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How this program works
Read this first. The program runs on two tracks at the same time. One builds your skills. The other builds one real thing — your capstone. Knowing which is which makes the rest of this page simple.
Track 1 · What you learn
Build the skills
You learn the doing-to-directing shift, how to facilitate an honest team conversation about AI, how to judge where AI belongs in your team's work, and the seven-stage method for building a real solution. This comes from a guided module sequence on your own time, plus the four live sessions. The skills come first; the early weeks lean here.
Track 2 · What you build
Build the capstone
From Session 1 you frame one real workflow on your team and build a working AI solution for it, stage by stage. This is your capstone — the working prototype the program is judged on. You frame it early, then build it in earnest once the core skills are in place.
The rhythm. Four live sessions with Jeff, one hour each, about two weeks apart. Between each session is a field period — the weeks where you do the work on your own. Each session teaches; each field period builds. Running alongside the whole way: leading your own team through the change, with team debriefs throughout. Plan for roughly three to five hours of your own time per week.
Your Goal
The Capstone
Everything you do points at one deliverable. Here is what it is, how you build it, and how it is judged — so you can aim at it from day one.
What you'll deliver
A working AI prototype for one real workflow on your team — built with AI, with the value measured and the risks handled, and a clear path to production. Not a presentation about AI — a thing that works and that your team can actually use.
You build it across seven stages. The first three define and approve the work (your Capstone Charter). Stage four is the working first version. Stages five through seven get it tested, measured, and safe.
1
Starting Point
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 → Process → Outputs
The working first version of the solution.
Build
5–7
Guardrails
Tested and measured; risks named; data governance signed off.
Finish
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
Complete these on the platform before your cohort starts — about three hours in total. They frame your role and set your baseline before any skill-building begins.
1. Pre-Assessment
One guided pre-work assessment, done in a single sitting. It captures your role and context and scores your learning baseline — the opening input to Session 1.
Role & Context
Function, team size, current team AI use, and what you're walking in concerned about.
AI Calibration
A scored learning baseline, measured again at the end of the program to evidence your growth.
Available when your cohort opens. Allow about 30 minutes.
Watch before Session 1
Role before skill — these set up the four responsibilities and the doing-to-directing shift before the live work begins. Watch them first.
M0
The Role of the Manager in AI Transformation
The four responsibilities the whole program is built around.
~9 min
R10
Working in the Age of AI
The doing-to-directing shift, function by function, with a self-audit framework.
~15 min
7
The Fundamentals Podcast Spine
The seven Fundamentals episodes — experienced as a preview of what your team will receive.
7 episodes
3 Pre-Work Reflection — watch with your team in mind ▼
As you go through the seven Fundamentals episodes, watch with your own team in mind: where is this likely to land easily, and where will people have questions? Nothing to submit — this is your own preparation — but it's worth doing. The clearer your read going in, the more you'll get from Session 1.
Track 1 · Skills
What you'll learn
Alongside the live sessions, you work a guided module sequence on your own time — each module timed to the session it supports. Complete each before the session noted. The last row is tailored to your function.
08
Business Transformation & Reskilling
The “bringing people along” content — complete before Session 2.
Before S2
L4
Measuring AI ROI
Directly ahead of the test-and-measure work — complete before Session 3.
Before S3
05
AI Use Case Development
Use-case judgment for Session 3 — complete before Session 3.
Before S3
★
Recommended-Shelf Module — your function
Any recommended module relevant to your function — optional, before Session 4.
Before S4
Deliverables
Everything you'll submit
The full list, in order. Each item is explained in the session where it's due — this is the at-a-glance view so nothing surprises you.
Before Session 1
Pre-Assessment & AI Calibration baseline, and pre-work videos watched. Sets your learning baseline.
Field Period A
Capstone Charter — Stages 1–3. Approved by your line manager and reviewed by Jeff before you build.
Field Period B
Working first version (Stage 4) with a “what's broken” note, and a job-analysis of your team's work.
Field Period C
Finished, guarded build (Stages 5–7) and your Capstone Dossier, with an adoption note.
Session 4
Capstone presented against the rubric, three 90-day commitments, and your post-program AI Calibration. Credential awarded.
The Program
The eight weeks, session by session
Each session is one hour with Jeff, about two weeks apart. After each comes a field period where you apply it to your capstone and your team. For every session below: what it teaches, what you build, and what you submit. Open any item for the detail.
1
Session 1
Leading the Shift
You leave knowing you're not completing a course — you're leading your team through a change — with your capstone framed and the next eight weeks clear.
In the session
- Why workforce training changes little if managers don't change how the team works day to day.
