At the Heartland Summit in May of this year, Heartland Forward announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with the ed-tech leader, Stemuli, to develop an AI-powered learning platform to help rural students and entrepreneurs learn the AI skills needed to succeed in tomorrow’s economy.

Stemuli, a Dallas-based ed-tech company, has a novel take on effective learning delivery: video games. While gaming is popular among U.S. adults with 60% playing video games every week, the medium is particularly popular among teens, with 85% reporting they play video games, and four-in-ten playing games every day. Interestingly, of the teens surveyed, over half said video games have helped develop their problem-solving skills. 

As such, Stemuli saw gaming as a new opportunity to meet learners where they are. Founded in 2016 on the belief that every learner deserves an education as engaging as the games they play, the company is pioneering the world’s first AI-native learning platform, where a personalized AI companion guides each student through interactive quests to maximize skill building and learning retention. 

While the company has delivered platforms for math skills, professional readiness and other initiatives, the partnership with Heartland Forward aims to take on the issue of our time: artificial intelligence—which is projected to reshape the workforce, automating 30% of tasks across most jobs by 2030.  

Given the critical nature of AI literacy as a component of career readiness and professional development—and given that only 10% of heartland K-12 students said their teachers have helped prepare them to use AI in future jobs or education—the partnership between Heartland Forward and Stemuli aims to prepare rural students and entrepreneurs across the heartland through personalized AI education that blends the engagement of gaming with the utility of a career coach. 

The immersive curriculum embeds six core areas of AI literacy directly into the gameplay loop: large language models, machine learning, prompting, AI in the workplace, AI in finance and a career-aligned specialization. Students identify, apply and reflect on these concepts as they make entrepreneurial decisions, test AI tools and respond to real-world challenges. By experiencing AI in action, students build awareness, practice application and analyze AI’s limits and impacts—all within the flow of play.

To create a truly effective and regionally relevant program, Heartland Forward is piloting the program with several rural schools in Arkansas, with select students from those schools contributing to the development of the game through a paid internship. These participating students test game prototypes and provide feedback to Heartland Forward and Stemuli leadership and developers, helping ensure the program is as effective and engaging as possible before its formal rollout in January 2026. 

“At Stemuli, we want to involve the leaders of tomorrow into everything we do, and that means spending time with students to understand what works, what doesn’t and hear their ideas that make the game even stronger,” said Taylor Shead, founder and CEO of Stemuli. “High school students are the best test group with which to develop our platform. They know gaming better than anyone, they are already immersed in learning environments so they can provide poignant feedback to ensure our program really meets learning goals and they are creative and hopeful about what gaming and AI can bring to the future.”

In addition to the student feedback, Stemuli and Heartland Forward are working with members of the entrepreneurial and small business communities across the heartland to ensure the game is effective and relevant for professional development needs and workplace applications.  

“We are incredibly excited about our partnership with Stemuli,” said Angie Cooper, president of Heartland Forward. “The heartland can lead the country in harnessing the power of AI, and it starts with providing our future leaders with the tools they need to succeed in an ever-changing and technology-forward world. We may be starting in Arkansas, but our goal is to deliver this platform to as many heartland students, entrepreneurs and businesses as possible in the years to come.”

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To learn more about:

• Heartland Forward’s partnership with Stemuli watch this video or read our press release 
• Heartland Forward’s AI Salon Dinner Series click here
• Heartland Forward’s polling work on AI click here
• To learn more about how heartland Gen Zers feel about AI read our poll, conducted in partnership with Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation here.