Don't just learn AI.
Build it. Ship it. Prove it.
A free 4-week Builder Sprint. You build a real AI product, own it on your own GitHub, and earn a verified Product Passport that proves what you built.
Employers verify your skills. Investors discover founders.
18+ · any age · solo or team of 2–4 · free · India
Who you become
Student, fresher, career-switcher, self-taught developer, AI-curious — whoever you are now, you leave as one thing: a Verified AI Product Builder, with a real product to show and a Passport to prove it.
Student · Fresher · Career-Switcher
4 weeks of building
Verified AI Product Builder
28 days. One AI product. One public proof.
Pre-Flight
Setup
Self-paced setup — Git, Python, Claude, APIs — so Day 1 starts with building.
Discover + Design
Product Blueprint
Pick a real problem, design the solution.
Build
Functional MVP
Build your AI product with your own AI tools.
Evaluate + Harden
Release Candidate
Benchmark it, test it, document it honestly.
Verify + Ship
Product Passport
Peer + mentor review, Demo Day, your Product Passport.
Proof, not a certificate
The Product Passport
Anyone can claim they know AI. A Surge Product Passport is a verified record of what you actually built — the product, the problem, the tech, your individual contribution, the benchmark, the mentor review, responsible-AI checks. Employers don't take your word for it. They see the evidence.
Verify a Passport →Verification
The five gates
Every verified product passes all five:
It runs.
A reviewer can start it from your README alone.
It solves the problem.
The demo does the real thing, on real input.
It has a benchmark.
One honest, reproducible measure.
You drove it.
Your AI Engineering Journal shows how you engineered with AI.
It's honest.
The README states what works, what doesn't, and the limits.
The skill the market is hiring for
AI-native engineering
Surge teaches AI-Native Software Engineering — how to direct AI coding agents to build real products, while you stay accountable for the architecture, the review, and the results. Claude-first at launch, expanding over time. This is bigger than "learn prompting."
Built by Surge Builders
From the Commons
Verified products from real builders. Each with a Product Passport, five-gate verification, and a public GitHub link. Coming with Cohort 1.
Products arriving soon
The ecosystem doesn't end at Demo Day
Where it leads
Your verified product opens three doors:
Job
Employers discover you by evidence — your Product Passport, your Commons entry, your GitHub.
Startup
Validation, co-founders, mentors, and funding routes — for builders who want to start something.
Research
Publish, work with universities, contribute to the field — for builders who want to go deeper.
Community
The Surge Builder Network
Join a permanent community of builders and chapters — campus, city, and communities like Women Builders, Developers and Career Switchers, plus Online — with build nights and clinics. Every chapter runs the same Surge standard. You join once and stay: mentor, review, lead a chapter, build again.
Browse chapters →Support the mission
Surge Foundry Foundation is a non-profit. The program is free so talent, not money, decides who gets to build.
Support the missionCommon questions
Is it really free?
Yes. Free to apply and free to participate. You bring your own AI tools — the free tier is enough for the projects we scope.
Do I need to pay for Claude?
No. We teach Claude-first, and the free tier is enough. You do not need a paid plan to take part.
Can I join solo?
Yes. Solo or team of 2–4. Teams are recommended but not required.
What's the age limit?
18 or older. No upper age limit — anyone from a student to a career-switcher to a retiree.