Build an AI Operating System for Your Business Idea
Tech Track at Western Slope Startup Week · Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Date
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Time
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Location
TBK Bank Community Room — 259 W 9th St, Durango, CO 81301
Cost
Free — registration required
Most businesses waste months experimenting with AI tools that don't add value or are too complex. This workshop cuts through the noise and gives you a repeatable framework for turning AI into an actual operating layer for your business.
Andrew Aitken draws from playbooks in the Rural AI Pilot Library and our own AI-native journey, to work through how to identify your highest-leverage workflows, design your first AI-assisted process, and measure whether it's working. The core of the session is a live workflow design exercise where you map AI opportunities specific to your own business and get feedback from peers and the facilitator in real time.
No technical background required.
You'll walk away with
- ▪An AI workflow map specific to your own business idea
- ▪A 30-day activation plan with specific, free or low-cost tools
- ▪A framework you can reuse as your business grows
- ▪Clarity on which AI tools are worth your time and which are hype
Who it's for
This session is for founders at any stage who are hearing constantly that they need to use AI but aren't getting guidance on where to start.
Speaker
Andrew Aitken, The Center for Rural AI
Registration is handled by Whova as part of Western Slope Startup Week.