AI for Business Leaders Workshop

Case Study: Leading Victorian-Based University

Overview:

This case study focused on the AI for Business Leaders workshop, delivered by Academy Xi to a leading Victorian-based university. The program aimed to equip business leaders with foundational knowledge of AI, its applications, and its ethical considerations. Training covered everything from understanding AI concepts and terminology to identifying opportunities for AI implementation within organisations.

Challenge:

Before this workshop, many business leaders faced barriers in understanding and adopting AI. Common concerns included navigating the regulatory landscape, modernising legacy systems, and the lack of skilled talent to implement AI solutions. Executives were increasingly aware that nearly half of workforce skills could be obsolete by 2025, and many feared being unprepared for the future of work. Misconceptions about AI’s true capabilities and limitations further hindered adoption.

Solution:

The AI for Business Leaders workshop addressed these challenges through a comprehensive, hands-on program:

• Foundational Knowledge: Introducing key AI concepts, terminology, possibilities, and limitations while dispelling misconceptions.
  
  
• Current Use Cases & Tools: Demonstrating real-world applications and engaging participants with tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and image generation AI.
  
  
• Practical Application: Facilitating SWOT analyses for AI opportunities within participants’ organisations and teaching prompting frameworks like CIDI (Context, Instructions, Detail, Input).
  
  
• Ethical Considerations: Exploring bias, privacy, intellectual property, and existential risks, while emphasising responsible innovation.
  
  

Becoming AI Ready: Highlighting the importance of clean data and guiding participants through AI strategy development.

Implementation:

Delivered as an intensive 7-hour program, the workshop combined foundational sessions, interactive exercises, and facilitated discussions. Participants actively engaged with real-world examples, applying frameworks and tools to their own contexts.

Results:

Leaders left the workshop with a stronger understanding of AI’s role in enhancing productivity, efficiency, and customer service while reducing repetitive tasks and costs.

Key outcomes included:

• Improved knowledge worker performance: Consultants using AI completed 12.2% more tasks, 25.1% faster, and at 40% higher quality.
  
  
• Awareness of AI adoption speed: ChatGPT reached 100M users in just 9 months — faster than any comparable service.
  
  
• Recognition of AI’s economic potential: Generative AI could automate 60–70% of employees’ tasks and add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy.
  
  
• Practical opportunity identification: Participants pinpointed “low-hanging fruit” for AI integration.
  
  

Stronger prompting skills: Practical CIDI-based exercises improved participants’ ability to achieve better AI outcomes.

Testimonial

“The AI for Business Leaders workshop provided a comprehensive and practical understanding of AI. It demystified the technology and showed us how to leverage it effectively and ethically within our business. The interactive sessions and real-world examples were invaluable in helping us identify tangible opportunities for AI integration.”

Conclusion:

Through the AI for Business Leaders workshop, Academy Xi delivered essential knowledge and practical tools to senior leaders at a leading Victorian-based university. By breaking down misconceptions, emphasising ethical considerations, and offering strategic frameworks, the program ensured participants were not only “AI-ready” but also positioned to lead their organisations into a future where human potential is amplified by intelligent technology.