Mana

A workshop with Mana - *As featured at the Montessori Australia Conference 2026 (Brisbane) and the Early Childhood Council Conference 2026 (Wellington)*

AI is the greatest technological shift of our time since the Industrial Revolution. It is reshaping every industry, and ECEC is no exception.

Right now most people think of AI as 'ChatGPT' but this is just a generic product that uses AI. What this technology can do goes far beyond writing emails.

Mana is an AI native child development platform — used by over 70K educators and ~1,000 centres across Aus/NZ. Founded by Himal Randeniya (who originally built Mana for his ECEC services) in a belief that AI, if designed right, can help us be more human.

This is a hands-on session, where we invite you to step back from the hype, to explore what this technology can actually do, where it belongs for our future — and where it doesn't.

**In this workshop, we'll explore:**

*   How AI actually works, and why it marks a shift as significant as the Industrial Revolution
*   Reconnecting with our 'Why' to help us create guardrails for where AI can help and where it should never go
*   An interactive activity looking at the future of where AI systems can add value, and Mana's Quality Maturity Model through AI

**Who this is for:**

*   Owners or Heads of Pedagogy wanting to understand how to design AI systems that enable quality across teams
*   Leaders or educators curious about AI and what it means for the sector
