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How this program works
The program is six live sessions over twelve weeks. Each session is live instruction with a chance to share what you're learning with your peers. New concepts are introduced in each one; after each session, you work on your capstone. By the end you have a working, function-level AI solution that you and your function can use.
The capstone is the frame the course is built around. Every assignment in the program is a stage of that one build — there is nothing else to submit. Between each session is a field period where the building happens; plan for roughly three to five hours a week. A scored baseline diagnostic, taken before and after, measures how far you've come.
Your Goal
The Capstone
What you'll deliver
A working, function-level AI solution: one working solution to support a function within your business area, with the value measured and the risks handled.
You build it in stages. The first three define and approve the work (your Capstone Charter). Stage four is the working version. Then you prove it works (evaluation), handle its risks, and sign off data governance. The last stage is your deployment plan — how the solution rolls out across your function, including communication and enablement.
1
Problem Definition
The one workflow you're changing — who it serves and why now.
Charter
2
Value Case
A baseline number, a target number, and a date to measure.
Charter
3
Model or Tool
The approved enterprise AI tool you'll build with.
Charter
4
Inputs → Prompts → Expected Outputs
The working first version of the solution.
Build
5
Evaluation
Does it produce the right output? Tested against a golden source before go-live and measured against your baseline.
Finish
6–7
Risks & Governance
Risks named and handled; data governance signed off.
Finish
8
Deployment Plan
How the solution rolls out across your function — communication and enablement.
Deploy
How your capstone is judged
The Capstone Rubric
The seven criteria your capstone is reviewed against. There is no separate exam — the capstone, against this rubric, is the measure of success. Read it now and build toward it.
Open PDF →
Before Session 1
Before you begin
Two things to complete on the platform before your cohort starts. They set your starting baseline and prepare you for the first live session.
1. Champion Onboarding
One guided onboarding, done in a single sitting. It captures your role and context and scores where your AI capability starts — the same diagnostic is run again at the end so your growth can be measured.
Role & Context
Your function, what you've been nominated to own, and your function's current AI maturity.
Baseline Diagnostic
A scored capability check that sets your starting baseline, measured again at the end of the program.
You'll have: your scored capability baseline, recorded and ready to measure against at the end.
Begin Onboarding
Available when your cohort opens.
Watch before Session 1
Assigned a minimum of two weeks before your cohort starts. These modules are the foundations for AI. It's important that you engage with them prior to the course so you have the prerequisite knowledge to get the most value out of the course. About 2.5 hours in total, and it's recommended you do them in small chunks. It's also highly encouraged to engage with the exercises — and note there is an AI coach to assist you along the way if you have questions.
C0
The Role of the Champion in AI Transformation
The five responsibilities the whole program is built around.
~10 min
01–08
Foundations — Tier 1 Core Course
The eight-module foundations sequence the whole program builds on.
~2 hrs
During the program, Jeff may point you to additional modules and exercises as they're useful to your capstone. Beyond the foundations above, none are required viewing.
Deliverables
Everything you'll submit
The full list, in order — and every item is a stage of your capstone, bracketed by the before/after baseline diagnostic. Each item is explained in the session where it's due.
Before Session 1
Complete the onboarding & baseline diagnostic, and the pre-work video modules (role + foundations) watched.
Field Period 1
Capstone Charter — Stages 1–3. Approved by your sponsor and reviewed by Jeff before you build.
Field Period 2
Working first version of your capstone (Stage 4). Comes to the Session 3 clinic.
Field Period 3
Finished, risk-checked build — Stages 5–7 complete.
Field Period 4
Function use-case scan of at least five use cases — the wide angle on your capstone — and your Capstone Dossier assembled.
Field Period 5
Process & agentic map, your Deployment Plan (Stage 8), and a polished capstone ready for the Showcase.
Session 6
Final capstone and Dossier submitted. Credential awarded.
The Program
The twelve weeks, session by session
Each session is one hour with Jeff. After each comes a field period where you build. Every assignment below is a stage of your capstone — the gold edge marks the spine. Open any item for the detail.
