The AI Edge · Grades 6–9PREPARING CHILDREN
TO THRIVE IN AN
AI DOMINATED FUTURE.
AI is already changing how people work, build businesses, solve problems and create ideas. Our job is not to protect children from that future. It is to prepare them to thrive in it.
In short
The Tycoon Academy teaches AI as an accelerator, not a crutch. Learners in Grades 6 to 9 are taught to think and decide first, then use current AI models, design tools and AI-assisted development (vibe coding) to research, prototype, build and ship real products for real customers.
- Who it is for
- Grades 6 to 9 (ages 11 to 15)
- Format
- After-school enterprise and AI club, mentor-led
- Where
- 8 Stellendal Road, Somerset West, Western Cape
- Also available
- Online across South Africa
- Currency
- South African Rand (ZAR)
- What a learner leaves with
- A launched venture, real sales and a track record
AI IS THE ACCELERATOR. THE CHILD IS STILL THE DRIVER.
At Tycoon Academy, children learn to use the latest AI tools to research, create, build, test and solve problems quickly, while developing the judgement and critical thinking to know when the technology is wrong.
Built from real work in AI and education
Grounded in the classroom, not the hype cycle.
Tycoon Academy grows out of our work through Sanusi, where founder Sean Goldsmith works with schools and education leaders on the role of AI in learning and how we prepare children for a rapidly changing world.
Selected schools, organisations and conferences Sean has worked with, engaged with or spoken at.
Thinking first
We teach children to use AI without outsourcing their brain.
There is a huge difference between knowing how to use AI and knowing how to think. We want children to have both.
Before reaching for technology, they need to understand the problem, question assumptions, form an opinion and decide what they are actually trying to achieve.
Then AI becomes incredibly powerful. It can help them research faster, explore ideas, compare options, build prototypes, create content and test solutions that would previously have taken weeks. That is how we use it.
From idea to working product
They can build what used to be out of reach.
One of the biggest changes AI has created is that children can now build things that were previously far beyond their technical ability.
We teach vibe coding, where children can use plain language and AI-assisted development tools to turn an idea into a working digital product.
A child might identify a problem, sketch the solution and then build the first version of an app, website or digital service within a session.
The technology makes the build faster. The child still has to decide what should be built and why anyone should care.
- 01
Idea
- 02
Plan
- 03
Build
- 04
Test
- 05
Improve
- 06
Launch
Tools change. The skill doesn't.
We do not teach one AI tool.
The technology is moving too quickly for that.
Instead, children learn how to work with the best tools available at the time. We continuously review new AI models, coding platforms and creative systems and introduce them where they genuinely improve what children can do.
The tools will change. The skill we are teaching is the ability to understand a problem, choose the right tool and use it intelligently.
HUMAN FIRST. TECHNOLOGY SECOND.
Our rule is simple
Children should never use technology to avoid thinking.
They still need to debate, sketch, calculate, speak to people, explain their reasoning and defend their ideas. AI comes in when it can extend their capability.
That means we are not trying to create children who are brilliant at prompting machines. We are trying to create children who are brilliant at solving problems and happen to have access to very powerful machines.
Why we're qualified to teach this
BUILT BY PEOPLE WHO'VE BUILT
AND SCALED BUSINESSES IN OVER
23 COUNTRIES WORLDWIDE
Tycoon Academy wasn't created from theory. It was developed by the team behind Groe Global, The Franchise Entrepreneur, Franchise Investment Advisors, The AI Guys and Multiman, drawing on years of experience building businesses, advising entrepreneurs, launching brands and solving real commercial problems.
Through Groe Global alone, our team has actively helped launch and scale businesses across 23 countries, working with everything from some of the world's largest brands to small, ambitious businesses taking their first serious steps towards growth.
But perhaps more importantly for Tycoon Academy, we have worked with and trained thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs around the world, helping them understand what it really takes to start, survive and succeed in business.
That gives us something incredibly valuable to pass on.
We have seen the same mistakes made thousands of times. We have seen what separates businesses that grow from those that stall. We have seen how successful entrepreneurs think, adapt, sell, manage money, deal with setbacks and spot opportunities others miss.
Tycoon Academy brings that combined knowledge together and puts it into the hands of children years before most people ever get access to it.
Our Young Tycoons are not starting from zero. They are starting with the benefit of thousands of other entrepreneurs' lessons, mistakes, breakthroughs and experience behind them — an extraordinary head start over their peers and, one day, the people they will compete with in the real world.
0+
Countries
Businesses launched, scaled and supported across markets around the world.
1,000s
of entrepreneurs
Small business owners and entrepreneurs trained, advised and supported.
Global to local
Real business experience
From major international brands to small founder-led businesses.
Recognised for doing it
Great British Entrepreneur Awards
Double finalist
Recognition for entrepreneurship, innovation and business leadership.
Elite Business 100
UK top 100 SME
Groe Global recognised among Britain's leading small and medium-sized businesses.
Franchise industry recognition
Award-winning support
Recognition for excellence in franchise support and operational delivery.
THE AWARDS AREN'T WHAT WE TEACH.
THE EXPERIENCE BEHIND THEM IS.
Our children learn from lessons earned in the real world: how to spot an opportunity, understand a customer, make a sale, price properly, manage money, negotiate, use technology intelligently, recover from failure and keep moving when the answer isn't obvious.
What it means for your child
WHAT DOES ALL THAT EXPERIENCE
MEAN FOR YOUR CHILD?
Think independently
Question assumptions, analyse problems and make better decisions rather than simply accepting the first answer.
Use AI intelligently
Learn to use AI as a powerful tool while keeping human judgement, creativity and responsibility firmly in control.
Turn ideas into income
Understand how talent, creativity and good ideas can be turned into something people value and will pay for.
Understand real-world money
Learn about pricing, costs, tax, profit, cash flow, investment and the financial realities behind every business.
Get good at solving hard problems
Obstacles are not automatically reasons to stop. Analyse what went wrong, change the approach and turn a blocker into an advantage.
Build experience years ahead of their age
Start making, selling, negotiating, presenting, failing, adapting and succeeding while their peers are still learning the theory.
WE'RE NOT PREPARING CHILDREN
TO PASS A BUSINESS TEST. WE'RE
PREPARING THEM TO ENTER THE REAL
WORLD ALREADY KNOWING HOW IT WORKS.
And we're giving them years to practise before the consequences become serious.
Don't lose the thought
Interested? Start with three fields.
We'll come back to you within two working days with cohort dates and locations.
The advantage we want every child to have
They may compete for jobs that do not yet exist.
Some will work alongside AI. Some will build businesses with it. Some may manage fleets of AI agents. Others will create entirely new industries with technology we have not invented yet.
We cannot predict exactly what that world will look like. But we can prepare children for it.
- Teach them to think.
- Teach them to build.
- Teach them to question.
- Teach them to adapt.
Then give them access to the best tools available. That is our approach to AI education.
Future-ready means ready for change
WE DO NOT WANT CHILDREN WHO KNOW TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY. WE WANT CHILDREN CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO LEARN TOMORROW'S.
Tycoon Academy. Preparing children to think, build and compete in an AI-driven world.
Discover Tycoon Academy