Course Overview

Many business professionals are already using AI tools in some form, but basic usage does not always lead to better quality thinking, stronger outputs, or more confident decision-making.

In many organisations, AI use begins informally. People use it to summarise information, draft content, or speed up routine tasks. Early benefits can be helpful, but they often sit alongside inconsistency, over-reliance on outputs, weak prompting habits, and uncertainty around what should still be reviewed or challenged by human judgement.

This one-day intensive is designed for professionals who are already using AI at a basic level and now want to apply it with more structure, rigour, and judgement within a business or finance context.

The session introduces practical models, tools, and techniques that help participants improve output quality, strengthen analysis, support decision-making, and apply AI more responsibly within real workflows.

Participants leave with a more disciplined and repeatable approach to AI usage, along with practical outputs they can use immediately in their day-to-day work.

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Key Benefits for Organisations

Organisations investing in AI tools increasingly want to see stronger outcomes, greater productivity, and more consistent usage across teams.

This session helps organisations:

• Improve the quality and consistency of AI-assisted outputs across reporting, analysis, and decision support
• Move teams beyond basic AI experimentation towards more structured and effective working practices
• Strengthen judgement and governance when using AI in business-critical tasks
• Help professionals identify where AI can genuinely improve workflows without weakening control
• Build confidence in the practical use of AI while reinforcing accountability and human oversight
• Support more immediate and measurable value from AI investment

For organisations looking to turn AI usage into something more productive, controlled, and useful, this session provides a practical next step.

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Why This Course Exists

Many organisations now have people using AI tools, but few have a clear framework for how those tools should actually be used in day-to-day business work.

In practice, this often leads to familiar challenges.

Some people use AI frequently but without much structure. Others rely on it for quick summaries without testing whether the outputs are actually good enough. In some cases, AI starts to influence decisions, reporting, or analytical thinking without a clear sense of where review, challenge, and escalation should happen.

That creates a gap between using AI and using it well.

This course exists to help business professionals close that gap.

It is designed to move participants from informal, basic AI use towards a more structured, practical, and responsible way of working. The focus is not on AI theory or hype. It is on improving the quality of work, strengthening judgement, and embedding AI into useful workflows with the right safeguards in place.

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What Participants Will Learn

By the end of this intensive session participants will be able to understand and apply:

• How to diagnose and improve their current AI usage using structured evaluation techniques
• How to apply a repeatable prompt design model to improve output quality
• How to use AI for comparative analysis, gap analysis, and assumption testing
• How to structure AI outputs for decision-making using practical analytical frameworks
• How to identify high-value AI intervention points within business workflows
• How to apply a clear control and escalation approach when using AI
• How to evaluate AI-related risk using a structured assurance lens
• How to translate learning into immediate changes in working practice

Participants will leave with a more practical and controlled way of using AI within their own role.

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Course Outline

This one-day intensive explores how AI can be used more effectively within business and finance environments, with a strong focus on structure, output quality, workflow thinking, and responsible use.

The course is practical and applied throughout, focusing on real working scenarios rather than abstract discussion.

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Baseline Current AI Usage

This opening section helps participants assess where they are today and identify the main limitations in how AI is currently being used.

Topics include:

• AI usage maturity from ad hoc to structured use
• Common failure patterns in AI usage
• Over-reliance on summarisation
• Trust and consistency issues
• Identifying current gaps in practice

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Prompt Design for High-Quality Outputs

Participants are introduced to a practical prompt design model that improves the quality, relevance, and usability of AI-generated outputs.

Topics include:

• Prompt design using context, role, constraints, output, and reasoning
• Building stronger prompt structures for business tasks
• Prompt pattern libraries for repeatable use
• Comparing outputs across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini
• Using an AI output evaluation loop based on generate, review, refine, and validate

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Analytical Use of AI

This section focuses on using AI to strengthen analysis rather than simply accelerate content generation.

Topics include:

• Comparative analysis frameworks
• Gap analysis techniques
• Assumption testing by identifying what must be true
• Structured output templates for briefing notes and decision summaries
• Producing more useful AI-assisted analytical outputs

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AI for Decision Support

Participants explore how AI can support thinking and decision-making without replacing human judgement.

