Balsam COE

The operating home for Balsam's AI Center of Excellence.

This repo is where the COE lives in the open. Founding documents, cohort work, starter kits, and the record of decisions as we go.

Start here

• Founding brief — the strategy document for the founding period
• Tenets — the non-negotiables
• How cohorts work — the methodology
• FAQ — answers to the questions people keep asking

Where work happens

• Cohorts — each cohort gets its own package
  • 01 — Product Data (launching May 2026)
  • TEMPLATE — starter kit for new cohorts
• Decisions — why we made the calls we made
• Intake — how to bring an idea to the COE

Who this is for

• Balsam leaders and sponsors: see what's being built, track cohort progress, make priority calls.
• Cohort members: find your cohort package, starter kits, and the record of work.
• Everyone else at Balsam: read what's happening, submit an idea, see what's been built.

How to contribute

See CONTRIBUTING. Short version: propose changes as pull requests. Comments are fine; contributions are better.

Contacts

• Sponsors: Claire Chun (Balsam), France Roy (Balsam)
• COE operating team: Mike Joyce, Alex Finnemore (Goose Group)
• Questions: open an issue or ping the sponsors