Leading AI Adoption - Course overview
This foundation course is for designers who need to make real decisions about where AI systems belong in their work, their teams’ workflows, and their organisations.
It is the right course for you, if:
- You lead designers, design initiatives, or the processes around them
- You need to make decisions about the tools your teams use, how your teams are structured, or how to engage your company’s leaders on AI
- You need frameworks for judgement and to evaluate opportunities, not just tool tutorials
- You are tired of AI hype and want real-world examples and insights on what really works and what fails
The challenge
AI is everywhere. Your team is experimenting with tools. Your executives are asking about strategy. Vendors are making claims you have no way to test. And the questions you're facing don't have straightforward answers:
- Where do AI systems belong in my team's workflows, and where do they not?
- How is AI reshaping design roles and what does this mean for my team?
- Which of the opportunities in front of me are real, and which are hype?
- How do I lead people through change honestly?
- How do I know if my organisation is actually ready?
- How do I speak credibly about what AI means for my team and company, in a conversation with an engineer, a data scientist, or a CFO?
- How do I tell, early, that an initiative is going to fail?
Most AI education is built for engineers or for executives. Very little is built for design leaders - the people who have to translate between technical possibility and human reality. We’ve heard from hundreds of design leaders around the world, who are in desperate need of practical frameworks, honest assessment methods, and the confidence to make smart decisions about AI - for your team, your products, and your organisation. This course gives you exactly that.
There is no technical background required. We teach AI concepts in accessible language focused on leadership decision-making and empowering you to become smarter as the future evolves.
Join the upcoming cohort
Enroll now or receive updates on the next start dates.
Assess your organisation's AI readiness
Speak credibly about AI capabilities
Work effectively with AI tools for your own decision-making
Distinguish genuine AI capabilities from vendor hype
Create realistic AI implementation action-plans
Decide where AI tools and systems belong in your team's workflows, and where they don't
Tey is a leader in AI strategy, product, and design. He was formerly a Partner at McKinsey, where he led McKinsey Design Europe and oversaw the firm’s client work in AI-driven customer experience and hyper-personalization. He brings over 20 years of professional experience — starting as a web designer, then evolving into a creative technologist and UX designer — before helping McKinsey build its digital, design, and AI capabilities and drive exponential growth for global organizations. Tey is a sought-after speaker and frequently presents at design conferences and events on the evolution of design leadership and the future of design.
Guest Lecturers
Daria is the VP of Design at SAP Build AI, where she leads design for AI-powered enterprise experiences.
Liya is XR Design Lead at Google where she's currently working on their newly announced spatial computing platform, including XR apps like Google Maps, YouTube, Photos and Google TV.
Want all course information at a glance? Request the flyer now!
Live session timings
There will be three live online sessions in total in this course.
Self-study Onboarding starts on Fri Oct. 23
Kick-off (90 min): Thu Oct. 29 at 10am SF / 12pm Austin / 1pm NYC / 6pm Berlin
Workshop: What to Automate, Augment and Leave Alone (90 min): Mon Nov. 2 at 9am SF / 11am Austin / 12pm NYC / 6pm Berlin
Strategy Lab: Pressure-Testing Your Plan (90 min): Fri Nov. 6 at 9am SF / 11am Austin / 12pm NYC / 6pm Berlin
Onboarding
We start the course with a self-study onboarding module where you’ll make yourself familiar with the learning platform and the flow of the course, start working through the curated list of learning materials and define your current AI-related challenge. We’ll share and discuss our challenges in the kick-off session.
Kick-off session (90 min)
Meet your instructor, connect with your cohort and start your learning journey. We’ll discuss the AI challenge you defined during onboarding, preview the key frameworks you’ll master, and set you up for immediate impact. Come curious and prepared – this is where we establish the foundation for the course. You'll leave with a clearly framed challenge and a group of peers who'll work on it with you for the rest of the course.
Workshop: What to Automate, Augment and Leave Alone (90 min)
How are design teams actually changing the way they work with AI tools and systems? We'll look at real examples of what has worked and what hasn't, including from guest expert Liya Safina's work at Google. In your group, you'll then map your own team's work: where these tools belong, where they don't, and what that means for the people doing it.
Strategy Lab: Pressure-Testing Your Plan (90 min)
You'll bring the plan you've built over the course so far and present it to your group to pressure-test, with your instructor and guest expert Daria Tarawneh (SAP, Miro) moving between rooms to coach. You'll leave with a 30-day action plan and a clear way to take it back to your organisations and teams.
Bring your real AI challenges for live coaching. Hear from leaders who've succeeded (and failed) at AI transformation. Leave with your personalized 30-day action plan.
Self-study activities and exercises
Between sessions, you’ll work through a curated set of reading materials and videos on AI fundamentals and strategic frameworks, experiment with AI tools firsthand, and complete guided exercises. Every activity builds toward one overarching goal: for you to leave confident in making smart AI decisions.