About Aimee

My Story

In December 2024, somewhere between tasting rooms in Napa Valley, my husband and I started listening to AI podcasts. OpenAI had just kicked off a rapid release streak, and we tuned in on day one. For the rest of the trip, I found myself waiting for each announcement like a kid counting down to something big.

Back home, I read Ethan Mollick's Co-Intelligence in two days and had what he calls the "three sleepless nights." I made a decision: if I want to thrive in the world that's coming, I need to become genuinely fluent in AI. Not just aware of it.

Going All-In

I didn't dabble. I committed. I now spend six to eight hours a week on AI podcasts, including Everyday AI, The Artificial Intelligence Show, and Dwarkesh Patel. I've been enrolled in SmarterX's AI Mastery Academy for a full year. I watch Andrej Karpathy's deep-dive videos on how language models actually work. I read papers from the major labs whenever I find them.

But I didn't stay in learning mode. I started building: custom GPTs, data visualizations, forecasting tools, and internal knowledge systems. I taught workshops, tested our campus AI platform before launch, and helped teams prototype real use cases. I've presented at conferences and university events, and I continue to look for ways to share what I've learned.

My Background

I'm not a computer scientist. I'm a research administrator with 21 years at Colorado State University, most of them in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. I've contributed to 35+ NIH training grant proposals, with 17 funded. I currently direct the Training Grant Support Office and oversee programs supporting 60+ trainees each year.

That background is exactly why I see AI differently than a tech evangelist might. I know which tasks eat your time. I know which shortcuts actually hold up under audit. I understand the skepticism, because I work alongside people who have it.

Why I Built This Site

A year ago, I was figuring this out from scratch. There was no roadmap and no one in my professional circle to ask. I built aimeeoke.ai to be the resource I wished I'd had: open-access frameworks, honest guidance, and practical starting points for research administrators who are ready to get started.

You don't need to go as deep as I did. But you do need someone who has, and who can show you the shortcuts.