about newforum
Built by practitioners, for practitioners.
NewForum exists because the AI training market is broken in two directions. Generic online courses teach you the tool but not the work. Academic programs teach the theory but not the practice. We built NewForum to sit in the middle — function-specific, practitioner-led, applied to the work you actually do.
origin
Why this institute exists.
There's a gap in the AI education market that no one is closing. On one side, generic platforms like LinkedIn Learning teach AI as if it were a software feature — divorced from any specific job. On the other, academic programs from places like Stanford Online treat AI as a research subject — divorced from the day-to-day decisions practitioners actually make.
What sits in the middle is what working professionals actually need: function-specific instruction, taught by people who use AI in their own work, applied directly to the workflows the practitioner is responsible for. Not generic. Not academic. Practical.
NewForum was founded by Alex Aldrich and Phil Spangler to build that middle. Both have spent careers leading functional teams through AI-enabled transformations — and both spent years wishing NewForum had existed when they needed it.
founders
The people behind NewForum.
Alex Aldrich
co-founder
Fifteen years leading marketing and commercial teams at major consumer brands and education platforms, including three enterprise AI rollouts. Now focused on building NewForum's marketing and executive curriculum.
LinkedIn →
Phil Spangler
co-founder
Career spans operations, finance transformation, and executive education. Most recently led the AI-enabled re-engineering of planning and procurement at a global industrials company.
LinkedIn →
convictions
What we believe.
Practitioners teach practitioners.
The only credible AI teachers are people doing the work. Theory without application is academic; application without theory is hacking. NewForum requires both, embodied in one person.
Function-specific or it's nothing.
Generic AI training produces generic results. Marketing teams need marketing AI; finance teams need finance AI. The verticals matter more than the tools.
Outputs over hours.
A program is judged by what your team can do differently Monday morning, not by how many hours of content was delivered.
by the numbers
Where NewForum stands today.
6
functions covered.
100+
programs in the catalog.
6
weeks per cohort.
100%
live, cohort-based.
Want to see how NewForum fits your organization?
Browse our programs, or talk to us about a custom engagement.