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Heartland Forward and Stemuli Launch AI Learning Platform to Boost Skills for Rural Students and Entrepreneurs
Heartland Forward and Stemuli launched an AI learning platform to help rural students and entrepreneurs gain vital AI skills. The program uses interactive quests and real-world data to prepare learners for future jobs.
Heartland Forward and Stemuli Launch AI Learning Platform for Rural Students and Entrepreneurs
Heartland Forward, a Bentonville-based think-and-do tank, has teamed up with education technology company Stemuli to create an artificial intelligence (AI) learning platform. This initiative targets rural students and entrepreneurs, helping them build essential AI skills needed for the evolving job market. The partnership was announced on May 8 during Heartland Forward’s Heartland Summit event.
According to McKinsey & Co., AI is expected to automate about 30% of tasks across many jobs within the next five years. Stemuli’s platform aims to prepare learners for this shift by offering personalized AI education. The program combines the engagement and motivation of gaming with practical career coaching to support skill development.
Preparing the Heartland Workforce for AI
Angie Cooper, president and COO at Heartland Forward, emphasized the importance of AI literacy as a core skill for the future workforce. She highlighted the need to equip students and entrepreneurs in the heartland with tools that increase economic opportunities and help them build successful careers in an AI-driven economy.
The platform’s curriculum covers six main areas:
- Large language models (LLM) 101
- Machine learning basics
- Prompting skills
- AI applications in the workplace
- AI in finance
- Elective modules aligned with specific career paths
Engaging Learning with Real-World Application
Taylor Shead, founder and CEO of Stemuli, explained that AI is changing the future of work as we speak. Stemuli’s AI-native game engine provides learners with interactive quests that build AI literacy. These quests are designed to meet employer needs across various industries in the central United States. The curriculum will evolve using real-world data and employer feedback to stay relevant.
Proven Outcomes from Stemuli Users
Past implementations of Stemuli’s platform demonstrate strong results:
- At P-TECH, the largest early college high school in Dallas County, students using Stemuli graduated with average earnings between $60,000 and $70,000. This surpasses their peers’ average of $46,000.
- In collaboration with Stride, the nation’s largest online education provider, Stemuli converted 672 K-12 courses into gaming experiences for 300,000 students. This led to improvements in math proficiency, time spent on tasks, and college and career readiness.
- Stemuli supported Georgia’s digital agriculture career pathways, helping the Department of Education assess and enhance workforce skills among K-12 learners.
Advancing Education and Workforce Development in the Heartland
This initiative builds on Heartland Forward’s ongoing efforts to strengthen talent pipelines through investments in education, workforce development, and digital access. Their work includes transforming career pathways in the region and advancing new models of upskilling to support long-term economic mobility for central U.S. communities.
For educators interested in AI and workforce readiness, exploring AI courses and training resources can provide further support. Platforms like Complete AI Training offer courses designed to build practical AI skills aligned with industry needs.