On November 7, 2025, students from Loretto Abbey's SHSM Business program and Brebeuf's SHSM ICT program walked into Slalom Consulting's Toronto office. They weren't there to observe. They were there to solve real problems alongside professionals shaping how businesses use artificial intelligence.
From AI Myths to Real Solutions
The day started with something simple but essential: separating AI hype from reality. Students played an interactive game guessing whether AI "facts" were true or false.
Kevin Derman, Director of Slalom's AI Innovation Lab's National Strategic Alliance, then delivered a keynote on where AI is actually heading. Not the Hollywood version, but the real applications reshaping finance, healthcare, and retail. His message focused on hope and possibility for a generation that will work alongside these technologies.
Design Thinking in Action
The heart of the day was the challenge: design an everyday AI assistant that helps people make decisions when they feel overwhelmed or face too many choices.
Bernie Uche, MBA, guided students through the Design Thinking Process. They learned to use Empathy Maps to visualize what clients experience. Teams collaborated to identify needs, brainstormed solutions, and built their concepts into pitches they'd present to industry judges.
This wasn't a simulation. Students used the same frameworks Slalom consultants apply when working with Fortune 500 clients. They just had a few hours instead of a few weeks.
Over lunch, students heard career stories from Slalom's Industry Panel and toured the office. These moments matter more than you might think. Students struggle to connect classroom concepts to actual careers. Seeing professionals in their workspace, hearing how they got there, understanding the skills that opened doors for them creates clarity that no classroom lecture can replicate.
The Pitch
The day ended with two-minute elevator pitches. Each team presented their AI solution to a panel of Slalom judges, Shark Tank style. The judges evaluated innovation, feasibility, and ethical considerations.
One team pitched an AI that helps students choose post-secondary programs by analyzing their interests, skills, and career goals beyond just grades. Another designed an assistant for busy parents managing family schedules and meal planning. The solutions were creative, grounded, and genuinely useful.
Teams received feedback on their thinking, their presentation skills, and their consideration of real-world constraints. Then they walked away with certificates recognizing them as "AI Innovators."
What Makes This Work
Sector-partnered experiences like this aren't field trips. They're opportunities for students to practice skills Ontario employers consistently say they need: problem solving, communication, collaboration, adaptability.
Slalom brought deep expertise in AI and digital transformation but presented it in ways accessible to high schoolers. By partnering with LearnIt, the program stayed professionally rigorous without drowning students in corporate jargon.
Students left with experience that strengthens their SHSM portfolios and gives them something concrete to talk about in college interviews or job applications.
Beyond the SHSM Event
The real measure of experiential learning isn't what happens during the five hours. It's what students carry forward.
Some students from this experience will pursue technology consulting. Others will apply design thinking to completely different fields. A few might discover AI innovation isn't their path, and that's valuable too.
What matters is they experienced a professional environment, received mentorship from people currently doing the work, and practiced skills they'll use regardless of career direction.
A huge thank you to Sandra Mustacato and Lendyl D'Souza from Toronto Catholic District School Board for their continued support in making these experiences possible. Their commitment to SHSM excellence creates opportunities that go far beyond credit requirements.
For SHSM Educators Planning Similar Experiences
If you're a SHSM coordinator or administrator thinking about sector-partnered experiences, here's what we've learned works:
Find partners willing to engage authentically, not just host tours. Slalom didn't give students a sanitized recruitment presentation. They brought them into real work.
Design challenges that give students actual problems to solve. The AI for Good challenge had constraints, stakeholders, and competing priorities, just like real consulting projects.
Prepare students beforehand. Brief them on the company, the industry, the skills they'll practice. It helps them engage meaningfully instead of feeling lost.
Create space for reflection after. Help students articulate what they learned and how it connects to their goals.
The students who pitched AI solutions at Slalom's office that day walked away with more than certificates. They gained confidence and concrete evidence that they can think like innovators.
That's what well-designed SHSM programming makes possible.
About LearnIt Solutions
LearnIt Solutions partners with Ontario school boards and independent schools to deliver experiential learning programs and SHSM certifications. We work with 20+ school boards and corporate partners to help students develop real world skills and career clarity. Learn more at www.learn-it.ca.
As part of LearnIt Media, we also amplify education innovation stories through our "Behind the Chalkboard" podcast, featuring conversations with Ontario superintendents, principals, and education leaders reimagining student learning.
Founder Dhiraj Hariramani
CEO & Chief Learning Officer, LearnIt Solutions Inc.
Dhiraj founded LearnIt to bridge the gap between classroom theory and career readiness. A UBC graduate and consultant at Accenture, he has directly impacted 10,000+ students across Ontario school boards.
As host of the Behind the Chalkboard podcast, Dhiraj facilitates conversations with education leaders exploring innovation, equity, and student centered approaches to learning.
Connect: LinkedIn | dhiraj@learn-it.ca | +1 (236) 788 6830