This course is for people who seek to learn AI hands-on in a small cohort with personalized coaching from an experienced UC Berkeley data and AI instructor.

🌟 RECENT TESTIMONIALS: 4.8/5 🌟

📣 "Hands-on AI for Leaders" was a transformative experience that elevated my AI expertise through practical applications and is possibly the best pound-for-pound learning experience I've had. James is an excellent facilitator and guide to unlocking AI's potential!"

📣 "This course exceeded my expectations. James does an excellent job of tailoring the live sessions to the specific needs and interests of each cohort, ensuring that every student gets the most out of the experience."

📣 "An exceptional journey into practical AI as a non-programmer driven by curiosity, I was amazed by how accessible James made the world of AI. This course delivered far beyond basic assistant usage - we learned to create workflows and build agentic systems that solve real problems. What sets this course apart: - Perfect balance of theory with extensive hands-on practice."

WHAT WE WILL FOCUS ON

Throughout the course, we will focus on building AI solutions to accelerate personal productivity and business process scenarios while learning cutting-edge AI tools. As a seasoned UC Berkeley ExecEd instructor, my experience is that leaders and professionals must understand AI practically and quickly to create value. Leaders who blend business savvy with technical expertise will lead the intelligence economy.

Over four weeks of live, hands-on training and office hours, you'll learn how to:

1. Master AI assistants to boost productivity. I'll show you how to use the latest cutting-edge AI tools and prompt patterns to get personalized, high-value responses.

2. Build AI workflows to automate work. We'll build systems where LLMs and tools are orchestrated through predefined workflow steps to automate a scenario and achieve an outcome. You will get hands-on experience with multiple tools (assistants and platforms) to strengthen your knowledge and skills.

3. Build an agent to achieve an outcome autonomously. I will demonstrate how to build agent systems where LLMs dynamically plan and execute strategies with tools to accomplish a goal. You will design, build, and deploy a multi-agent system with no-code and pro-code approaches.

4. Vibe-code using AI to write code. I will show you how to build AI prototypes and solutions using cutting-edge tools that generate code from your requirements. This will expand your creativity and accelerate the building of unique solutions.

5. Strengthen your AI technical expertise. I will demystify technical concepts and share the latest platforms, patterns, and trends so that you lead with authority.

🙌 This hands-on course allows you to practice the concepts and learn how to integrate AI into your work and business.

WHY THIS COURSE

✅ AI lessons and assignments for leaders and non-technical professionals, not engineers. Many AI courses are too technical for leaders and, therefore, not a good use of their time. Leaders do not need to understand concepts at a technical depth, just as engineers do. 

✅ Practical applications of AI. Leaders must cut through the AI hype and understand what is possible through proven technical frameworks and tools explained at the right altitude and in a business context. Given its design for hands-on learning, this course is not for those seeking AI theory.

✅ Guidance from a seasoned technology leader and B-school instructor. Leaders need timely and practical answers to their questions about AI concepts and technologies, not more hype videos. This course is designed by a technical leader for a leader.

✅ Personalized feedback and coaching (limited to 20 students). Since most people have different levels of knowledge and unique interests, I purposely limit the cohort size to provide cohort members with the personalized guidance they need.

✅ Office Hours. Each week, there are two hours of open time to focus on your questions and work, applying the course concepts to your scenarios.

✅ Evergreen content. The course material is refreshed monthly and accessible on shared Google Drive.

WHY LEARN FROM JAMES

🔷 Technology and Business Mix: James has a unique mix of technology and business experience, including over 20 years of building data and AI platforms and products at leading companies, including Microsoft. He has held technical roles as a data scientist and IT leader (Microsoft) and executive roles as a Chief Product Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Data and AI Architect. 

🔷 Seasoned Berkeley Instructor. As a Berkeley Haas Data Strategy and AI Strategy course instructor, he has instructed over 3,000 students worldwide. James is well-known for translating technical topics into easy-to-understand concepts for a business audience.

🔷 Data and AI Practioner. Ex-Microsoft data scientist and product manager practitioner with hands-on expertise in building data and AI products. Earned a Master of Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley.

🔷 Coach-like Learning. As a certified leadership coach, James brings a coach-like style to learning experiences by understanding each person's unique needs and meeting them where they are. James has coached hundreds of tech pros and leaders at top companies, including Microsoft, AWS, and GitHub.

AFTER THE COURSE

🧪 Hands-on AI Lab. After the course, learning will continue with a community and events to share knowledge, prototype solutions, and sustain experience to lead with authority in the intelligence economy.

♻️ Evergreen course content. Quickly access new and refreshed course content published monthly on Google Drive to continue your learning.