1
Session 1
The Champion Mandate
You leave knowing the role — you're here to drive AI transformation across your function — with your capstone scoped and approved to build.
In the session
- What a champion is: not the best AI user, but the person who makes a whole function better and leads its AI transformation.
- The five responsibilities, and the doing-to-directing shift at function scale.
- How a champion drives AI transformation across the business, function by function.
- A live pressure-test of the capstone each champion has scoped.
Field Period 1 · Scope your capstone
Define what you'll build and get it approved before any building starts. Stages 1–3 of the capstone workflow.
Your capstone this field period. Everything here is a stage of the one build. Assemble Stages 1–3 into your Charter and get it approved.
C1-1Stage 1 — Problem Definition▼
Pick one concrete function-level workflow. Using the capstone worksheet, write one sentence: the workflow, who it serves, and why it's being changed now.
C1-2Stage 2 — Value Case▼
Submit a baseline number, a target number, and a date to measure for that workflow.
C1-3Stage 3 — Model or Tool▼
Confirm and document the enterprise AI tool: named tool, approval status, and a one-line statement of why it fits.
C1-4Assemble the Capstone Charter▼
Stages 1–3 together form your Capstone Charter. It goes to your function sponsor for approval and to Jeff for direct written design feedback — both before building begins.
Submit by Session 2: your Capstone Charter (Stages 1–3), approved by your sponsor.
2
Session 2
Advanced Application
You can use AI well past the basics — the depth needed to build a real solution and to coach others.
In the session
- Beyond the six-step prompting framework: prompt chaining and custom assistants.
- Seeing use-case patterns across a whole function, not just one task.
- Judging AI output critically, at a depth that lets you guide others.
- Coaching prompting: turning a colleague's “it didn't work” into a teachable fix.
Field Period 2 · Build the first version
With the core skills in place, build the rough working version of your capstone. Stage 4.
Your capstone this field period. Build the rough working first version — ugly and working beats polished and imaginary.
C2-1Stage 4 — Inputs → Prompts → Expected Outputs▼
Build the rough working first version of your function solution. Bring it to the Session 3 Capstone Clinic.
Submit by Session 3: your working first version (Stage 4).
3
Session 3
Capstone Clinic
You get your in-progress capstone troubleshot live, before a problem becomes an end-of-program failure.
In the session
- Working session: champions bring in-progress capstones; Jeff and peers troubleshoot live.
- Common problems and how to fix them — Stage 4 in practice.
- How to evaluate a build before go-live: building a golden source, running it, and scoring against your baseline — Stage 5, taught live.
- Mid-program checkpoint: catching stalled work while there's still time.
- Setting up the use-case and process work that follows.
Field Period 3 · Finish the build: evaluate, then mitigate
Get the build to done, prove it works, then handle its risks and governance. Stages 5–7 complete the capstone build.
Your capstone this field period. Prove the build produces the right output, then name and handle its risks and sign off data governance — Stages 5 through 7.
C3-1Stage 5 — Evaluation▼
Prove the build works before go-live, in four steps: (1) build a golden source — real inputs paired with their known-correct outputs; (2) run the build against every case; (3) score actual against expected and log every miss; (4) measure the result against your Stage 2 baseline — this is where the value case is proven. Identify where the golden source is not enough (edge cases, unusual or adversarial inputs) and say what further testing they need.
C3-2Stages 6–7 — Risks & Governance▼
Name the top risks specific to this workflow, each with a mitigant and an owner. Write the one-paragraph data-handling statement and get data-owner sign-off.
Submit by Session 4: your finished build with evaluation results, risks handled, and governance signed off — Stages 5–7 complete.
4
Session 4
Identifying the Best Use Cases
You can spot and prioritize the AI use cases worth doing across your function — not just the obvious ones.
In the session
- What makes a use case a good fit for AI — and what makes one a trap.
- Finding use cases across the whole function, not just your own desk.
