This intensive three-day, instructor-led bootcamp helps teams quickly build practical AI skills for the workplace. Through hands-on exercises and real-world applications, participants learn how to use AI tools effectively, document AI-assisted workflows, and develop team guidelines for responsible AI use. The program is designed around participants' day-to-day job functions and requires no technical background.

Who should attend

This bootcamp is designed for:

• Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMB) employees who want a structured, fast-track introduction to AI tools used in the workplace.
• Customer service, sales, administrative, and operations staff who complete repetitive written tasks as part of their daily role.
• Teams whose schedule does not support a multi-week program but who require equivalent structured training.
• Business owners seeking to build AI capability across their workforce in a compressed timeframe.

Participants who complete the program will receive:

• A working knowledge of what AI is, what it is not, and how to use it safely in a business context.
• A personal prompt library of 20 or more tested prompts developed around their own job tasks.
• The skills to operate at least one AI tool independently beginning on Day 1 after training.
• A certificate of completion from Change Connect.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• Explain how AI works and identify where it can and cannot be reliably applied.
• Apply a structured prompt framework to produce useful, consistent AI output.
• Classify their own work tasks using an Automate / Augment / Protect framework taught in class.
• Operate their chosen AI tool across at least three core work tasks with instructor-guided practice.
• Assess AI output quality and apply self-correction techniques introduced during training.
• Contribute to a shared team AI use guide and prompt library completed in the final session.

Why you should attend

AI is already present in today's workplace. The AI Starter Bootcamp gives your team the skills to use it effectively — without losing weeks of productivity:

• No Technical Background Required: All instruction is designed for everyday business users. No prior knowledge of programming or data science is assumed.
• Immediately Applicable Skills: Every in-class exercise draws on real tasks from participants' own workday, so learning is applied from the first session.
• Compatible With Your Existing Tools: Sessions are structured around Copilot, HubSpot, Claude,or ChatGPT — platforms your team is likely already licensed to use.
• Intensive Format, Lasting Results: Three full days of focused, practice-based instruction builds deeper skills than a single workshop while fitting into a single business week.
• A Clear Pathway to Further Training: The AI Starter Bootcamp is the recommended prerequisite for the AI Essentials program for teams ready to advance.

3 Days: 6.5 hours of instructor-led training per day

3 Sessions: One session per half-day block, in-person or virtual

1 Prompt Library: 20+ prompts built during in-class exercises

Final Assessment: 70% required to receive certificate

Is financial assistance available?

Yes. Many businesses are eligible for financial assistance through the Ontario Job Grant Program. Eligible employers may receive up to 83% of eligible training costs, to a maximum of $10,000 per participant. Please contact us for details.

DAY 1 — Foundations & Prompt Engineering

SESSION 1 (AM) What Is AI — Really?

Instructors introduce the foundational concepts of artificial intelligence in plain business language. This session explains how large language models function, the three limitations every user must understand (hallucination, absence of persistent memory, and knowledge cutoff), and why most AI failures in the workplace result from unclear instructions rather than tool limitations. Participants are introduced to a structured task log they will complete during the lunch break and into the afternoon session.

Learning Outcomes:

• Explain how AI works and identify where it commonly fails, in plain terms.
• Recognise misconceptions that lead to poor AI results.
• Begin a personal task log that records the frequency and business value of daily work tasks.

SESSION 2 (PM) Prompt Engineering Fundamentals

This session provides direct instruction in prompt construction using the four-lever framework: role, context, format, and constraints. Participants apply the framework during in-class exercises using tasks drawn from their own task logs, completed earlier in the day. Instructors cover zero-shot and few-shot prompting techniques, how to assign a persona to an AI tool, and the most common cause of prompt failure. Participants leave Day 1 with a starter prompt library of at least ten tested prompts.

Learning Outcomes:

• Write effective prompts using the role-context-format-constraints framework taught in class.
• Apply zero-shot and few-shot techniques to real work tasks during structured exercises.
• Build a personal starter prompt library of at least 10 tested prompts by end of day.

DAY 2 — AI Opportunity Mapping & Tool Practice

SESSION 3 (AM/PM) Your AI Opportunity Map & Tool Practice

The morning opens with participants applying the task classification framework to organise their task logs on a two-by-two matrix using the axes of Repetitiveness and Customer Value. Through instructor-led group discussion, shared patterns are identified and participants select their top three quick wins. After lunch, the session moves into hands-on, instructor-guided practice in the AI platform your team uses: Microsoft Copilot (M365, Teams, Outlook, Excel), HubSpot AI (email, CRM, content, sequences), Claude (writing, analysis, summarisation), or ChatGPT (GPT-4o, file analysis, Custom GPTs). All exercises are built around participants' actual work tasks.

Learning Outcomes:

• Classify personal tasks on the AI opportunity matrix using the framework taught in class.
• Identify and prioritise the top three AI quick wins relevant to their role.
• Operate the chosen AI tool across at least three core work tasks with instructor guidance.
• Expand the personal prompt library with role-specific, tested prompts.

DAY 3 — Applied Practice, Governance & Wrap-Up

SESSION 4 (AM/PM) Putting It Into Practice & Simple Governance

Day 3 opens with participants sharing one successful outcome and one failure from their prior day's practice. Working in pairs and small groups with instructor facilitation, they troubleshoot and improve their prompts using a structured review checklist. At least one workflow is refined into a repeatable, documented process during the morning block. In the afternoon, participants work together to produce a one-page AI use guide for their team covering acceptable use, data handling boundaries, and the criteria for applying human review. An internal AI champion is designated and the completed shared prompt library is distributed to all participants.

Learning Outcomes:

• Troubleshoot and improve prompts based on output failures from prior practice.
• Evaluate AI output quality using a structured review checklist introduced in class.
• Document at least one workflow as a repeatable, structured process.
• Produce a one-page AI use guide for the team as an in-class group activity.
• Designate an AI champion and schedule a 90-day follow-up to sustain adoption.