Practical AI for Business
A two-day, platform-neutral introduction to modern AI for business professionals. Participants explore the technology behind today's assistants, learn to communicate with AI systems effectively, see how AI agents automate multi-step work, and understand the security, privacy and governance conditions for safe adoption. Rather than teaching one product, the course compares several so participants can evaluate tools on their own and judge where human judgement remains essential.
Course Overview
- Two days, instructor-led, built around business tasks rather than a single AI platform.
- Compares ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude and NotebookLM on the work each does best.
- Moves from assistants to custom assistants to agents and intelligent automation.
- Ends with security, governance and a practical AI adoption plan for the participant's own team.
Who Should Attend
- Business professionals who want to use AI well in their daily work.
- Managers, analysts and functional leads evaluating where AI fits in their processes.
- Teams asked to adopt AI without a clear picture of the risks or the governance.
- Anyone who needs to judge AI output critically rather than accept it.
Prerequisites
- No programming or data-science background is required.
- General business computer literacy is enough.
- Prior use of an AI assistant is helpful but not assumed.
What You'll Learn
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- explain what AI is and how it differs from traditional software
- distinguish automation, machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI
- explain why AI can confidently produce incorrect information
- compare leading AI assistants and select the right one for a given business task
- construct prompts from objectives, context, constraints and examples, and refine them iteratively
- build reusable prompt templates and AI-assisted workflows for recurring work
- configure a custom assistant with instructions, guardrails and knowledge files
- explain the agentic workflow of planning, execution and reflection, and where oversight belongs
- identify AI security threats including phishing, prompt injection, deepfakes and Shadow AI
- develop an AI adoption approach for their own role or department
Course Outline
- Module 1. Understanding Artificial Intelligence
- How today's AI differs from traditional software, and how generative AI produces content.
- Automation, machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI.
- Common models, their usage and cost; the current landscape and major providers.
- Module 2. Working with Modern AI Assistants
- ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude and NotebookLM compared.
- Multimodal capability: documents, analysis, text, summaries, reports and presentations.
- Public versus enterprise platforms, and why human review stays in the loop.
- Module 3. Prompt Engineering and AI Workflows
- Objectives, context, constraints and examples; role-based prompting.
- Iterative refinement and reusable prompt templates.
- Building efficient AI-assisted workflows for common business tasks.
- Module 4. Building Custom AI Assistants
- Configuring an assistant from business knowledge, without programming.
- Custom GPTs, Gemini Gems and comparable solutions.
- Instructions, guardrails, knowledge files and safe sharing inside an organization.
- Module 5. AI Agents and Intelligent Automation
- Assistants versus agents; planning, execution and reflection.
- How agents interact with external tools and data.
- Human-in-the-loop decision making, current limits and the risks of autonomy.
- Module 6. Secure and Responsible AI
- AI security threats: phishing, prompt injection and deepfakes.
- Risks of public AI services and the reality of Shadow AI.
- Protecting confidential information; AI, privacy legislation and organizational policy.
- Module 7. Responsible AI and Business Transformation
- Principles of responsible AI; bias, hallucinations and automation bias.
- Transparency, accountability and regulatory developments.
- Identifying the processes most suitable for AI adoption and building an adoption strategy.
- Module 8. AI-Powered Research and Data Analysis (time permitting)
- Structured research with AI-assisted tools, and synthesis across multiple sources.
- Analysing spreadsheets and structured business data in natural language.
- Verifying sources and claims, and turning analysis into decision-support material.
Related training topics
Justify your training
Use this sample request letter — copy it into an email to your manager and personalize the bracketed details to make the case for the time and budget.
Sample training request letter
Subject: Request for AI & AI Security training from Applied Technology Academy
[Decision Maker Name],
I'm writing to request time and budget approval to complete Applied Technology Academy's course, Practical AI for Business. The information below outlines how this training benefits our organization, the tasks I'll be able to perform after completing it, and relevant cost and funding details.
Course Description
A two-day, platform-neutral introduction to modern AI for business professionals. Participants explore the technology behind today's assistants, learn to communicate with AI systems effectively, see how AI agents automate multi-step work, and understand the security, privacy and governance conditions for safe adoption. Rather than teaching one product, the course compares several so participants can evaluate tools on their own and judge where human judgement remains essential. Applied Technology Academy is an award-winning, SBA-certified woman-owned training provider (est. 2019) whose instructors are active practitioners. The course combines instructor-led training with practical exercises, real-world examples, and computer-based activities designed to reinforce job-relevant skills.
Course Objectives
Once I've completed the course, I'll be able to:
- By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- explain what AI is and how it differs from traditional software
- distinguish automation, machine learning, generative AI and agentic AI
- explain why AI can confidently produce incorrect information
- compare leading AI assistants and select the right one for a given business task
- construct prompts from objectives, context, constraints and examples, and refine them iteratively
- build reusable prompt templates and AI-assisted workflows for recurring work
- configure a custom assistant with instructions, guardrails and knowledge files
Expected Organizational Benefits
After completing this course, I will be better equipped to apply these skills directly to our projects, reduce our reliance on outside expertise, strengthen our team's capabilities, and share what I learn with colleagues.
Expected Cost & Funding
Course fee: [request an itemized quote at the link below]. Applied Technology Academy supports multiple funding paths that may reduce or cover this cost: GSA MAS purchasing and government purchase orders, military credentialing funding (Army CA, AF COOL, CG COOL), VA GI Bill and VR&E, ATA Flexible Spending, and student financing. Private team cohorts are available if colleagues should attend with me.
Conclusion
This training provides practical, hands-on experience I can apply immediately to strengthen our work in AI & AI Security. Additional course information is available at https://appliedtechnologyacademy.com/practical-ai-for-business/.
Thank you for your consideration,
[Your Name]
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