From Idea to Prototype: Build Smarter and Faster with AI

The AI Playground Workshop Series gives Saint Mary’s University students opportunities to explore artificial intelligence through free, hands-on sessions led by industry professionals and AI experts.
Students will learn how to use emerging AI tools, build practical projects, strengthen their digital skills, and explore how AI can support their studies, careers, and entrepreneurial ideas. No previous AI experience is required for most workshops.

Session Description:

Discover how today’s AI tools can help you move from an idea to a working prototype faster than you might expect. In this hands-on workshop, Robyn will guide students through using AI to explore a problem, validate a concept, shape a product, and develop an early prototype while working with limited time and resources.

Students will leave with practical techniques they can use immediately and a clearer understanding of how AI can support them as a creative partner during the earliest and most challenging stages of building a business.

Speaker Bio:

Robyn Stewart is a Business Solutions Executive at NTT DATA Canada, where she helps organizations across Atlantic Canada use AI and emerging technologies to build smarter, leaner, and more competitive businesses. Based in Canning, Nova Scotia, she has worked at the forefront of applied AI, including founding and scaling an AI innovation lab from a single idea into a commercial practice. 

Her experience has shown her that the difference between a promising concept and a successful business is not necessarily the flashiest tool, but the ability to move quickly, test ideas affordably, and turn them into something valuable. Robyn’s career spans enterprise consulting at Accenture, technology and innovation leadership at CGI, and international humanitarian work in Afghanistan, Syria, and Ghana. This gives her a unique perspective on building and leading under pressure with limited resources—an experience shared by many early-stage entrepreneurs.