“We shape our tools and
then our tools shape us.”
What is it
Pre-Alpha is a private club for anyone (mainly non-programmers) who use AI to build their own tools, reshape their practice, or question what all of it changes.
Pre-alpha is the moment before something has a name, a roadmap, or an audience. It is the raw phase when an idea might take shape and momentum. We borrowed the term because it describes exactly where we focus our observations, thinking and work. Members of the club share that posture more than a profession. They notice friction before others do. They experiment before there is a roadmap. They articulate what they see happening before there is a consensus.
Together, we think out loud, share early ideas and ill-formed questions, and build knowledge through making, reflection and feedback.
Membership
Membership gives you a place to share concerns, encounter peers, different models of thinking and the opportunity to turn questions and ideas into tools, arguments, and positions. What you develop here serves your own practice and the larger conversations around you.
What you produce is yours: notes, sketches, essays, tools, talks, prototypes. The club is what motivates you to create them.Membership is by invitation with a limit of 50 members.
Membership includes
Weekly Tertulias
Weekly video calls to get inspired, exchange ideas, and get feedback from members across disciplines and geographies.
Monthly Mesa
A monthly two-hour online round table about a specific topic with invited guests that we edit into a 30 minutes recorded summary for the public.
Unexpected Collisions
Spontaneous one-on-one or small group sessions, matched by us, around a specific challenge or question that connect members between each others. The format finds its shape from the need.
Members may propose and facilitate tertulias and mesas, turning their expertise into shared knowledge.
Who Is It For
Pre-Alpha is a small, deliberate gathering of perpetual learners who welcome and respect a format of intimacy and trustworthiness. Our mood is closer to a dinner table than a conference. You will find people driven by constant curiosity about others and the world around them.
We welcome members from diverse domains including technology, design, art, culture, entrepreneurship, science and politics who take AI seriously as a tool, a question, or both. This diversity enriches our community and creates unexpected connections between ways of thinking. We favor individuals who are avid listeners and generous contributors, whether they approach AI as creatives, pragmatists or skeptics.
Join
We are opening Pre-Alpha with a founding tier of 30 memberships. Founders are the people who show up before something has proven itself, help shape what it becomes, and carry the added significance of having been there first.
600€ / year
Come ready to think, make, and question. We will meet you there.
Membership is by application. We review each one personally.
Who We Are
We are Lisa Gansky, Fabien Girardin and Patrick Pittman. We are driven by curiosity and by the intent to shape our future rather than conform to styles imposed by others.
Pre-Alpha Club is made possible in part by armasuisse's Science and Technology Foresight program, our founding partner. Their support enables the first year of activities. Their presence here reflects something we believe: the most important questions about tools, practice, AI and the future are not confined to any one domain.