Scale Smarter. Lead Braver.
Thrive in the Age of AI.
South Africa’s national business scale-up initiative – launched by FNB in collaboration with Art of Scale. In 2027, founders and c-suite executives build the AI systems their businesses need to scale beyond them: one Build Lab at a time, in the room or online.
Build Lab 1 · 11 November 2026
Johannesburg or online. Build your own apps with Lovable and Claude Code, and leave with one app live.
Why Now?
Scaling changes the rules. AI changes the game.
Once a business hits around 20 people, the model where the founder and C-suite executive is the system buckles. What worked in the startup stage stops working – the company now needs a scalable operating system, distributed leadership, and a stronger economic model. Many businesses stall or fail at this point.
AI raises the stakes, and it opens a door. For the first time, a founder or C-suite executive can build in a day what used to need a team. That is what Founders at Work is for in 2027: helping founders and c-suite executives unlock leverage inside their business with the power of AI.
“Founders at Work makes sure you’re not just keeping up – you’re scaling stronger, faster, and smarter.”
Scaling SMEs isn’t just about your business -it’s about South Africa’s future.
Scale-ups are the engine of job creation and inclusive growth.
By helping founders and c-suite executives break through the scaling barrier, Founders at Work supports stronger businesses, more jobs, and a more resilient economy.
Through high-impact engagements, expert guidance, and peer learning,
we give you:
• Proven scaling frameworks (leadership, teams, systems, capital, growth)
• Practical ways to integrate AI where it matters most
• A trusted network of founders and c-suite executives facing the same challenges
Who is this for?
Founders and C-suite executives and decision-makers of growing SMEs
Leaders who feel the weight of growth stretched teams, complex systems, and the pressure to adapt fast in the AI era
Scaling-stage businesses
typically 10–200 staff,
R8m–R150m+ turnover
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
Free with the qualifying business profile
The Founders At Work Promise
We combine time-tested scaling methods with the tools you need to lead in the AI era.
This is not an AI course.
In 2027 it runs as eight Build Labs. In each one you build a working AI system on your own business, in the room or online, and leave with it running, a Lab Kit to take it further, and Build Clinics to keep the build moving.
What you get
Build
- A Build Lab, in the room or online: the same build, the same day
- A short masterclass, then you build. We provide hands-on support in the room, and your AI Build Assistant works alongside you
- A working AI system on your business before you leave
Connect
- A WhatsApp community – your support network in your pocket
- Daily discussion with fellow founders and c-suite executives, and an AI bot for the questions between builds, without logins or extra apps
Keep building
- At each Lab, you’ll get an AI Build Assistant that stays with you to continue building
- Build Clinics after each Lab take the build further and answer what comes up
- Each Lab builds on the last: build something real, make it safe, align the company behind it, put it on the P&L, then systemise
Proof & Credibility
Built on a Proven Foundation Founders at Work may be new, but it stands on decades of real impact:
Collaboration
Edge growth and FNB have collaborated to fund and assist scale ups for over 15 years,
The Book
The best-selling book, The Art of Scale, is a comprehensive guide that demystifies the obstacles to scale, the path to scale, the science of scale, and the art of scale,
Scaling With AI
Art of Scale provides founders and business leaders with proven frameworks, diagnostics, tools, and coaching to scale using AI.
1,039
Masterclass Registrations
80
+
NPS Score From Surveyed Attendees
545
+
Community Members
Hear it from our founders and c-suite executives.
Proof In Action
Backed by South Africa’s Leaders
For more than 15 years, FNB has been at the forefront of SME development in South Africa — funding, mentoring, and equipping entrepreneurs to grow.
Together, these programs have already helped scale hundreds of SMEs and created thousands of jobs — proof that investing in scale-ups transforms communities and the economy. These initiatives have laid the foundation for the Founders at Work initiative.
This track record also positions FNB and Art of Scale to take these lessons beyond South Africa, as part of Africa’s scale-up story.
Art of Scale is the implementation engine behind Founders at Work.
Built on the top-selling book The Art of Scale, AoS provides the frameworks, diagnostics, and tools that help founders and c-suite executives put what they learn into practice.