CPS_CRW_AI Readiness SP26

Course Overview

This 3-week workshop helps business leaders develop a practical understanding of artificial intelligence and how it can be used to support real business decisions. Designed for non-technical participants, the course focuses on understanding what AI is, assessing personal and organizational readiness for AI, and learning how to clearly define problems or questions that AI can appropriately support.

Participants leave with a realistic view of AI’s capabilities and limitations, a readiness snapshot for themselves and their organization, and a well-structured, well-understood prompt grounded in a real business scenario.

Structure

Week 1 – Foundation Building (90 minutes)

• Workshop orientation and goals
• What AI is and is not, with emphasis on generative AI and large language models
• Common misconceptions, limitations, and risks in business use
• Why AI efforts fail
• Personal and organizational AI readiness
• Introduction to problem-first thinking and the role of context in AI outputs

Participants complete an AI readiness diagnostic and identify one real business challenge that may be appropriate for AI support.

Week 2 – Application & Reflection (Asynchronous)

Participants review examples and learn a structured approach for expressing business needs clearly to AI tools.

·       Examples of strong and weak AI use cases in business contexts

·       A simple problem-framing approach for clarifying the business problem, the role it affects, and the intended outcome

·       An introduction to a structured approach for of translating a well-defined problem into clear instructions for AI tools

·       Guided exercises to:

o   Distinguish between questions AI can and cannot reliably support

o   Refine a vague business request into a clear, focused prompt

o   Draft an initial version of a structured prompt tied to a real work scenario

Participants may consult with the instructor on business-specific questions.

Week 3 – Synthesis & Peer Learning (90 minutes)

Interactive session focused on presenting and refining prompts tied to real business scenarios, testing their clarity and scope, and discussing appropriate use and limitations:

·      Peer review and discussion of draft prompts

• Refinement of prompts based on clarity, scope, and intended outcome
• Discussion of risks, guardrails, and appropriate use of human judgment
• Guidance on how to reuse and adapt prompts responsibly over time
• Identification of realistic next steps

Ideal For

Business leaders, managers, and entrepreneurs who seek a clear, practical understanding of AI; need to assess readiness before acting; and want a structured way to communicate effectively with AI tools—without requiring technical expertise or prior experience.