AI for Business Tasks
Published by Pearson
Boost your productivity with AI tools for busy professionals
- Hands-on exercises: Every segment includes a real-world exercise using free tools.
- Business-first focus: Designed for busy professionals, not tech experts.
- Only proven tools: No hype—just practical, easy-to-demo AI that works today.
AI isn’t just for developers or data scientists—it’s a powerful productivity tool for business professionals as well. From writing emails and creating slide decks to summarizing meetings and automating routine tasks, AI can help you save time, reduce busy work, and focus on what matters most. This course provides a practical, hands-on introduction to using AI for everyday business tasks, using free, easy-to-access tools like ChatGPT, Canva, Gamma, Zapier, and more.
Designed for professionals in marketing, sales, HR, support, and operations, this class goes beyond theory. You’ll complete real-world exercises in each segment—drafting outreach emails, building presentations, generating visuals, and even building your own GPTs and automating workflows—so you leave with usable skills, not just inspiration. You’ll also learn how to protect yourself and your data from the risks associated with AI tools. If you want to boost productivity, improve output, and stay ahead in the AI-powered workplace, this course is a fast, actionable way to get started.
What you’ll learn and how you can apply it
- How to use AI tools to create content, presentations, and visuals
- The role of AI in automating everyday business tasks like note-taking and email writing
- How to generate personalized marketing and sales outreach using AI
- Where AI fits into customer service, HR, and workflow automation processes
This live event is for you because...
- You’re a business professional looking to save time and work smarter with AI
- You want hands-on experience using free tools to complete real business tasks
- You’re a beginner—no technical skills required, just a desire to be more efficient
Prerequisites
Course Set-up
- The tools used throughout the course include: ChatGPT, Gamma.app, Quillbot, Otter.ai, Canva, Zapier (Optional sign-up to follow along)
Recommended Follow-up
- Attend: Perplexity AI Essentials by Rick Crisci
- Watch: Quick Start Guide to Large Language Models (LLMs): ChatGPT, Llama, Embeddings, Fine-Tuning, and Multimodal AI by Sinan Ozdemir
Schedule
The time frames are only estimates and may vary according to how the class is progressing.
Segment 1: Getting Started with AI for Work (15 minutes)
- What AI can (and can’t) do well in business
- Prompting basics: what makes a good AI prompt (clarity, context, constraints)
- Tool: ChatGPT (free tier)
- Exercise: Use ChatGPT to summarize your to-do list or meeting notes
Segment 2: Instant Slide Decks with AI (15 minutes)
- Turn a topic into a presentation
- Tool: Gamma.app (free version)
- Live Demo: Generate a 5-slide deck from a prompt
Segment 3: Smarter Writing and Editing (15 minutes)
- Fix tone, grammar, and structure
- Prompting tip: Add tone guidance and intended audience for best results
- Tool: Quillbot (free version)
- Exercise: Refine a paragraph into professional client-ready copy
Segment 4: Business Emails in Seconds (15 minutes)
- Write and edit emails
- Organize your inbox automatically
- Tool: ChatGPT (free tier) and SaneBox
- Exercise: Turn a one-liner into a follow-up email
Q&A (5 minutes)
Break (10 minutes)
Segment 5: Meeting Notes & Action Items with AI (20 minutes)
- Summarize meetings and extract tasks
- Prompting tip: Use structured cues like “Summarize key takeaways and next steps”
- Tool: Otter.ai (free plan)
- Live Demo: Upload meeting snippet
- Summary and tasks
Segment 6: Customer Support and Service (20 minutes)
- Build chatbot-style responses
- Tool: ChatGPT (free tier)
- Exercise: Draft a support script for common issues
Segment 7: Easily Create Custom GPTs and ChatBots (20 minutes)
- Create a custom GPT that will answer questions for on-boarding new employees
- Create a Chatbot in Chatbase for your website to answer customer FAQs
- Tool: Canva and ChatGPT (free tier)
- Exercise: Create a Social Media post complete with text and graphics.
Q&A (5 minutes)
Break (10 minutes)
Segment 8: AI Safety and Security (10 minutes)
- Understand key Cyber Security concerns presented by AI
- Learn simple ways to protect yourself and your data
Segment 9: AI for Marketing Content Creation (15 minutes)
- Automate admin tasks
- Tool: Zapier (free plan)
- Exercise: Build a Zap that routes form input into an email
Segment 10: Workflow Automation with AI (15 minutes)
- Automate admin tasks -Tool: Zapier (free plan)
- Exercise: Build a Zap that routes form input into an email
Segment 11: HR and Recruitment with AI (15 minutes)
- Screen resumes and prep interview questions
- Tool: ChatGPT (free tier)
- Exercise: Paste a job description → Generate 5 questions
Q&A and Course Wrap-Up and Next Steps (15 minutes)
- Final recap
- Challenge: Try 1 AI use case this week and report back
- Links to resources and prompt templates
Your Instructor
Rick Crisci
Rick Crisci is the owner TrainerTests.com, a leading online learning and test preparation platform. His original courses have been featured on multiple platforms including Pearson, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy. Rick has created over 30 courses and has taught over 250,000 students. Rick is also the co-author of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate Exam Cram book.
After over 15 years of real-world info systems and telecommunications experience, Rick became a VMware Certified instructor in 2013. Shortly after, he became an AWS Certified instructor. Rick still regularly teaches live AWS courses focused on exam preparation. VMware has recognized Rick as the first-place Instructor of the Year for the Americas due to the glowing feedback from his students.
Rick’s company, TrainerTests.com, provides video training, practice exams, and live training services. Rick has created many AWS courses for this platform including AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate, Certified Network Specialty, Certified Security Specialty, Reducing AWS costs, and much more.