ex-Deutsche Bank | Oxford University

AI often looks great at the demo but fails at adoption. In the "Tech Bubble," AI is about building the next cool thing. In legacy organizations, AI is about navigating deep-seated inertia, skeptical or frightened stakeholders, and "unreliable" or siloed data.
This course is the antidote to "Silicon Valley" theory. We focus on the messy reality of non-tech environments such as professional services firms or regulated entities.
We tackle the three pillars of real-world AI leadership:
The Culture Factor: Addressing the emotional threats AI poses to expertise and judgment (Homo Emotivus), cultural issues around change and technology, and the required governance frameworks that AI requires.
Bridge Patterns: Starting from the mantra 'people, process, and technology,' we learn how to bring any business function to 100% AI readiness.
Roadmapping: Shifting from "AI Evangelist" to "Implementation Leader" by delivering a concrete 90-day roadmap.
Stop chasing the hype. Join a cohort of operators and subject matter experts who are inspired by AI and want to make it a repeatable, unremarkable part of how their organization works.
Master AI transformation in legacy firms by auditing use cases, building practical roadmaps, and winning over skeptics.
You’ll be able to evaluate any business function using a three-dimensional diagnostic test (People, Process, Technology).
Define specific prerequisites (documentation, data, or trust), needed before moving an AI pilot into full production.
Learn how to use templates to scale this process across your organization.
Deploy "Bridge Patterns" like Bottom-Up Enablement to bypass rigid legacy constraints and earn the permission to scale.
Identify and neutralize the emotional threats AI poses to your team's expertise, judgment, and professional legitimacy.
Use practical heuristics to bridge data and process gaps without waiting for a total (and expensive) IT overhaul.
Synthesize triage findings and bridge strategies into a concrete 30/60/90-day action plan tailored to your firm’s reality.
Shift your organization's focus from "Cool Demos" to "Boringly Useful" infrastructure.
Secure "Legitimacy Wins" in the first 30 days to build the political capital needed for full-scale adoption by day 90.
Identify the three core emotional threats AI poses to your team’s expertise, professional judgment, and organizational legitimacy.
Apply the right empathy techniques to pivot AI from a perceived career threat into a source of immediate relief for your domain experts.
Earn the "right to lead" by mapping emotional triggers and building a safe environment for your team to experiment without fear.

AI leader for the last 10 years in both tech and non-tech organizations.

Executives and emerging leaders within legacy organizations who want to lead AI initiatives.
Consultants who serve legacy organizations on AI related initiatives.
Executives within Small to Medium Size Businesses who know they need to modernize.

Live sessions
Learn directly from Julian Gilson in a real-time, interactive format.
Workshops
transition from theory to execution. You will leave these sessions with your own AI pilot roadmap and a validated tech stack.
Frameworks
Proprietary frameworks (e.g., The AI-Legacy Fit Score) to help you decide what to automate and what to protect.
Peer Network
A private community of senior professionals and consultants navigating the same corporate hurdles in real-time.
Maven Guarantee
This course is backed by the Maven Guarantee. Students are eligible for a full refund up until the halfway point of the course.
8 live sessions • 12 lessons
Feb
25
Feb
27
Mar
4
Mar
6
Live sessions
3 hrs / week
Wed, Feb 25
5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Fri, Feb 27
6:00 PM—7:00 PM (UTC)
Wed, Mar 4
5:00 PM—6:30 PM (UTC)
Projects
1 hr / week
Async content
1 hr / week
$795
USD