I'm Walter Adamson, and I'm 78 years old. I run a peer-led AI capacity coaching practice from Sandringham in Melbourne's Bayside, teaching older Australians aged 65 and over to use artificial intelligence safely and independently. I work with NDIS participants on self-managed and plan-managed plans, delivering capacity building under line item 15_035_0106_1_3 that measurably reduces Core Support costs by $2,000–5,000 per year.
I hold a Master of Science in Computing Science and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematical Statistics. I've spent 50 years in technology — from punch cards and mainframes through to the internet, mobile computing, and now generative AI. I hold a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE40122) and a current NDIS Worker Screening Check. When I sit with a participant, I'm not a 25-year-old tech support person. I'm their peer. I've lived through the same decades they have, and I use AI every single day.
My method is built on one non-negotiable principle: never trust AI without verification. I call it the Three-Source Rule. Every participant learns to check AI output against an official source and a trusted person before acting on it. This isn't technology training — it's judgment training. The result is genuine independence, not a new dependency.
Before this practice, I spent decades in senior technology leadership including roles as CIO and VP at major corporations. I've built hundreds of specialised AI workflows across deep client engagements. But the work that matters most to me now is the simplest: teaching someone my own age to draft their own email to their GP, organise their own calendar, and tell their support coordinator “I can do it myself.”
Outside of coaching, I compete in Masters Athletics with Mentone Athletics Club. In 2024 I made the podium at the Victorian State Championships — gold in Shot Put, silver in the 800m and 3,000m. I won gold in the 10km track, 6km cross-country, 10km road, and 10-mile road. I placed 2nd in the State VMA Gift 5,000m and set a local venue record for 2.5km. I've survived being struck by lightning in Korea, a 747 crash landing at LAX, being sucked into a thundercloud at 4,000 metres in a sailplane, a freefall parachute jump from 3,000 metres on my very first attempt, and three lethal cancers.
I mention all of this for one reason: I don't believe in “too old.” Not for running. Not for technology. Not for your parent. And not for me.
