Online and face to face training, coaching and events across the UK and Europe

AI Essentials

A practical introduction to generative AI: understand its strengths and limitations, write effective prompts and use it responsibly in your role.

You want to keep growing, not feel left behind by the next tool. AI can open possibilities for your work, but confidence means knowing when to use it, what to check and what information to protect. We meet people at their starting point and make space to try, question and learn.

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Thrive Training Lab

Explore. Practise. Make it yours.

Duration

Half day · 3.5 hours per half day

Group size

6–8 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,100

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £899

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

People use AI more thoughtfully when they understand both its possibilities and its limits.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

AI is becoming part of everyday work, yet many teams remain unsure where to start, what to trust or how to protect sensitive information. This half-day course explains generative AI in plain English, exploring how tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot and Gemini work, where they add value and where they can get things wrong.

Delegates practise writing clear prompts, checking outputs and applying responsible use principles within their organisation’s policies, including data privacy and security. They leave better equipped to assess AI-generated content, use tools with greater confidence and identify three practical applications in their own role.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • Uncertainty about where to start with workplace AI
  • Sensitive data or unreliable outputs handled without safeguards
  • Confusion about what generative AI can reliably support
  • Vague instructions limiting useful first experiments with approved tools

What this can change at work

Confidence with AI needs curiosity and a healthy checking habit. Plain-English explanations and practical prompting help people understand what generative tools can offer, where they fall short and how organisational policies shape their use. Teams can discuss possible applications more thoughtfully, protect sensitive information and bring a more informed approach to adoption, rather than treating every generated answer as ready for business.

More informed choices

Colleagues explain why an AI tool might suit a task and identify where its limitations require human judgement.

Safer starting information

People check organisational policy and remove sensitive information before entering material into an approved generative AI tool at work.

Practical first applications

Team discussions identify role-relevant uses for AI, with clear prompts and output checks agreed before colleagues try them.

Inside the workshop

Working in a small group of 6–8, delegates move from a plain-English introduction to guided demonstrations and live practice. Breakouts and peer-to-peer learning provide opportunities to refine prompts, spot errors in AI outputs and discuss privacy and security considerations. Delegates leave with practical prompting experience, a clearer understanding of responsible use and three potential use cases for their own work.

Make AI Essentials relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with what generative ai is, in plain english. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss this course

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • What generative AI is, in plain English
  • What AI is good at — and where it gets things wrong
  • Writing your first effective prompts
  • Data privacy, security and responsible use
  • Spotting AI errors and checking outputs
  • Finding the first use cases in your role

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
Half day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 6–8 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Explain how generative AI works and its limits
  • Write clear prompts that get useful results
  • Use AI safely within your organisation's policies
  • Identify three practical uses in your own role

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Explain how generative AI works and its limits.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting AI Essentials into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

Explore Speaking & Events

More from AI Skills Lab

Three live online labs for people starting out with AI: understand what it can and can't do, write effective prompts and use it safely to save time on everyday work.

3 × 2.5-hour live online sessions (7.5 hours)Maximum 8 participants

Course synopsis

Confidence with AI doesn't start with the cleverest tool — it starts with knowing what to ask, what to check and what to keep private. AI Online Lab Foundations is a practical introduction for professionals who are new to AI or using it occasionally. Across three live online sessions, participants learn how generative AI works in plain language, where it helps and where it falls short, and how to use it responsibly with company information. They then build prompting skills step by step and apply AI to everyday tasks such as drafting, summarising, planning and research. Every session is hands-on in approved tools, with time between sessions to try AI on real work and bring questions back to the group.

3 live sessions · 2.5 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Explain in plain language how generative AI works and where it falls short
  • Use AI safely in line with your organisation's guidance
  • Write clear prompts and improve results through iteration
  • Apply AI to everyday drafting, summarising and planning tasks
  • Check AI outputs for accuracy, tone and suitability

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £2,499 per group+ VAT

Course details

Three live online labs for confident AI users: advanced prompting techniques, AI for analysis and decision support, and building repeatable workflows and assistants.

3 × 2.5-hour live online sessions (7.5 hours)Maximum 8 participants

Course synopsis

Once the basics are in place, the real value of AI comes from how well you design the work around it. AI Online Lab Advanced is for professionals who already use AI regularly and want to go further. Across three live online sessions, participants master advanced prompting techniques, use AI to analyse information and support better decisions, and design repeatable workflows and custom assistants for the tasks their team does again and again. The focus throughout is on quality and judgement: structuring complex requests, testing outputs, recognising bias and gaps, and building approaches colleagues can trust and reuse.

3 live sessions · 2.5 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Use advanced prompting techniques for complex, multi-step tasks
  • Analyse documents, data and research with AI while testing the results
  • Recognise bias, gaps and overconfidence in AI outputs
  • Design a repeatable workflow or custom assistant for a team task
  • Document and share AI approaches others can trust and reuse

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £2,999 per group+ VAT

Course details

your next step starts here —

Ready to step into the lab?

Your business. Our training. Together, we thrive.

Bring the challenge your people want to work on. We'll shape a practical training workshop or coaching experience around it — with room to explore, practise and take a useful next step.

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