AI on mat leave, home
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Run AI on Maternity Leave in your city

A community, an event series and a programme helping women get AI-confident before they return to paid work. Started in Brighton. Now looking for hosts elsewhere.

Apply to host
Women at tables during an AI on Maternity Leave event at Plus X Innovation in Brighton, one holding a microphone
Four women huddled around a phone, one with a baby on her lap, at an AI on Maternity Leave event
A woman turning to smile at the camera while chatting with others at an AI on Maternity Leave event, a baby being carried in the background

The story so far

The pilot, 7 July 2026, Plus X Innovation, Brighton

17tickets, sold out in days
3on the waitlist
1.9 to 3.5confidence using AI at paid work, out of 5
+82Net Promoter Score

10 of 11 respondents improving. (n=11 of 15 in the room.)

Event two, 11 August 2026

28tickets sold, 65% up on the pilot
1 in 4women had been to the pilot too

Event three, 9 September 2026. On sale now.

And around it: 65 women in the WhatsApp community. Covered twice by The Argus and picked up nationally by Yahoo News.

A woman in a headwrap holding her sleeping baby, listening at an AI on Maternity Leave event
Not racing the robots. Not running for the hills. Learning the tools so the future gets built on our terms.

What you would be running

A morning for 20 to 40 women (and their babies). Live demos, expert speakers, and a format we have already tested three times: Do, Think, See.

This is for you if

  • You are on parental leave, recently back, or working flexibly, and you want a project that is genuinely yours.
  • You know women in your city who are on leave: a WhatsApp group, an NCT cohort, a baby class.
  • You are comfortable approaching a venue or a local business with a proposition.
  • You can hold a room.
  • You can run two events in six months, and keep going after that.
A woman being handed a microphone at an AI on Maternity Leave event, with other mums and a baby at the table behind her

What you get

  • Exclusivity in your city, for as long as you are hosting.
  • The whole format: run sheet, slides, speaker briefs, survey, follow-ups.
  • The brand, the website listing and national promotion of every event.
  • Ticketing through our main account, so you never have to handle a payment or a refund.

What you give

  • Two events in six months, and a signed charter before the first goes on sale.
  • A venue partner in your city, and at least two speakers per event.
  • Photographs and video from every event.
  • Your local audience. We amplify; the room is yours to fill.

Venue partners

The home of AI on Maternity Leave in Brighton is Plus X Innovation.

We are looking for venue partners in Edinburgh, Bristol, Manchester, Hertford, Belfast and London. Somewhere that will host mothers and babies for a morning once a month or quarter: a room, the set-up, the refreshments. In return, the venue partner is named in everything that follows for that city.

We've been covered in

The Argus ↗ The Argus ↗ Yahoo News ↗

This is the first thing a new city needs, and it is the piece we work on together. No event is scheduled until it is in place.

If you run a space and this sounds like you, tell us.

A baby holding a grown-up's hand beside the Plus X Innovation branding, our Brighton venue partner
A speaker presenting at an AI on Maternity Leave event while a baby crawls across the floor

The honest bit

Today ticket income covers the costs, then the speakers, then you and us, with the larger share to you. Our ambition is to make this a sustainable commercial enterprise that supports women's wealth and freedom, while building a social impact story for women's careers. But until we have sponsors and/or corporate partners, income is modest at best. The full terms are in the City Host Charter, and we send it before the call, not after an offer.

How applying works

  1. You fill in the form. About fifteen minutes, mostly about your city, your network and your venue.
  2. We read it. If it is a fit, we send you the charter and book a call.
  3. We talk for half an hour. You ask the awkward questions, and so do we.
  4. We decide, and we tell you either way within two weeks.

Host FAQs

Do I need to be on maternity leave to host?
No, but you need to be genuinely close to women who are. The room comes from your network.
What if I cannot find a venue?
Then we start there. We will help you approach places and introduce you where our network reaches.
Who pays the speakers?
Ticket income, before anyone else is paid, and properly once your city has a sponsor. Every speaker is told exactly where we are before she agrees.
Can two of us do it together?
Yes, up to two named co-hosts. One of you is the main contact.
What if I want to stop?
Tell us. Thirty days' notice, anything already on sale still runs, and the money is settled as normal.

Applications are read as they come in.

Apply to host