Building Colorado’s AI-Native Workforce: How ActivateWork and Per Scholas Are Accelerating the Future of Tech Talent

As Artificial Intelligence rapidly reshapes every industry, ActivateWork is leading the way in preparing Colorado’s workforce for this new era.

In partnership with Per Scholas, starting in January 2026, ActivateWork is training and graduating AI-native technologists who are not only equipped to participate in the AI economy but also to energize and accelerate the AI teams they join. Together, the organizations are building a future-ready talent engine that is equitable, innovative, and responsive to employer demand.

Building AI-Native Learners

ActivateWork and Per Scholas are integrating AI fluency into every aspect of their technical training programs, ensuring that every graduate enters the workforce ready to contribute on day one. Comprehensive AI training will be embedded across all immersive, full-time courses—including IT Support, Cybersecurity, Software Engineering, and Cloud and Data roles.

Every learner begins with foundational AI literacy: an introduction to artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and the responsible and ethical use of AI. From there, learners apply these concepts directly to their field of study:

In Cybersecurity, learners experiment with AI-enabled SOC tools and incident-response automation.
In Software Engineering, students use AI-powered code generation and debugging to improve quality and efficiency.
In data-center roles—one of Colorado’s fastest-growing fields due to generative AI infrastructure needs—students learn how AI supports predictive maintenance and intelligent monitoring.

To help learners and alumni stay competitive as roles evolve, ActivateWork and Per Scholas have launched specialized AI offerings, including Prompt Engineering and Azure AI Fundamentals. These courses deepen AI capability and prepare graduates for the emerging wave of AI-enabled job roles.

AI-Powered Learner and Career Support

AI is also transforming how ActivateWork and Per Scholas support their learners from enrollment through job placement. New AI-powered tools are enhancing the learner experience, improving outcomes, and accelerating time to employment:

In early 2026, Per Scholas is releasing Azari AI to all its campuses (including ActivateWork, Per Scholas’s only independent education provider, based in Denver). Azari AI is an intelligent tutoring and feedback platform, providing personalized academic support, helping learners reinforce key concepts, and track their progress.
ResumeBoost (powered by Agentforce) enables learners to generate customized, ATS-friendly resumes in seconds, with a 93% user-satisfaction rate.
Coming next: an AI Course Recommender to help applicants choose the right pathway.

Gaining Greater Traction with AI-Powered Job Machine

At the same time, ActivateWork has been piloting an AI job matching solution called Job Machine, an AI-powered tool that automates the time-consuming aspects of finding employment, including resume optimization, interview scheduling, and application submission across a variety of career sites.

Learners showed exceptionally high engagement, and the collaboration directly drove major platform enhancements—most notably the redesigned candidate dashboard now used nationwide. The pilot demonstrated that combining AI-powered automation with high-touch human support can dramatically increase job-search activity and improve employment outcomes for underserved learners, leading to over 19,000 applications, 341 interviews, 35 job offers, and 13 confirmed hires.

According to Talent Solutions Account Manager Anna Page:

“The most powerful part of the Job Machine pilot was not just the speed or the scale of the platform. It was the confidence it gave our graduates. For many of them, job searching can be overwhelming, especially without a strong network or experience in resume writing. Job Machine changed that. It provided them with tailored tools, personalized support, and, most importantly, traction. They could see momentum. They were getting interviews. They were being seen. That kind of early progress fuels hope, and hope changes everything.”

“They could see momentum. They were getting interviews. They were being seen. That kind of early progress fuels hope, and hope changes everything.”

Through this pilot, we learned that consistent application volume, personalized interview preparation, and rapid, responsive support are essential to overcoming structural job-search barriers.

Moving forward, ActivateWork will integrate these insights to scale job-placement success, refine learner support models, and continue co-developing tools that remove friction and accelerate economic mobility.