Non Linear: Creative AI is an employer-connected training and innovation programme delivered by A New Direction (AND) in partnership with the UAL Creative Computing Institute (CCI).
Designed for Londoners aged 18-24, the programme combines creative computing, AI literacy and industry briefs to help participants develop practical skills in applying AI across creative and business environments. Over 18 months, 120 learners will participate in a series of intensive studio-based courses delivered at Level 6/7 (as mapped again Alan Turing Institute’s Competency Framework). Through employer challenges, participants explore how AI can support creative content production, product development, research, analysis and operational workflows.
Creative Practice First
AI can generate outputs, but creativity comes from people.
Participants develop the habits of mind that underpin great creative work: curiosity, storytelling, communication, collaboration, critical thinking and the ability to navigate complexity. Through live projects, they learn how human creativity and judgement can be amplified, rather than replaced, by AI.
Responsible AI in Practice
Participants learn how to use AI safely and responsibly through everyday studio practice, including:
- AI risk registers
- Model evaluation
- Data governance
- Documentation and explainability
- Ethical decision-making
Responsible AI is not taught as a standalone topic but embedded throughout the programme as a daily habit of professional practice.
Employer-Led Innovation
Every project begins with a real-world challenge.
Working with employer partners, participants respond to briefs that explore business opportunities, creative production and operational challenges. Employers gain fresh perspectives, practical prototypes and documented workflows that can be tested and adapted within their organisations.
Delivered in Two Formats
8 Week Studio Programme
An intensive multidisciplinary studio where participants work in teams on employer briefs, producing prototypes, creative assets and documented AI-enabled workflows.
1 Week Creative Computing Sprint
Short-format courses introducing participants to creative computing foundations, AI tools and responsible approaches to AI adoption.
Across both formats, the focus remains the same: practical skills, creative experimentation and industry engagement.
Partner With Us: An Innovation Partnership
Non Linear: Creative AI offers employers an opportunity to explore how AI can create value within their organisation while helping shape the next generation of creative and digital talent. Our partnership between A New Direction and the UAL Creative Computing Institute brings together expertise in creative careers, employer engagement, emerging technologies and design-led innovation.
Employers work with participants on briefs while gaining insight into emerging AI practices, workflows and applications that may be relevant to their own business.
Whether just starting your AI journey or already experimenting with AI adoption, the programme provides a structured space to test ideas, explore opportunities and learn alongside a new generation of digitally fluent talent.
Ways to partner with us
Employers and partners play crucial role in ensuring that we design and deliver learning experiences that meet need. We are aware of the fast-changing nature of AI, with new tools being implemented weekly and see this programme as an opportunity to in and amongst the great transformation that is taking place to provide foundational skills and mindsets that are useful and relevant to an emergent workforce.
The following outlines how we want to work with industry partners. If you are interested in partnering please fill in this form which asks some top-level questions so we can best follow up.
Provide a Creative Brief
Set a challenge, question or opportunity for participants to work on.
Examples might include:
- Creative content production
- Audience insight and research
- Workflow automation
- Knowledge management
- Agent creation
- Product concepts
- Service design challenges
- Creative campaign development
Become a Mentor
Support young people through industry mentoring while reflecting on your own organisation's use of AI and emerging technologies. Mentors receive guidance and support from the programme team.
Sponsor Innovation Challenges
Partner with us to develop focused hackathons, challenge-led events or exploratory AI projects linked to your organisational priorities.
Upskill Early Career Staff
The programme can provide insight for employers considering how best to support AI capability development amongst junior staff and early-career talent.
What Employers Gain?
By partnering with Non Linear: Creative AI, employers can:
- Explore practical applications of AI within their organisation.
- Test ideas through low-risk prototypes and proof-of-concept projects.
- Access emerging talent with experience of real-world AI workflows.
- Receive documented and reproducible approaches to AI implementation.
- Build staff capability through mentoring and engagement opportunities.
- Connect with expertise from both UAL Creative Computing Institute and A New Direction.
- Contribute to the development of a more inclusive and representative AI workforce.
Should you as an employer be interested in any of the above, please reach out but submitting/filling in this expression of interest form which asks about where AI sits within your organisation, where need and gaps are, and crucially where clever next gen talent can help in form of paid work to help workflows and creative AI innovation make sense for your org.
Timelines
The programme will be run into phase, initially in Spring and latterly in Autumn 2027. We will have rolling calls for employers to participate, whilst holding an initial deadline for employer briefs on 31 January 2027 which will allow for final mapping to course delivery.
