A first US OutSystems university partnership
A first-of-its-kind US partnership with Grand Valley State University that trains people to build and govern enterprise applications on OutSystems, and prepares them for Associate Developer certification.
Context
Enterprise teams keep hitting the same wall. A platform like OutSystems can move an application from idea to production quickly, but only when the people using it understand security, integration, governance, and the lifecycle controls that production demands. That kind of talent is scarce, and most training does not teach the production discipline behind it.
The usual paths do not close the gap. A computer-science degree is long and code-first. A bootcamp teaches syntax, not enterprise delivery. Employers need people who can build on a governed platform and be trusted inside a regulated environment on day one.
My role
I launched the partnership and shaped what it teaches.
Working with Grand Valley State University's Center for Adult and Continuing Studies, I helped stand up a first-of-its-kind US partnership to train people on OutSystems and AI-assisted delivery. I designed the curriculum around the parts that decide whether AI and low-code survive production: risk gates, model policies, decision rights, and accountability for AI agents, alongside the platform skills a learner needs to pass the OutSystems Associate Developer exam.
The program
A university continuing-education program delivered with ITRAC, blending academic structure with industry training and enablement. Over ten weeks, learners build a real, responsive application and prepare for OutSystems Associate Developer certification.
Beyond how to build, the program teaches the operating disciplines production requires: role-based security and authentication, integration, application-lifecycle governance, and how AI-assisted development changes delivery speed without giving up control.
The model connects learners to employers through ITRAC's staffing and enablement work, turning a course into a path toward job-ready enterprise low-code talent rather than a certificate that ends at graduation.
I launched the partnership and designed the curriculum, but it did not happen alone. Edgar Ramos and Feroz Khan made it real on the ITRAC side, and Adam Downs championed it at Grand Valley State University. The learners did the work.
What it changed in my thinking
Production readiness is a people problem before it is a platform problem.
A governed platform does not create governed delivery on its own. Someone has to understand why the controls exist and how to work inside them. That is a training problem as much as a technology problem, and it is usually left to chance.
Building the pipeline is the same work as building the systems. The discipline that moves a pilot to production, clear ownership, security, and accountability for what an AI agent is allowed to do, is exactly what a program has to teach if its graduates are going to be trusted in an enterprise.
Have a similar operating constraint?
Describe the stage, the system, and what is not moving. I will review the message directly.