Consult on AI for the firms building Milwaukee.
AI Forge is directly partnered with the AI in Real Estate Lab at Marquette's Vieth Institute. Student fellows work as consultants inside real estate companies — finding where AI belongs, building it, and reporting back to the room every month. If you want to work in real estate, this is the most direct path we have.
Who you'd work with.
Developers, general contractors, architects, engineers, law firms, and lenders — twelve firms in the 2026–27 cohort, each bringing their own AI problem to the table.
What the work looks like.
Real consulting engagements
You are placed with a partner firm as a consultant — not a shadow, not an observer. You help them identify where AI actually fits and then help build it.
Monthly partner meetings
The cohort and the firms meet monthly. You present findings, pressure-test ideas, and hear what every other firm is running into.
Faculty and expert oversight
Work is guided by Vieth Institute faculty and practicing AI experts, so what you ship holds up outside the classroom.
Executive-level access
These are the firms building Milwaukee. The Lab puts you in the room with the people running them, on a first-name basis.
A portfolio piece, not a certificate
You leave with real deliverables and a case study you can point at in an interview — the same thing AI Forge optimizes every project for.
A hiring pipeline
Twelve firms watch this cohort work for a full year. That is twelve firms who already know what you can do before you ever apply.
Why come through AI Forge.
The Lab supplies the companies and the stakes. AI Forge supplies the preparation. Members who go in having already shipped something are the ones who get matched to the most interesting engagements — and our advisor Jeremy Welland sits on both sides of this partnership as Marquette's Executive in Residence.
Workshops and projects that get you fluent with real AI tooling before you sit in front of a client.
A shipped project is the difference between an application and an obvious yes.
We are partnered with the Lab, so our members hear about openings first and go in known.
How to get in.
Build the technical base
Join AI Forge and get reps in. Our projects, workshops, and hackathons are where you build the AI skills the Lab expects you to bring.
Submit the fellowship application
Apply directly to the Lab through Marquette's Student Fellows form. It takes a few minutes.
Interview and match
The Lab reviews applicants and matches fellows to partner firms based on the work each firm wants to take on.
Start consulting
You join the cohort, get your firm, and start on a real AI initiative with real stakes.