Class 0: Why This Course Exists

From Zero to AI Agents

Why This Course Exists

The AI Landscape Right Now

There is massive uncertainty in AI right now.

• New tools launch every week
• Models leapfrog each other every month
• The tool you mastered last quarter might be obsolete next quarter

So what should you actually learn?

Four Levels of AI Fluency

Level 1 Is Not Enough

• Level 1: You can code, you can prompt, you use Copilot and ChatGPT
• There are millions of people here already
• Knowing how to use the latest tool is not a differentiator
• The tool you mastered last month might not exist next year

Warning

Tool fluency alone will not make you stand out.

Level 4 Is Not Required

Note

You do not need a PhD in AI. You do not need to build an LLM from scratch. That is Level 4 — a very different career path.

Most people in the industry don’t operate at Level 4. And most never need to.

The Goal: Level 2

Important

This course gives you fluency at Level 2 — a conceptual understanding of how AI actually works, so you can reason about it, evaluate it, and build with it, regardless of which tools survive.

Understand AI as a concept — not just manage the latest tool.

The Roles Are Merging

Before AI: Product → Design → Engineering was a waterfall. Three separate jobs, three separate teams.

With AI: the boundaries are dissolving. One person can now do what used to take a full team.

Source: Anthropic — Product Management on the AI Exponential

About Your Instructor

Pepe Alonso

• Bachelor’s in Computer Science
• Master’s in Artificial Intelligence
• 10 years in the software industry in product and engineering roles
• Published a paper on AI agents for reliable multi-agent code generation

“I’m no leading expert, but I know something about AI and how to teach it.”

How This Course Works

It’s Technical, But Not Complicated

• This is a technical course
• But the knowledge isn’t super complicated
• I honestly believe you can grasp everything I know in four classes

“Being a software developer is just being a glorified Google searcher.”

And I mean that. The barrier to understanding this material is much lower than you think.

You Can Do This

Tip

You have all passed the GMAT. You have all come a long way to Berkeley. You have worked in very tough industries.

You are all more than clever enough to understand all of this.

I don’t expect you to memorize every concept. The goal is to eradicate unknown unknowns.

Unknown unknowns are dangerous — you can’t ask about what you don’t know exists. After this course, things will ring a bell. You’ll recognize concepts, know the right questions to ask, and know exactly where to go deeper when you need to.

These Slides Are Public

Important

All slides from this course are public and always available. You can revisit any concept at any time.

“It’s better to know what you don’t know and be able to go back to it — than to not know what you don’t know.”

Build a map of what exists. You can always go deeper later.

Let’s Begin

Note

Next up: Class 1 — Introduction to Software

What is code, how does the web work, and how do you ship software to real users.

Four classes. Zero to AI agents. Let’s go.

Next: Class 1 — Introduction to Software →