AI Fundamentals for Executives
Practical AI fluency for Legal, HR, Purchasing, Marketing, Operations, and peer functions — ready for board, vendor, and team conversations. Build judgment for boardrooms, vendors, and people decisions — week by week.
Executive summary
Build fluency for the room: what AI really is, the terms that matter in meetings, where it helps your function, what to buy and ban, and how to lead people through change. One lesson a week for twelve weeks, each about 30–40 minutes — summary, concepts, practice, and deeper materials when you want them.
Course progress
0%
0 of 12 weeks done
This week’s time
~35m
What AI Really Is (and Isn’t)
Library depth
68
Guides, terms, cases, tools, podcasts
This week
35 minWeek 1: What AI Really Is (and Isn’t)
A working mental model for boardrooms, contracts, and team decisions
- Listen to the executive summary
- Concept briefs, hands-on exercise, and quiz
- Deeper materials and cases tied to this week’s decisions
For your desk
I work in…
Highlights examples for your function in lessons and library picks.
How fluency builds
1 · Grasp the idea
Weekly executive summary and the concepts that matter in meetings.
2 · Stress-test judgment
Hands-on practice and scenario quizzes tied to real decisions.
3 · Go deeper on demand
Library briefs, cases, and external reports when you need more depth.
For every function
Library picks to start
- 1AI 101 for Business LeadersA clear map of artificial intelligence: what it is, the two buckets most businesses use (analytics vs generative), and the leadership questions that matter more than algorithms. Built for experienced executives who need board-ready fluency, not a computer science degree.
- 2Hype vs Reality: A Quick FilterA short filter for pitches and headlines: separate demos from durable capability, marketing claims from evaluated performance, and moonshots from process improvements you can run this quarter.
- 3Data Is the FuelWhy data quality, coverage, and permissions determine AI outcomes more than model brand names — with executive questions for any initiative.
- 4Why Models Make Things UpAn accessible explanation of hallucinations in generative AI, when they are most dangerous, and practical mitigations (grounding, citations, human review).
External desk
Resources to explore further
Course map
Three-month path
Month 1: Foundations
What AI is, how it works, generative tools, function use cases.
Month 2: Risk & ownership
Bias, privacy, buying AI, governance you can run.
Month 3: Practice & leadership
Daily workflows, projects that scale, people, your 90-day plan.