AI TRAINING
12-Week AI Transformation for SME Leadership
Launch three AI pilots, build governance, and deliver board-ready outcomes your leadership team owns.
What it covers
A structured 12-week programme guiding the CEO and leadership team of a 50-250 person company through the full AI transformation cycle. Participants identify high-value use cases, run three supervised pilots, stand up a lightweight governance framework, and select a vendor stack. The programme combines weekly live sessions with peer cohort work and concludes with a board-grade outcomes dashboard each team presents to stakeholders.
What you'll be able to do
- Identify and rank at least five AI use cases by ROI potential using a repeatable scoring framework
- Design, launch, and evaluate three AI pilots with defined success metrics within the 12-week period
- Produce a documented AI governance policy covering data, risk, and accountability appropriate for an SME
- Build and activate an internal champion network capable of sustaining AI adoption after the programme ends
- Deliver a board-ready outcomes dashboard summarising pilot results, costs, and next investment decisions
Topics covered
- AI opportunity mapping and use-case prioritisation for SMEs
- Running and evaluating three internal AI pilots
- Standing up a lightweight AI governance and ethics framework
- Building an internal AI champion network
- Vendor and tool stack evaluation and selection
- Data readiness assessment and quick wins
- Change management and employee communication
- Board-grade AI outcomes dashboard design
Delivery
Delivered primarily online via weekly 90-minute live group sessions with async work between sessions. One optional in-person kick-off day and one in-person closing showcase are recommended but not mandatory. Each leadership team works as a single cohort; cross-company peer cohorts of 3-5 SMEs can be formed for shared learning. Materials include workbooks, pilot templates, vendor scoring matrices, and a governance policy starter kit. Hands-on work accounts for approximately 60% of total programme time.
What makes it work
- CEO actively participates in at least 80% of live sessions and visibly sponsors the programme internally
- Each pilot has a named business owner accountable for outcomes, not just an IT or ops lead
- The champion network is formed by week four and meets independently of the programme cadence
- Board presentation is treated as a real governance moment, not a show-and-tell, with concrete budget decisions on the table
Common mistakes
- Delegating the programme to a junior manager instead of keeping the CEO actively involved, which stalls decisions
- Selecting pilots based on technical interest rather than business impact, producing impressive demos with no ROI
- Skipping the governance module as 'too early', then facing a data or compliance incident mid-pilot
- Choosing a vendor stack before completing the data readiness assessment, locking in tools that don't fit actual data maturity
When NOT to take this
This programme is not the right fit for a company that has already deployed AI in production across multiple functions and needs deep technical upskilling — they need a practitioner or MLOps-level track, not a leadership transformation programme.
Providers to consider
Sources
This training is part of a Data & AI catalog built for leaders serious about execution. Take the free diagnostic to see which trainings your team needs.