Let's open the doors together.
A cross-border movement for positive AI-wareness.
Curious to learn, or ready to lend a hand? Sign up here.
Why The Almost Touch
A year ago I knew nothing about AI. People opened their doors to me. The Almost Touch is how I want to pass that on.
Many people are curious about AI, yet it feels unknown, and the unknown feels scary. "I don't know it, so I fear it. I think it will take my job." So the simplest questions stay unasked.
I sat in rooms full of AI people and felt two things at once: curiosity so strong it almost hurt, and the quiet fear of asking a stupid question. Then I met builders who looked glad when someone like me asked a real question. No eye-roll. Just people happy to share what they know.
Think of Michelangelo's near-touch on the Sistine ceiling. Two hands, a small space, and everything that matters living in that space. On one side, people who already speak AI. On the other, people who don't speak AI yet, hungry to learn and a little shy to say so. The Almost Touch lives in that gap, and helps both sides meet without judgment.
Roberta Heij
Founder, The Almost Touch
What it stands for
Organisations, communities and governments that work with AI open their doors to the AI-curious: people with a mobile phone and a laptop who want to understand what AI is and need a place to start. Each one chooses its own way to open its doors.
Everyone is welcome.
The simplest one is a great start.
Every learner is taken seriously.
AI explained in everyday language.
Clear about what AI can do, and its limits.
Hackathons and one-on-one sessions.
How you can take part
You don't need to be technical. Bring your questions, even the ones you think are too basic. They are exactly where it starts. Follow along, ask, and learn at your own pace.
Sign up to learnOpen your doors to people who want to understand it, in a format that suits you. With very little effort, and without setting up an internal department, you build warm, positive awareness around what you do in AI.
Sign up to lend a handInvite an Almost Touch opening: two or three minutes at the start of your event that set a warm, open tone, so every guest feels free to ask.
Sign up to lend a handBecome a founding partner, with an annual pledge to help take the movement across borders. Later on, partners can carry The Almost Touch seal as a recognition of their open doors.
Sign up to lend a handLatest writing
"I'm Roberta, and I'm learning AI in public. And this is The Almost Touch."
On Substack I write as I go: what I understand, what I still don't, and what an expert said that finally clicked.
26 October 2026
What a heavy-lifting company taught me about making AI part of everyday work
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2 October 2026
n8n: an automation tool that connects your apps and does the boring repeat steps for you
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25 September 2026
How it all began...
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Three kinds of support that helped Mammoet make AI part of everyday work: leaders who use it themselves, help beyond day one, and support right where people already work.
Read the full storyLet's think together
Whether you are curious to learn but afraid to ask, or you know AI well and want fewer people left out, I would love to hear from you.
