Part 5 - Why you are the perfect AI teacher
I once gave some AI workshops to a London based charity.
"We had one of the Big Four come in last month to talk about AI," the director told me after my workshop. "Spent two hours explaining gradient descent and neural networks. Half the room fell asleep, the other half looked terrified."
"What did you think of today?" I asked.
"Finally, someone who speaks human. Our team actually understands what they can actually do with AI now."
Businesses don't need AI experts.
They need AI translators.
People who can bridge the gap between what's possible and what's practical for their specific world.
In this Playbook we've covered building authority, creating solutions, and now we're talking about the third legitimate opportunity (and the one I think is most exciting): teaching businesses to actually use AI effectively.
Let's get started:
- Why businesses desperately need AI education (but not the kind you'd expect)
- How to start teaching for free and scale to $4000++/hour workshops
- The surprising simplicity of what businesses actually need to learn
- Your industry knowledge makes you a better trainer than generic consultants
The Education Gold Rush
Here's what happened over the past year: every business got the memo that they need to "do something with AI." Most have no clue what that something should be. Just…get to it! AI time!
The result? Massive demand for AI education. But not the technical kind - the practical kind.
There’s a pattern:
- First some guy from the IT department does a session. Bless, he’s not the best communicator and doesn’t understand why everyone doesn’t seem to be “getting it”. Staff leave thinking AI probably isn’t for them.
- Then a consultant or advisory company is brought in. They do an amazing, glitzy demo on AI and all it’s advances. We learn about the history of AI, why generative AI is different, how it works and are given a menu of different textual, visual, audio and other uses for AI. So wow! Such technology! Staff feel overwhelmed. Maybe they aren’t smart enough for all this?
- Finally someone like myself (or one of my students) comes in. OK, here’s what AI is and how to think about it, here’s how to access it and we’ll run a couple of exercises suited to how you’ll be using it. And here are some experiments to play around with afterwards and some next steps. Got it? Cool. Staff members leave genuinely excited about what AI can do and start to mess around on a day to day basis.
The differences comes in talking the language of staff members. Breaking everything down to what actually matters to them. Do they need to know how the internet works to use it? Absolutely not - same with AI.
I started doing free workshops for charities because I genuinely wanted to help, and teaching forced me to learn faster. Word spread. Larger organisations started asking me to train their teams.
Now I (and my students) charge £1500-£4000++ per hour for workshops. Not because we're AI PhDs, but because we can explain AI without jargon to people who need to actually use it.
What Businesses Actually Need
This might surprise you, but most AI training requests are simpler than you'd ever imagine.
We're embedded in the AI world. You’re reading this guide so I know you are!
We think about prompt engineering, fine-tuning, RAG systems. We keep up to date with the new models (well, we try to! Ha!).
We assume businesses need the advanced stuff.
They don't.
They need basics. Sometimes it's as simple as "how do I download the correct ChatGPT app and not fall for scams?" For real this is a biggy - getting people to download the correct OpenAI ChatGPT app on their phone…
Yeah: basic level!
Once all staff have been given a basic introduction sure we can go deeper.
For example we can do department-specific training:
- Marketing teams learning to create better content
- HR understanding how to screen applications more efficiently
- Finance discovering how to automate routine analysis
- Operations seeing how to streamline repetitive processes
- etc.
And you can go into these different departments and give these after everyone has that base level foundation.
Your Secret Weapon: Industry Fluency
Here’s why you can do all this. And you can…
Generic AI consultants speak in technical terms. They talk about "large language models" and "training datasets."
You speak the language of your industry. You know the metaphors that make sense. You understand the actual problems people face daily. You can tell stories that relate.
The dudes in flash suits at McKinsey cannot. They are too embedded in the world of consulting. You can talk to your industry far better than they ever could because you live in it!
If you're training marketing teams, you don't talk about "token limits" - you talk about "getting better brief responses from your AI assistant." If you're with finance people, you don't explain "neural networks" - you show them how to automate expense categorisation. They don’t care how it works, only what they can do with it.
This is why I'm often brought in despite the IT department's preferences. Awkward! Teams need someone who can explain without intimidating.
The Core Message: AI is Communication
The breakthrough insight for most workshop attendees? AI is fundamentally about communication.
This is the ONE big learning outcome I want for my attendees. Honestly. It’s that simple.
I show them that if they can use WhatsApp they can use ChatGPT and pretty much any AI.
I also show them how it’s their writing and speaking ability that matters.
Sure, it’s wrapped up in fancy language like “prompt engineering” but it’s at its core just communication. Here’s a related video:
Once people understand this, the fear disappears. Suddenly they're asking better questions: "How do I give this thing better instructions?" "What kind of tasks is it actually good at?"
That's when real learning happens. it becomes an actual constructive conversation about their work and what AI can do for them. =
Getting Started: The Free Workshop Strategy
Want to break into AI training? Start with free workshops.
I began with local charities. Low pressure, genuine desire to help, and the perfect place to refine your material. You'll quickly learn what resonates and what confuses people.
Document everything:
- Take photos of engaged audiences
- Collect written testimonials
- Record feedback about what worked best
- Note common questions and objections
This becomes your credibility package for paid workshops. You then “rank up” and start to charge increasing amounts. My first paid workshop was around £100/hour only!
The progression looks like this:
Free workshops: Build credibility, refine material, get testimonials
$500-1000: Local businesses, business groups, small teams, proving your value
$1500-2500: Mid-size companies, department-wide training
$3000-4000: Large organisations, conferences
Seems like a lot of cash for you personally right?
I thought this too until I reframed.
So I gave a talk once to 400++ people. Probably 500 but let’s keep the numbers easy.
It was a one hour talk, 400 people, $4000. That’s $10 per attendee.
Huh. Wait. That’s CHEAP!
Sure as an individual I still walk away with $4000 for an hour. Fantastic. Very happy. But the client got $10/hour/attendee training. Very cost effective. Everyone wins.
Once you reframe like this you realise how it’s possible to charge so much. It’s because you are delivering even more value.
Beyond One-Off Workshops
The beautiful thing about AI training? It opens doors to everything else.
After a successful workshop, you become the go-to AI person for that organisation. They'll ask about:
- Ongoing consulting on AI strategy
- Custom automation projects (hello, Part 4)
- Executive briefings for leadership
- Department-specific implementation help
One workshop can turn into months of work if you deliver genuine value. Basically you are getting a foot in the door and showing them you know what you talk about. You are just getting paid at the same time.
Tools and Resources
If you want to start running workshops but don't want to build everything from scratch, I license my complete AI Workshop Kit. All the materials, slides, and frameworks I use plus training on how to customise materials and find clients. The whole shebang!
I'm also working on a DIY version where you'll DIY workshop materials. Currently gathering feedback on what people need most - join the waitlist if you're interested.
