Founding Members

KCAIA was founded by Kansas City builders who wanted a serious, generous community for the people putting AI to work.


President

Shawn Bishop

Shawn leads the association's vision and partnerships across the Kansas City metro. He spends his time connecting builders, operators, and institutions — and making sure the community stays grounded in responsible, practical AI.

KANSAS CITY · MO

Vice President · Advastar Group

David Case

Founder of Advastar Group, David brings the operator's lens to KCAIA. He helps members turn AI ambitions into delivered work — focused on outcomes, governance, and the discipline that keeps deployments safe.

FOUNDER · ADVASTAR GROUP

Head of Training

Jimmy Johnson

Jimmy runs the association's training programs. He designs the Claude Code and Claude Co-work curricula and leads the monthly coaching — translating frontier tools into skills teams can actually use.

CLAUDE CODE · CO-WORK


What we stand for

Safety, openness, and a community that shares what works.

We emphasize responsible AI, build with both frontier and open-source technologies, and partner with Kansas City institutions to grow the region's capacity to lead.