- Prioritizing by value, feasibility, and risk — deciding what to do first.
- From single task to portfolio: building your function's use-case list.
Field Period 4 · Scan your function, assemble the Dossier
Map the wider use-case landscape your capstone sits inside, then package the capstone you've now finished building.
Your capstone this field period. See where this build sits in your function's fuller set of opportunities, then bind the finished build into your Dossier.
C4-1Function use-case scan — the wide angle on your capstone▼
Still capstone work, one level up. Identify and document at least five AI use cases across your function, each scored for value, feasibility, and risk — the portfolio your capstone is the first piece of. This also feeds the organization's use-case portfolio.
C4-2Assemble the Capstone Dossier▼
Bind the completed stage artifacts into one package — your finished capstone, documented end to end. The Dossier must also include your observability process: the three changes that trigger re-evaluation (data, model, prompt) and the owner responsible. It's a required part of the Dossier, evidenced at the 60-day review rather than scored at the Showcase.
Submit by Session 5: your function use-case scan and your assembled Capstone Dossier.
5
Session 5
Deconstructing Processes & Agentic AI
You can break a process down to its steps and see where AI — including agentic AI — can take work off people's hands.
In the session
- Process deconstruction: breaking a workflow into its discrete steps and decisions.
- Where AI fits at each step — and where a human stays in the loop.
- What agentic AI is, in plain terms: AI that takes multi-step actions toward a goal, not just answers a prompt.
- Spotting agentic opportunities in your function — and the guardrails they need.
Field Period 5 · Map the process, plan deployment
Deconstruct your capstone workflow, plan how it rolls out across your function, and get ready for the Showcase.
Your capstone this field period. Map where agentic AI could extend the build, plan its rollout to your function, and polish for the Showcase.
C5-1Process & agentic map▼
Break your capstone workflow into steps. Mark where AI is doing the work today, and where agentic AI could extend it next.
C5-2Stage 8 — Deployment Plan▼
Plan how the solution reaches your function — this is how the capstone becomes something people actually use. Cover two things: communication (who needs to use it, what you'll tell them, and how you'll set expectations) and enablement (how you'll get the function using it well, and what support they need). The plan is the deliverable; the 60-day review checks the capstone against it.
C5-3Final polish▼
Polish the capstone ahead of the Showcase. The capstone build, reviewed against the Capstone Rubric, is the measure of success — there is no separate test.
Submit by Session 6: your process & agentic map, your Deployment Plan, and polished capstone.
6
Session 6
Capstone Showcase
You present a finished function-level capstone, earn the credential, and formally join the champion network.
In the session
- Capstone presentations to the cohort and, ideally, your program sponsor.
- Structured review against the Capstone Rubric.
- Credentialing: the capstone, evaluated against the rubric, is the measure of success — reviewed by Jeff, with your manager signing off.
- You leave equipped to drive AI transformation in your function — and join the champion network.
Closing Work
Submit the finished work, earn the credential, and join the network.
Your capstone, finished. Submit it, present it against the rubric, and earn the credential.
C6-1Final capstone and Dossier submitted▼
Submit the final capstone and Capstone Dossier. The capstone, evaluated against the Capstone Rubric, is the measure of success.
C6-2Credential & champion network▼
The McMillanAI Certified AI Champion credential is awarded, and you're formally added to the champion network.
After the Program
Credential & the Ongoing Role
Credential Awarded
McMillanAI Certified AI Champion. The capstone, evaluated against the Capstone Rubric, is the measure of success — reviewed by Jeff, signed off by your manager. Your growth against the baseline diagnostic supports the picture.
The Role Continues
Unlike a course, the champion role is ongoing — impact capture and central-team liaison continue after the program. The program credentials the champion; the role does not end.
60-Day Deployment Review
A sponsor-facing session at about day 60: function capstones reviewed against their deployment plans. The natural renewal touchpoint.
The Champion Network
Credentialed champions join a standing network across the business — a community driving AI transformation function by function, sharing use cases and what works.