build_ session: College, Crypto, & AI
From College IT Desk to the Frontlines of a Decentralized AI Revolution:
This is the live origin story of two builders who walked away from the system and helped change the game.
Paul Swaim was running IT and helpdesk at a community college.
Garrett Oketen was a student there with too many questions and a thirst to build.
After a near-miss hacking request (Garrett literally asked if he could hack on the college servers...), they partnered up to build their first startup. Then they found something bigger...
They joined forces with the global, community-led project known as Bittensor—an open-source protocol where anyone can contribute AI models and earn rewards via crypto. Garrett became CTO of OpenTensor, the core development team behind the protocol, and Paul served as CIO, helping scale what is now a $3B+ decentralized AI network powered by people, not corporations.
Today, they are two of the sharpest minds in decentralized AI and working on what’s next beyond the hype, the headlines, and the legacy systems.
This build_ session includes:
🧠 A raw conversation on crypto, AI, blockchain, and what schools are getting wrong
💥 The untold story of how builders like Paul and Garrett helped scale Bittensor
💬 An open Q&A with members (come with questions or just soak it in)
This isn’t a keynote.
It’s a call to the builders.
If you are not a member yet, use this link to sign up.
If you are a member, see you soon! Always remember, as a build_ member you get a +1.