About Pedagogy Workshops

From our founder circle to yours, ACE is finally open to those ready to unlock real creative power.

Until now, we have only taught ACE, the Applied Creativity Engine, in small, invite-only workshops. More than 500 learners in Japan and Taiwan have already embedded this creative Engine into their mind, unlocking breakthroughs in creativity and productivity to thrive in the AI era. Word of mouth has taken ACE far beyond what we ever imagined. That is why, for the first time, we are opening our programs online to the public.

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This is what happens when people amplify their creativity with ACE embedded in their mindset.

The world is changing faster than we can learn. Jobs are being reshaped before schools can adjust, and AI can already think, write, and design with greater speed and efficiency. The real danger is not that AI becomes smarter. The danger is that we stop thinking for ourselves.

This is why ACE was created.

ACE, the Applied Creativity Engine, is more than a program. It is a structured and AI supported learning cycle that builds a creative engine inside your mind. It strengthens your creativity, sharpens your critical thinking, and helps you take ownership of your learning for life.

It is not about memorizing tools or perfecting prompts. It is about learning to co-create with AI and turning it into an amplifier rather than a replacement.

Piloted With Leading
Educational & Industry Partners

A globally-diverse boarding school in Japan cultivating young leaders and changemakers through a cutting-edge blend of IB academics, design innovation and mindful self-discipline.

A pioneering 1-12 bilingual experimental school on Taiwan’s east coast, empowering students through creativity, character and global-citizen mindsets.

One of Asia’s and the world’s top communications design programs, renowned for cultivating cutting-edge creative talent at Taiwan’s leading design university.

Chunghwa Telecom

Taiwan’s largest integrated telecommunications provider, delivering fixed-line, mobile, broadband and ICT services with cutting-edge cloud and data-centre capabilities.

A premier technology group advancing Asia’s digital ecosystem through world-class AI, cloud, and multimedia streaming solutions.

The Origin of ACE

In mid-2023, with support from NVIDIA and ASUS, we partnered with Shih-Chien University’s Communication Design Department (SCCD) to run an experiment we had always wondered about: give top design students 24 hours, one song, and emerging generative AI tools. The results surprised us. Watching those fifteen students create full music videos showed us how far human creativity can go when people lead and AI simply helps them go faster and farther.
This insight led us to host creativity and innovation workshops for students, eventually evolving into the core system behind the Leadership Program at UWC ISAK Japan. As the workshops matured, a clear framework emerged:

Remix thinking

Human-Centered Design

Design Sprints

AI as a co-creation partner

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Students worked in teams, explored ideas with AI, studied real human needs, and developed concepts grounded in real insights. At the end, they presented to corporate sponsors. These were not typical school projects. They were thoughtful, creative, and practical. The executives were impressed. But what stayed with us most was a question from one sponsor: “If students can think like this… why aren’t our teams doing the same?”
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That realization led to the creation of ACE, the Applied Creativity Engine. As we hosted more workshops, word spread. Soon, corporate leaders began asking if we could help their teams as well. That was when we realized ACE was no longer just an experiment. It had become a broader mission: to make applied creativity a practical skill for futureready leaders and creative communicators.
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ACE’s Pilot Design Partner

Debuting in the 2024 Summer Program and later piloted as a Grade 10 elective, ACE quickly proved its impact. By August 2025, it is fully integrated into UWC ISAK Japan’s flagship Leadership Program and has become a required year-long experience for every Grade 10 student.

In May 2025, the first group of ACE-trained students stepped into a real corporate meeting room to pitch their final projects to executives. They presented like professionals, sharper than the corporate sponsor’s own team. By the end, the executives were the ones taking notes, eager to recruit them, continue the conversation, and bring ACE training to their entire company.

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Founders

Chris Lin
Chris Lin
Serial entrepreneur and Founding Partner of KKCulture. Founder and former CEO of KKBOX, world’s first music streaming platform and a media entertainment unicorn in the Asia-Pacific.
Joshua Chao
Joshua Chao
Former creative director at KKBOX, faculty member of Shih-Chien University. Winner of prestigious international design awards, including Red Dot Award, SIGGRAPH, and Good Design Award.
Matt Cheng
Matt Cheng
Founder and General Partner of Cherubic Ventures, co-founder of two unicorns in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Former No.1 junior tennis player and member of Taiwan’s Junior Davis Cup Team.

Senior Advisors

Lin Kobayashi
Lin Kobayashi
Co-founder and Chair of UWC ISAK Japan, Lin Kobayashi has dedicated her career to reimagining education by developing transformational young leaders through global diversity and real-world learning. With academic foundations at the University of Tokyo and Stanford and early fieldwork with UNICEF in the Philippines, she blends global expertise with grassroots insight. Recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and Nikkei Woman of the Year, she continues to shape international education through influential leadership roles.
Rex Takeshi Chen
Rex Takeshi Chen
Former Chair and Associate Professor of Communications Design at Shih Chien University, ranked Taiwan’s No.1 and among the world’s top 30 design schools. He leads the “VISION BASE × AI Futures” initiative, focusing on AI-driven visual narrative and creative strategy. His collaborations span brands including NVIDIA, Uber Eats, Tokyo Disney Resort, SMBC, DMM futureworks, and ASUS. His works have received international honors such as the ADC Award and CA Award, and have been screened at major film festivals in Los Angeles and Houston.

Bridging the Learning Gap
in an AI-Driven World

As tech giants push AI to surpass humans in both routine and reasoning tasks, the job market is shifting faster than the education system can respond, creating a growing gap that leaves students struggling to meet real-world demands.

