Foundations
IB 101, accounting, and valuation: the bedrock everything stands on. Free, modular, stackable. Study one concept the night before a case, or work the whole track end to end.
Forge · Learning
Learn the finance. Wield the AI. Build the proof.
The Forge is where you turn raw analytical talent into a model you can show. Free, modular, stackable: fundamentals first, AI leverage on top, a finished artifact every time.
Why it matters
The path into the desk changed. Almost nobody teaches the new one.
Up to about 73 percent of the foundational hours a junior used to spend on data cleaning and standardized templates can now be automated, so the entry-level grind that used to teach you the craft is disappearing. Learn finance the old way and you arrive a step behind. Skip the fundamentals and lean on the tools, and you collapse the moment a model breaks and you cannot tell why.
You study accounting and valuation until the mechanics are second nature, then drive the AI across the same problems and learn exactly where it helps and where it lies. The best frontier model still scored only about 64 percent on a finance-agent benchmark, so the trained operator is the asset, not the tool.
Source: Knowledge / AI Capability Assessment 2026
/Artifacts, not attendance.
Every track ends in something you built: a full LBO, a comps set, an agent workflow you can open and defend in an interview.
/Fundamentals AI cannot shortcut.
You build cell by cell and drive the AI, so you catch the errors it makes under pressure, the exact skill seniors now hire for.
/Learn where you are actually weak.
Mind-maps, flashcards with intuition over rote definitions, and weakness-tracking per rubric point you straight at the gap. No busywork.
/A path, not a pile of videos.
Module, Lesson, Exercise, Project, Assessment. You always know the next move, and value lands every week.
What's inside
Sequenced deliberately, because order is the whole argument.
Modeling Sprints
Three-week guided builds in LBO, M&A, and DCF. Construct the model by hand first, then accelerate it with AI, and leave with the file on your drive.
AI Toolkit
Claude and Perplexity for research, Excel and Python automation, and agent workflows for repeatable desk tasks, each taught with the guardrails to catch what the tools get wrong.
Certifications
The AI-Augmented Analyst credential is portfolio-backed: it proves you can build to a rubric, not just recall. Platform-issued, no external accreditation claim.
Proof and credibility
The job itself is shifting from cell-by-cell construction to the review and challenge of AI output, and the Forge sequences fundamentals before AI leverage in exactly that order. The curriculum stays current: AI-infrastructure and power financing, private credit versus banks, GP-led secondaries and continuation vehicles, and carve-outs are wired into the material, so what you study reflects 2026 deal flow.
Source: Knowledge / AI Capability Assessment 2026 · Emerging IB Topics
Straight answers
Before you ask.
Is the curriculum actually free?
Yes. Foundations and the modular student tracks are free for students. Professionals pay a subscription that funds the platform, so students do not have to.
Will I just learn to prompt, not to model?
No. You build the model yourself first, and the AI layer comes second, strictly as a multiplier on understanding you already own.
How is this different from a YouTube playlist?
Playlists you watch. The Forge you do: exercises, a graded project, and a tracked weakness profile that surfaces gaps early. Value lands weekly.
Do certifications mean anything?
They are AlphaForge-issued and portfolio-backed: they prove you built specific artifacts to a defined rubric. We never claim external accreditation we do not have.