Topics include:

• Decision framing
• Exploring options and trade-offs
• Testing reasoning
• Identifying blind spots
• Avoiding over-reliance on AI
• Applying structured thinking to business decisions

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Workflow Application

This part of the session helps participants identify where AI genuinely fits within day-to-day workflows.

Topics include:

• Workflow decomposition across task, decision, exception, and escalation
• Identifying repeatable patterns where AI adds value
• Defining AI touchpoints within a process
• Applying a control and escalation model
• Awareness of tools such as n8n
• Using Miro or Mural to map workflow opportunities

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Risk, Limits and Control

This section focuses on responsible AI usage and where governance, safeguards, and human judgement must remain central.

Topics include:

• AI risk across accuracy, bias, transparency, and dependency
• Common AI failure modes
• Escalation thresholds
• Governance checkpoints
• Reinforcing human control within AI usage
• Defining safeguards for responsible application

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Personal Practice Change

The final section helps participants translate the day into practical improvements they can apply immediately.

Topics include:

• Developing a personal AI playbook
• Using a start, stop, improve model
• Applying structured AI usage to live tasks
• Embedding better working habits into day-to-day practice
• Defining clear next steps for immediate application

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Practical Applications for Business Professionals

Throughout the session, participants work through practical examples that reflect real business usage rather than technical AI theory.

Practical applications include:

• Improving prompts for reporting and analysis tasks
• Using AI to compare options and challenge assumptions
• Structuring AI outputs for business decisions and briefing notes
• Mapping workflows to identify AI integration points
• Defining where human control, review, and escalation should sit
• Creating a practical AI playbook for immediate use

These applications help participants use AI as a structured support tool rather than an unchecked shortcut.

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Typical Challenges This Workshop Helps Address

Many organisations exploring AI within business functions face similar challenges.

Examples include:

• Teams using AI inconsistently without a shared structure
• Outputs that are fast but not always reliable or well-framed
• Uncertainty about where AI should be used within a workflow
• Weak prompting habits leading to poor output quality
• Concerns around over-reliance on AI in analysis or decision support
• Lack of clarity around controls, safeguards, and escalation points

This workshop helps participants and organisations address these issues in a more practical and disciplined way.

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Who Should Attend

This intensive session is designed for professionals already using AI at a basic level who now want to apply it more effectively within a business context.

Typical participants include:

• Business professionals
• Finance professionals
• Analysts
• Managers and team leaders
• Operational professionals
• Decision-makers looking to improve structured AI usage

The session is particularly valuable for individuals and teams who want to move beyond informal experimentation and start using AI in a more effective, controlled, and repeatable way.

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Course Format

This is a 1 Day Intensive delivered as an interactive, instructor-led session combining:

• Facilitated discussion
• Live demonstrations
• Guided exercises
• Scenario-based activities
• Workflow mapping
• Reflection and action planning

Participants leave with practical outputs and clear ideas they can apply immediately in their own role.

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Tools Used

During the session, participants may work with or review examples using:

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Perplexity
• Gemini
• Miro or Mural

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Tangible Outputs

Participants leave with:

• A repeatable prompt design approach
• A set of refined, reusable prompts
• A structured analytical output relevant to their role
• A mapped workflow showing AI integration points and control checkpoints
• A clear understanding of AI risk and governance considerations
• A personal AI playbook for immediate application

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What Differentiates This Session

This session is designed to improve how AI is used rather than simply introduce AI concepts.

It focuses on helping participants work with more structure, better judgement, and clearer controls so AI becomes a more useful part of real business activity.

What differentiates the session is that it:

• Focuses on improving AI usage rather than introducing AI concepts
• Introduces practical models that can be reused immediately
• Emphasises structured thinking over tool usage alone
• Embeds control and judgement into AI usage
• Is designed to change behaviour and improve real work outputs

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Course Duration

1 Day Intensive

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Private Team Delivery

This course can also be delivered privately for organisations that want to improve the quality, consistency, and governance of AI usage across a team or function.

Private sessions can be delivered:

• Virtually for distributed teams
• On-site in a classroom setting
• For business, finance, operations, or cross-functional teams

Private workshops can also be tailored to align with:

• Internal reporting requirements
• Decision-making processes
• Workflow improvement initiatives
• Governance and control expectations
• Live business scenarios relevant to the team

Please contact us to discuss private team delivery options.