AI for Business: A Practical Bootcamp for SMEs is a four-week, weekend-only programme designed to help business owners and their teams use artificial intelligence confidently in everyday business activities.

Through live demonstrations, guided exercises and a practical business project, participants will learn how to use AI to support customer communication, marketing, document preparation and business planning. The programme focuses on tasks that small and medium-sized businesses regularly handle, helping participants identify useful applications and choose tools that fit their needs and budgets.

No coding experience is required. Participants will work with a real or sample business throughout the programme, gradually building a toolkit they can adapt to their operations. They will also learn how to review AI-generated content, protect sensitive information and recognise situations that require professional advice or human judgement.

Who should attend

• SME owners, entrepreneurs and startup founders.
• Managers and employees responsible for business operations.
• Marketing, sales and customer service teams.
• Freelancers and consultants serving small businesses.

What participants will learn

By the end of the bootcamp, participants will be able to:

• Identify business tasks where AI can provide useful support.
• Write clear prompts that include context, instructions and the desired output.
• Draft and refine marketing content, business documents and customer responses.
• Use AI to organise ideas, summarise feedback and support planning.
• Evaluate tools based on usefulness, cost and ease of adoption.
• Check outputs for accuracy, tone and unsupported claims.
• Apply basic privacy safeguards when using business information.
• Create a realistic plan for introducing AI into selected business activities.

Week 1: AI Fundamentals & Business Opportunities

Understand how generative AI works at a practical level, what it can support and where it can make mistakes. Participants will identify repetitive or time-consuming tasks in their businesses and learn a structured approach to prompting.

Topics for the week will include AI capabilities and limitations, selecting an initial tool, writing effective prompts, and handling information responsibly.

Practical output: A business task assessment and a starter prompt library tailored to the participant’s role.

Week 2: AI for Marketing & Sales Support

Learn how to use AI to develop content ideas, draft product or service descriptions and prepare promotional materials. Participants will practice adapting content to their audience and brand voice while checking facts and avoiding misleading claims.

Topics of the week include content calendars, social media captions, email campaigns, sales follow-up messages, and creative briefs.

Practical output: A two-week marketing content plan with reviewed drafts and customer follow-up templates.

Week 3: AI for Customer Service & Business Operations

Explore how AI can support common customer enquiries, internal documents and routine planning. Participants will practice creating response templates, drafting procedures and summarising fictional or anonymized business information.

Topics of the week include FAQs, complaint-response drafts, meeting summaries, standard operating procedures and basic interpretation of business data. Human review and clear escalation procedures will remain part of each workflow.

Practical output: A customer communication toolkit and one documented business workflow.

Week 4: Implementation & Business Project

Bring the learning together into a practical AI adoption plan. Participants will select a small number of useful applications, define review responsibilities and decide how to measure whether the tools are helping.

Topics include tool costs, staff adoption, quality checks, privacy considerations, and measuring time spent, output quality, or response consistency.

Practical output: A completed business toolkit and a 30-day AI implementation plan.

Final business project

Each participant will develop and present an AI-supported toolkit for a real or sample business, containing:

• A tailored prompt library.
• A marketing content plan.
• Customer enquiry and follow-up templates.
• One documented operational workflow.
• A 30-day implementation plan with simple measures of progress.

Delivery and participation

The proposed format is eight live online sessions over four weekends, with three hours per session and guided assignments between weekends.