Free skills library
GROW by Good Combinator
Explore ten free modules covering practical skills for AI systems, from agent reliability to evaluation and workflow design.
Browse free modulesAbout Good Combinator
Helping people put AI to useful work.
Good Combinator helps people learn to put AI to work, demonstrate their capabilities, and connect with organizations tackling real problems.
Explore a starting point for your own development, or bring us a problem your organization wants to solve.
The person behind the work
Meet Doug Liles.
Founder · Applied AI · Company-building
Doug founded Good Combinator and writes about AI, company-building, economic development and practical support for founders. His work connects entrepreneurship with an interest in useful tools for organizations and communities.
On his personal website, Doug shares his work in applied AI and civic technology, along with writing and conversations about how technology can serve the public good.
Why Good Combinator exists
Useful AI starts with a real problem.
A new tool is only part of the work. People also need the skills to use it, a way to explain their decisions, and a clear understanding of the problem they are trying to solve.
Good Combinator’s purpose is to connect those pieces: opportunities to learn, tools for building, ways to demonstrate capability, and conversations about practical organizational needs.
That includes people developing their skills, founders exploring an idea, and employers, civic teams and institutions considering a project.
Choose your starting point
Different offers. A clear connection.
Learn → Build → Prove → Deploy describes how the programs relate. You can start where it helps you; each program has its own requirements.
Blueprint workbench
Agent Foundry by Good Combinator
Organize an Agent OS blueprint in nine layers and export it as Markdown. Your workspace is stored in your browser; AI actions send content to a provider.
Open the workbenchFree introduction · Paid certification
Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) Certification
Explore the curriculum, tracks and evidence requirements for demonstrating applied AI capabilities. Start with free Course 1 lessons and review the paid certification offer.
Explore certification Start Course 1 freeDemonstration · Sample data
FDE Sponsor Matchmaker by Good Combinator
See how a learner and an organization could connect around sponsored training and a defined project. Sponsorship may begin before certification.
Sample data only. Do not enter personal or confidential information.
Explore the sponsorship demoVenture-building and broader organizational inquiries belong with Good Combinator. Explore business and project paths.
Explore the work
Start with something you can inspect.
Read a learning resource, explore a blueprint tool, or review the certification requirements.
Agent reliability
GROW-S1 introduces thresholds, escalation rules and fallback paths for AI agents.
Read the free moduleA blueprint you can take with you
Agent Foundry organizes an agent’s purpose, context, workflows and checks into a Markdown blueprint.
Explore the nine layersCertification requirements
Explore the Technical, Solutions and Platform tracks, then review the program’s assessment and access information.
Review tracks and the offerView a sample credentialWorking together
Bring the challenge. Start a conversation.
Doug Liles handles project, partnership, and sponsorship inquiries. Use the contact form or email doug@goodsam.ai. Share a short, non-confidential summary so Doug can review the need and discuss a scoped next step with you.
Describe the need.
Share the problem, who it affects and what a useful outcome would look like.
Explain the constraints.
Include timing, stakeholders, available resources and the decision process.
Review the fit.
Doug reviews the inquiry and follows up to clarify the need and discuss suitability. Any project, sponsorship or other commitment needs its own agreed scope and terms.
Related initiatives
More ways to explore.
RoboVoTech
RoboVoTech is a related AI, robotics and workforce-learning initiative. Its current public program describes browser-based simulations and synthetic learning activities.
Explore RoboVoTech’s current programYour next step
Start with your goal.
Build a skill, explore a tool, or describe a challenge you want to work on.