Buildingwith AI is asuperpower.
A human guide makes the first step easy. Xiao is a nonprofit that teaches everyday people — ages 7 and up — to become builders with AI.
A nonprofit. Pay what you can.
Build what
you dream up.
Ages 7–14
Build what
you need.
Ages 15+
Anyone can build now.
For decades, building software was for the select few — and they built the modern world. The constraint that just changed is technical: the tools are finally ready, and now anyone can build.
But the first step is still hard. Foreign words, unfamiliar systems — it's intimidating, so most people never start. A human guide changes everything: someone beside you, showing you every step. That's Xiao — your personal sherpa up the mountain.
Four sessions, from scared to building.
A small learning circle, hands-on the whole way. You learn the computer by using it — never by watching a lecture.
See what's possible
Real tools, built in front of you. You leave wanting to make one of your own.
Set up your tools
Get your computer and AI working together — learning what each piece does by using it.
Build together
The whole circle builds and puts a real website on the internet — something most have never done.
Start your own
Begin the thing you actually want to build, and keep going in weekly office hours after.
After the four sessions you're not on your own — weekly office hours and elective tracks (mobile apps, automations, and more) for as long as you want them.
A person, beside you.
We're a nonprofit that pairs people who want to build with the best human coaches.
A real teacher
Someone who sees when you're stuck and gets you unstuck. Never a bot, never a recording.
Pay what you can
Tuition is sliding scale — more if you can, less if you can't. Cost is never the reason to miss out.
You pass it on
Every student helps the next. Some graduates come back as guides — that's how the light spreads.
Limited only by your imagination.
Here's what students have made after four lessons.
A kid's math game
An iOS game a parent built in an afternoon — to make a daughter who hates math want to practice.
Your own website
Designed, written, and live on the internet — built entirely by your own hands.
A family tool
A meal planner, a homework helper, a trip organizer — whatever your household actually needs.
…or the thing only you would think to make.
✔ Sketching the game…✔ Wiring up the questions…✔ Making it fun to get right…★ math-game.app — on your phone tonightEvery climb needs a guide. Ours is Verri.
He's the teacher who proved the whole idea — sit beside someone, hand on the keyboard, and get them past the wall that makes most people quit.
A developer and teacher who believes what Xiao believes: the tools are ready; what people need is a patient person beside them.
As Xiao grows, every guide learns to teach the way he does — so the person beside you always climbs like the first sherpa did.
I'm not a programmer. The reason I can build today is simple: a kind human sat next to me and held my hand through the part that felt impossible. I want everyone to have that person.
John Cheng · Founder of Stone Table Works and first Xiao student
Stand at the edge of dawn.
No experience needed — our learners are ages 7 and up. The first circles are small, so no one gets lost. Tell us about you, and we'll reach out as seats open.