ACE Learning Cycle

Applied Creativity Engine (ACE) is a structured, human-led, AI-supported learning cycle that cultivates creativity, critical thinking, and self-direction through authentic project-based learning. Once the engine is embedded and ignited, learners are empowered to address complex, real-world challenges in an ever-changing global environment.

A Self-Reinforcing
Creative Engine in Your Mind

CURIOUS

This is where everything begins. It's about giving yourself permission to ask, explore, and imagine again without needing the "right" answer right away. You start noticing things others overlook and realize you don't have to wait for someone else to tell you what to think or what problem to solve.

REMIX

Creativity isn't about starting from nothing. It's about seeing connections. In this stage, you begin to combine ideas, industries, and experiences in ways that feel fresh and unexpected, and that's where new possibilities start to appear. You'll notice that what once felt ordinary can become something original just by how you connect it.

EMPATHIZE

This is where your ideas meet the real world. Instead of just asking "Is this interesting?", you start asking "Does this actually matter to someone?" You begin to see people more clearly, understand what they're going through, and shape your ideas around needs that are real, not just imagined.

STORYCRAFT

A great idea isn't enough if it stays in your head. This is where you learn how to shape your thinking into something others can understand, feel, and believe in. You turn your insight and creativity into a clear story that helps people see the value, trust the idea, and want to be part of it.

Two Major Developmental Goals
of the ACE Learning Cycle

Goal 1 - "Curious" and "Remix" help us
reawaken creativity by:

Reopening curiosity

Rebuilding creative confidence

Exploring imagination

Strengthening our creative muscle

This phase addresses a common modern problem: many capable people are not lacking intelligence. They are simply trapped in overly functional modes of thinking. ACE helps loosen that pattern.

Goal 2 - "Empathize" and "Storycraft" help
us bring creativity into the real world by:

Connecting ideas to real people

Understanding unmet needs

Shaping insight into concepts

Refining concepts into proposals, narratives, and innovation opportunities

This phase ensures that creativity does not remain abstract. It becomes useful, meaningful, and actionable.

Entrepreneurial Leadership Workshops

Discover hidden opportunities

The Entrepreneurial Leadership Workshops are designed for founders, managers, and professionals who aspire to become leaders capable of discovering possibilities others overlook. As AI accelerates execution and lowers the cost of knowledge work, the real advantage shifts to those who can recognize meaningful possibilities and turn them into innovations that create value.

These workshops are built around the ACE Learning Cycle, the creative engine that trains you to repeatedly explore ideas, test insights, and shape them into innovation concepts.

Level 1 Explorer
Level 1
Explorer
7 hours

Looking at Brands with Fresh Eyes

You will learn to look beyond the surface of a brand and notice the deeper patterns shaping its potential. By examining its strengths, personality, and possibilities with curiosity, you may begin to see doors others would walk past.

Discovering Hidden Opportunities

Innovation often begins by noticing what others miss. You will practice exploring industries and remixing capabilities such as technology, design, and business models to uncover meaningful opportunities worth pursuing.

Level 2 Innovator
Level 2
Innovator
14 hours
2 days

Turning Insight into Innovative Ideas

Through Human-Centered Design, you will learn to listen closely to people, interpret real needs, and turn those insights into creative, grounded ideas. This is where possibilities begin to become concepts that can truly create value.

Story-Crafting That Moves People

A strong idea needs more than logic. You will learn to shape and present your concept through reasoning, evidence, and narrative so others can understand the opportunity, believe in the solution, and feel inspired to bring it to life.

Creative Communication Workshops

Transform ideas into powerful stories that move people

The Creative Communication Workshops are designed for anyone who wants to become both more creative and more effective at communicating ideas to others. Whether they are aspiring leaders, designers, creators, or simply curious thinkers, participants from many backgrounds will find these workshops valuable.

These workshops are built around the ACE Learning Cycle, allowing participants to repeatedly practice transforming imagination and insight into compelling communication. In each workshop, participants complete the cycle by developing an original idea based on a theme, character, or brands they choose.

Level 1 Wizard
Level 1
Wizard
7 hours

Creating Impossible Concepts

Explore how to combine unrelated concepts to generate imaginative, boundary-breaking ideas that challenge what is considered possible. This helps you stretch your thinking and become more comfortable exploring surprising creative directions.

Discovering Hidden Possibilities

Turn abstract ideas into vivid first-person experiences so your audience can emotionally step inside the concept. This helps you communicate your idea not just as a description, but as something people can almost feel and experience.

Level 2 Puppeteer
Level 2
Puppeteer
7 hours

Crafting Character-Driven Narratives

Use characters to give your idea a stronger voice, personality, and emotional pull. By doing this, you make your concept more memorable, more relatable, and far more engaging to your audience.

Producing Concept Commercials

Structure and present your idea like a short commercial that captures attention and communicates value clearly. This helps you practice turning a creative concept into something others can quickly understand and get excited about.

Alchemist
Level 3
Alchemist
7 hours

Analyzing Brand Crossover Opportunities

Examine a brand's identity, values, and strengths, then spot surprising ways it could connect with another industry or concept. This trains you to think more strategically while still staying imaginative and original.

Creating Campaign Narratives and Videos

Turn a crossover idea into a compelling campaign story and video that builds curiosity, excitement, and emotional connection. This helps you present your creative thinking in a way that feels both bold and believable.