Exciting Updates: First Ever Chief AI Officer & Our New CEO

Will’s Reflections On The Last Decade Of Codesmith

‍

“In the past ten years leading Codesmith, I’ve watched 5000 people graduate, with an uplift in salary of over a billion dollars in their first ten years, all within an extraordinary community of alumni, team, and instructors,” Will says of his time as CEO.

“There's no way to describe my gratitude to every member of the team, who never stopped doing exceptional work. It's my greatest pride. For every person who's been a part of Codesmith, student or team member, it’s had a transformative effect. Codesmith is really about people building the faculties and confidence to overcome blocks, and having that ability for the rest of their careers. To have 5000 people out there doing that now in technology is really special.”

Looking Ahead To Driving Codesmith Forward In The AI Era

‍

Speaking of taking on the role of Chief AI Officer, Will highlighted how Codesmith and its grad’s success over the last decade was built on a strong curriculum. Now the rise of AI necessitates its own equally innovative curriculum.

‍

“Codesmith has one of the best SWE programs because of the quality of the curriculum. But much of that was for the internet era. We're entering a new step change in tech that requires new learning. So, I’m now excited to be building that curriculum for AI and to teach it,” he explains.

‍

The fast moving nature of AI and innovation brings with it challenges distinct from those faced when building out Codesmith’s original curriculum, but with those challenges come opportunities to tackle wider problems faced today with fascinating new tools.

‍

“The biggest challenge here is how fast these AI tools change and how to get to the core underlying principles of AI, and then to introduce those concepts the same way as for JavaScript The Hard Parts, for example,” Will says of the work ahead.

‍

“I love introducing topics as answers to constraints we face: How do we keep our data and our functionality together? What are the deeper challenges of being a software engineer when dealing with the complexity of problems that we could solve with AI? How do we deal with uncertainty in AI?”

‍

As Will builds out Codesmith’s AI engineering first principles for the future, Alina Vasile, previously Director of Growth & Product will take the reins as CEO of the organization.

‍

Alina’s Transition to CEO

‍

Alina’s transition to CEO follows her fantastic work in building and launching the AITL program in January this year, already the fastest growing program in Codesmith’s history.

‍

"After joining Codesmith I saw the quality of instruction, the impressive community of alumni and prospective residents, and the potential for the organization to lead in the age of AI by giving the next generation of tech leaders the capacities for building and leading with AI,” Alina said.

‍

“In our first cohort of AITL, alums confirmed the need for new programs like this as their companies appetite for AI leaders within their teams is at an all time high.”

‍

Stories from AITL alums like John Maltese, Director of Engineering at Risepoint, who is now in the C-level boardrooms driving Risepoint’s AI strategy illustrate how her initiatives are already impacting the Codesmith community and driving the organization into the age of AI.

‍

Before joining Codesmith Alina spent a decade building transformational products in tech and education—from impact first edtech learning platforms to strategic initiatives that center community and scale outcomes.

‍

Alina drove the design, build and launch of Gemba, a social VR learning platform valued at $60m, putting together the tech team and leading the designers, engineers and QAs.

‍

“She's a brilliant, collaborative, facilitative leader who cares fundamentally about the integrity of the organization, as one that prioritizes people's empowerment,” Will says of his successor.

‍

Alina is already well known among the team for her candid and human-centered leadership style, and as CEO will excel in bringing focus to collaboration and ownership.

‍

Will added that her leadership will benefit Codesmith “given she’s a phenomenal communicator on the organization's values, strategies, and goals.”

‍

What the Codesmith community can expect to see from Alina

‍

Alina has been embedded in the tech world in augmented virtual reality and AI for the last ten years and so brings a history of leadership tailored to the era of technology that lies ahead.

‍

She has worked at the intersection of tech and education, including an academic foundation from LSE, and leading product strategy across global teams, leaving her perfectly placed to drive forward Codesmith’s strategic AI product innovation, deeper alumni engagement, and global community scaling.

‍

“We're entering a period where technology suffuses every aspect of the physical and societal realm. And Alina comes from that intersection,” Will says. “So she will help us expand alumni access to programs like AITL, but also to expand program offerings to new fields like AR.”

‍

As somebody who has taught countless hours of product, AI and agile development classes in addition to her leadership experience, Alina will continue to uphold Codesmith’s ethos of prioritizing teaching and a first-class experience for everyone in our community..

‍

“This next chapter for Codesmith is about building more just brilliant engineers, but adaptable, thoughtful leaders who can shape the future of technology with integrity and vision. I’m here to lead with clarity, listen with care, and scale with our community at the center of every decision,” declared Alina.

‍

The Codesmith team looks forward to this new chapter — with Will driving an innovative AI curriculum as Chief AI Officer and Alina bringing her vision and leadership to guide the organization’s growth as CEO. Together, they will continue advancing Codesmith’s mission of empowering the next generation of software and AI engineers.

‍