What Builders Say

Chief Executive Officer, TradeCentric

“One highlight of our offsite was our AI hackathon. Every single person left having built two apps. For some, it was skill-building. For others, it was a first breakthrough. Across the board, confidence went up and capability followed.”

VP of Education at Girls Who Code

“Working with Bethany to design and facilitate our vibe coding workshop was an exceptional experience. From the start, she demonstrated remarkable creativity and responsiveness, making collaboration effortless throughout the entire process. What impressed us most was her ability to quickly integrate our feedback during the workshop design stage, ensuring the content perfectly aligned with Girls Who Code's teaching and learning approach.”

Senior Vice President, PerkSpot

“We partnered with Build First as a way to jumpstart AI adoption at our company. We were looking for ways to make AI use seem practical, accessible, and exciting. Through our workshops with Bethany, we generated real enthusiasm for AI tools and have developed meaningful AI use cases we’re implementing now that are going to make a positive impact on our growth trajectory.”

Beardwood & Co.

“We knew how to use chat, but we didn't understand the potential of building things using AI. The Build First training gave our team the confidence to go forth and build across every department. From interactive microsites to dynamic calendars, we had useable tools at the end of the session and most importantly the belief and comfort to keep exploring.”

CEO of Markup AI

“One of the most crucial responsibilities for any executive today is to rapidly upskill their workforce for the AI age. Bethany's workshops make AI accessible by showing how anyone can build practical applications and, more importantly, adopt the builder mindset that's essential in this era of work.”

Finance Professional

“Bethany helped me build production tools that I now use daily as an investor. I developed agents that assist with financial modeling and manage newsflow on a portfolio of stocks, along with a custom application that tracks how weather events impact investments. These tools have automated what used to take up hours of my time.”

Director of Data Systems, Institute for Citizens & Scholars

“I came into the session having never used AI before and now, with the POP-IT Builder Bethany provided, I feel like I will definitely have the ability to create an app.”

Development Associate

“I came into the workshop with a narrow view of AI. This workshop generated an explosion of exciting new understandings for me- the why, when, and how of using AI to create GPT apps for both work and my personal life! I am beginning to think more like a builder!”

Chief of Staff, Variant Fund

“Build First's workshops and coaching really helps lower the barriers to entry to building custom applications to practically zero, and makes it a lot of fun along the way!”

Senior Account Executive, Morning Consult

“Super practical and insightful session. Easy to follow and the exercises made the learning very sticky. Definitely feel this will make me much more effective in my role. Thank you!”

AI Power Hour Attendee

“Bethany Crystal had an inspiring presence and it was so cool to learn how I could use the AI on Replit to make my own personal website with my resume and go even further with it by making it a business minded website that allowed other people to make their own websites by uploading their resumes!”

Founder & CEO, thedot. Consulting

“Before working with Build First, I had a clear vision for Dot Bot, an AI-powered tool designed to extend teachers’ capacity and provide students with more personalized support, but I needed help turning that vision into a working product. With their guidance, I was able to build Version 1 of Dot Bot. That initial build gave us the confidence and foundation to continue developing the tool into a scalable solution for schools and educators.”

VP & Head of Marketing, TradeCentric

“This is my second time using the POP-IT framework with Bethany. This go-around, I built an executive assistant agent, I have it connected to a couple of my different note-taking apps.”

TradeCentric

“Just having the confidence of making mistakes, and letting AI help you solve that for you, has actually been really cool. I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

TradeCentric

“I learned how to take a very time-consuming manual process and turn it into a scalable automatic process, which has been brilliant.”

Partner, McDermott Will & Schulte LLP

“…the person who I fully credit with helping me build the app that gets my daughter excited to practice piano. Astonishingly.”