead a team, you can do this. We start from a clear-eyed mental model and build hands-on from there.
Do I need to pay for anything besides the seat?
One thing. You'll bring your own AI subscription, about $20 a month, so you have a real tool to work in during the cohort and after it. We teach on Claude, so that's the simplest one to start with. The skills are not locked to one tool. The principles you learn carry directly to other AI systems, so you can use them wherever you land.
Is it online?
Yes. Every class is live on Zoom and recorded, so you can join from anywhere.
What if I miss a session?
Every session is recorded, so a missed Saturday isn't a missed cohort. The work goes deeper when you're there live, but the recordings keep you in the thread.
Refund policy?
All sales are final. No refunds. The full policy is on the refund page (linked in the footer).