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Intro to AI: Practical AI for Professionals

Intro to AI is a full-day, hands-on AI training course for professionals, taught in person by edje in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Participants go from installing an AI assistant to running their first working automation in a single day — 19 hands-on exercises, no technical background required.

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At a glance

Basic
level · prerequisites: None
1 day
In person, full day (8:30a–5:00p)
8.5
NASBA CPE credits (Group Live, Computer Software & Applications)
4 weeks
of office hours included after the course

About this course

A hands-on working session that takes professionals from first installation to working automation in one day. Participants install and configure an AI assistant on their own devices, learn a repeatable six-part prompt structure, connect the assistant to their real email, calendar, and files, direct browser and computer-control agents through multi-step tasks, and finish by packaging their own reusable skill and putting it on a schedule. Risk and governance content — prompt injection, data leakage, and the guardrails that mitigate them — is taught before any tools are connected, so participants adopt safe habits from the first exercise. The day closes with a capstone applying every technique to four recurring professional jobs: email triage, document review, presentations, and spreadsheets.

Instructor: Aaron Sparks, Founder, edje. Delivered in person, on-site at your office in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest.

What you'll learn

One full day that runs in order, from understanding AI to automating with it. Every topic is hands-on, on your own devices and accounts: 19 exercises, 4 polled knowledge checks, and a guided build-along, with two 15-minute breaks and a 45-minute lunch.

  • The AI landscapeChoosing the right model tier for a task based on complexity, cost, and stakes.
  • Risks and guardrailsPrompt injection, data leakage, shadow AI, and excessive agency, plus the least-privilege, approval-gate, and sandboxing habits that contain them.
  • Setup that sticksInstalling and configuring your assistant on desktop and mobile with organization-appropriate data settings.
  • Prompt engineeringA repeatable six-part prompt structure, iteration, and meta-prompting.
  • Trust, but verifyDetecting and defusing hallucinations with grounding, citations, and verification habits.
  • Connecting your toolsEmail, calendar, and files via MCP connectors, inside draft-only, approval-gated boundaries.
  • Context engineeringOne task per conversation, curated input, and summarize-and-restart.
  • Computer and browser controlDirecting an agent through multi-step tasks while you keep approval over consequential actions.
  • Skills, memory, and scheduled tasksPackaging a repeated workflow as a reusable skill and scheduling it as your first automation.
  • Capstone: the final four jobsEmail triage, document review, presentations, and spreadsheets, using every technique from the day.

Logistics & what to bring

  • Laptop and smartphone with permission to install applications.
  • Active work email account.
  • Pre-training checklist completed (provided on registration).
  • Taught on Claude or Microsoft Copilot, configured to your organization’s platform.
  • Includes four weeks of weekly office hours after the course.

Frequently asked questions

Who is this course for?

Professionals with no AI experience required — accountants, consultants, operators, managers.

Is it really hands-on?

Yes — 19 exercises; you leave with a working automation built on your own device and accounts.

Do we earn CPE credits?

Yes — 8.5 NASBA CPE credits (Group Live, Computer Software & Applications, Non-Technical).

Where is the course offered?

On-site at your office in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest (in-person only today).

What AI platform do you teach on?

Claude or Microsoft Copilot, whichever your organization uses.

Also in the catalog

Intermediate AI: Hands-On AI Agents

Operate an autonomous AI agent on your own laptop, climb a graduated autonomy ladder, and complete two measured capstones — a 90%+-accuracy text classifier and a working personal CRM.

View course details →

Bring this course to your team

Tell us about your team — size, roles, and which AI platform you use (or want to). We'll reply within one business day.