
Empowering Founders With AI: My Summer at the Visionaries Incubator
Last summer, I had the opportunity to work on the Visionaries Incubator, a programme created by Female Foundry in partnership with Google Cloud. The incubator was designed to help founders use AI to supercharge their businesses over an intense eight weeks. Through mentorship, workshops, and hands-on implementation, it became a fast-paced, eye-opening experience for everyone involved, myself included.

The beginning: community and shared learning
The programme kicked off with a week focused on connection. Founders got to know each other and learned how other startups at similar stages were managing their challenges and navigating new opportunities. This first week laid the foundation, building trust and affinity among the group.
Each week, hands-on workshops with industry specialists and Google Customer Engineers were held on topics such as creating scalable data strategies, using AI effectively, best practices for managing AI-powered products, and scaling quickly while remaining lean and efficient.
At the same time, founders worked with Searce, a Google Cloud partner, to build an AI-driven component of their product using Google Cloud Platform. This wasn’t just about theory—it was about taking action.
Demo day: a Showcase of progress
The programme concluded with a Demo Day at Google’s London office. Founders presented their progress to investors, partners, and customers, showcasing how they had applied AI to solve real problems.
Seeing their growth over just eight weeks was incredible, and the energy in the room was electric.
Lessons learned: building something from nothing
Running this programme was as much a learning experience for our team as it was for the founders. Only three of us managed the entire incubator, which meant we had to do everything: create workshops, gather feedback, build partnerships, and handle business development.
People assumed we had a much bigger team, but the truth is that we simply worked fast, stayed focused, and figured things out as we went along. It was a crash course in adaptability and resourcefulness.

The power of Google Cloud
One of the highlights of the incubator was seeing how Google Cloud empowered these startups.
Its tools enabled founders to test new product ideas quickly and cost-effectively while leveraging the incredible network of industry experts within the Google Cloud for Startups programme. Founders walked away with better products and a deeper understanding of how to keep innovating.
Thinking like an investor
Another unexpected part of the experience was learning how to evaluate startups like an investor. Early-stage companies don’t always have extensive data, so we had to focus on the founders themselves. Were they driven? Adaptable? Open to feedback? These soft skills were some of the most reliable indicators of potential success.
I also learned that for VCs, it’s not just about offering funding—it’s about demonstrating the value you can add. Mentorship, introductions, and strategic advice are just as important as a cheque.

Takeaways: resilience, strategy, and collaboration
Looking back, there are a few key lessons I’ll carry with me:
- Resilience is everything. The founders who succeeded were those who stayed flexible, learned quickly, and kept moving forward no matter what.
AI needs strategy. It’s not a magic solution. You need to understand the problem you’re solving and apply AI in a targeted way.- Collaboration fuels success. The relationships built during this programme between founders, mentors, and partners were a significant part of its success.
This internship experience was supported by the INSEAD Hoffmann Institute Impact Internship Stipend and gifts from alumni.