by Waymaker · Founding Cohort · 12 Seats
The Agent Foundry
Build the system. Test the system. Defend the system. An 8-session, in-person and live-online cohort where you design, evaluate, and ship a real AI agent — taught directly by the person who built it.
8 sessions · 4 weeks · in-person + virtual · $1,200 founding price
Who it's for
Built for people ready to move from AI user to AI system builder.
Executives, operators, and founders who already use ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and want to build systems, not just prompts
Product leaders and creatives ready to move from AI user to AI system builder
No software-engineering background required — you should be comfortable learning by building, testing, and iterating
What you'll leave with
Not a certificate. A working system.
01
A working AI agent
Designed, built, and deployed for a real workflow you actually bring into the room — not a toy demo.
02
Tool and data connections
Your agent wired to the resources it actually needs, with clear access boundaries.
03
An evaluation framework
Test cases, quality metrics, and a way to know when your agent is actually working — not just looks like it.
04
Guardrails and permissions
Safety limits, approval boundaries, and a human accountable for what the agent does.
05
A production deployment
Your agent live, monitored, with a plan for what happens when something breaks.
8 Sessions · 4 Weeks
From one real workflow to a deployed agent.
One evening a week in person, one live online. Exact days confirmed once your application is accepted.
01
Scope Your System
Define the one real workflow you'll build all cohort — its users, inputs, and what "working" actually means.
In-person
02
Agent Fundamentals
Agent vs. chatbot, system prompt design, persona, and the single-vs-multi-agent decision.
Virtual
03
Tools, Data & Knowledge
Give your agent real actions and real knowledge — API tool use, RAG, and access boundaries.
In-person
04
Multi-Agent Systems
Specialized roles, handoffs, and orchestration patterns for when one agent isn't enough.
Virtual
05
Evals & Observability
Quality metrics, test cases, iteration loops, and tracing — how you actually know it works.
In-person
06
Guardrails & Production Readiness
Safety limits, permissions, red-team scenarios, and a rollback plan before anything ships.
Virtual
07
Deploy
Your agent goes live — monitored, with real usage, not a local demo.
In-person
08
Ship, Demo & Defend
Present your system and defend its evidence, controls, cost, limitations, and next step.
In-person
What's included
The cohort, plus the software you keep after it ends.
8 live sessions
In-person and virtual, taught directly by Ashley — not pre-recorded video.
6 months of Waymaker Core
The AI Chief of Staff, Gameplan, and specialist team — the software you keep building with after the cohort ends.
A working, deployed agent
You leave with something live, not just slides.
Small-cohort feedback
12 seats, capped on purpose — enough room for real peer and instructor feedback every session.
Your instructor
Ashley Kays
Founder of Waymaker, where she builds the AI Chief of Staff and specialist team thousands of operators and founders use to plan, build, and ship real products. The Agent Foundry is the same hands-on approach — taught live, in the room and online, not handed off to a pre-recorded course.
Founding cohort pricing
$1,200
One seat, 8 live sessions, and 6 months of Waymaker Core included. Capped at 12 seats — price rises for the next cohort once this one ships.
Apply for a Seat →Applications reviewed on a rolling basis · 12 seats total
Questions
FAQ
Do I need to know how to code?
No. A software-engineering background isn't required — you should be comfortable learning by building, testing, and iterating alongside the group.
What if I don't have a specific project yet?
Come with a real workflow you're close to — something you or your team does repeatedly. Session 1 is built around scoping it properly before you build anything.
Where does it happen?
One evening a week is in person, one is live online — exact days and the in-person venue are confirmed once your application is accepted.
What happens after the cohort ends?
Your 6 months of Waymaker keeps running, so you keep building, iterating, and shipping with the same AI Chief of Staff and specialist team.
Why is the founding cohort $1,200?
This is our first live cohort, capped at 12 seats for real instructor attention. Founding-cohort pricing reflects that — price rises for future cohorts once we have results to point to.