- The doing-to-directing shift, made personal — applied to your own work first.
- The four responsibilities as the spine: define, baseline, build, bring people through.
- The capstone introduced and framed now — so it has eight weeks to develop, not two.
- The seven-stage process introduced as the method you'll use to build.
Field Period A · Frame your capstone, start leading your team
Define what you'll build and get it approved before building starts — and begin facilitating your team. Stages 1–3 of the capstone workflow.
A-1Stage 1 — Starting Point▼
Pick one concrete workflow — not a category. Using the capstone worksheet, submit one sentence: the workflow, who it serves, and why it's being changed now.
A-2Stage 2 — Value Case▼
Submit a baseline number, a target number, and a date to measure. Estimated is acceptable; absent is not.
A-3Stage 3 — Model or Tool▼
Confirm and document the enterprise AI tool: named tool, approval status, and a one-line fit statement.
A-4Assemble the Capstone Charter▼
Stages 1–3 together form your Capstone Charter. It goes to two reviewers in parallel: your line manager approves against three questions — is this real work that matters, is it small enough to finish, is AI the right tool — and Jeff gives direct written design feedback before building begins. The build clock starts only after both clear.
A-5Run two team debriefs▼
Facilitate two Fundamentals team debriefs with your team, using the debrief toolkit — an honest conversation about the episodes. These stay between you and your team; there's nothing to log.
Submit by Session 2: your Capstone Charter (Stages 1–3), approved by your line manager.
Begin Track 1: before Session 2, complete Module 08 — Business Transformation & Reskilling.
2
Session 2
Facilitating the Debrief
You can confidently lead an honest team conversation about AI — drawing out real reactions and handling the difficult ones — rather than forwarding links.
In the session
- What a good debrief does: surfaces honest first impressions before a false consensus sets in.
- The hard situations, rehearsed live: the skeptic, the over-enthusiast, the “my job has no use cases” person, the silent team.
- Training people for transformation — the human side of change, not training on a tool.
- Reading the room: what team sentiment looks like and how to move it.
Field Period B · Build the first version, analyze your team's work
Build a rough, working first version — ugly and working beats polished and imaginary. Stage 4.
B-1Stage 4 — Inputs → Process → Outputs▼
Work the three sub-parts of Stage 4: name inputs and their owners; write the prompt using the 6-step framework; define outputs and the human handoff. Submit the working v1 plus a three-line “what's broken” note.
B-2Job analysis of the team▼
Apply the job-analysis framework to the whole team's work — broader than the one capstone workflow. Submit the completed template before Session 3.
B-3Continue Fundamentals debriefs▼
Keep running team debriefs with your team as you go — an ongoing conversation, nothing to log.
Submit by Session 3: your working first version (Stage 4) with a “what's broken” note, and your team job-analysis.
Before Session 3: complete L4 — Measuring AI ROI, and 05 — AI Use Case Development.
3
Session 3
Job Analysis & Use Case Judgment
You can judge where AI belongs in your team's work and where human judgment must stay — and can pressure-test your own capstone with that judgment.
In the session
- The job-analysis framework: separating work AI can take on from work that requires human judgment and accountability.
- Use-case evaluation — which tasks are genuine AI candidates.
- Reviewing your own team job-analysis (submitted as B-2) live.
- Setting a baseline: a rough, defensible estimate is enough; an exact number is not required.
Field Period C · Finish and protect the build, assemble the Dossier
Get the build to done and safe, then bind it together. Stages 5–7, plus the Capstone Dossier.
C-1Stage 5 — Evaluation & Monitoring▼
Build a small “golden source” of known test cases; run the build on at least three real instances; log failures; record early impact against the A-2 baseline; name a monitoring owner and a re-test trigger.
C-2Stage 6 — Risks & Mitigants▼
Name the top three to five failure modes specific to this workflow, each with a mitigant and a named owner.
C-3Stage 7 — Data Governance▼
Write the one-paragraph data-handling statement for the workflow and obtain data-owner sign-off.
C-4Assemble the Capstone Dossier▼
Bind the seven completed stage-artifacts together, plus a short adoption note: who else needs to use this, and how you'll roll it out and support them. Brought to Session 4.
Submit by Session 4: your finished, guarded build (Stages 5–7) and your assembled Capstone Dossier.
Before Session 4: any recommended-shelf module relevant to your function (optional).
4
Session 4
Capstone Review & 90-Day Commitments
You present a working AI capstone for your team, leave with a clear deployment path, and complete the program credential.
In the session
- Structured capstone review against the Capstone Rubric — not a pitch contest.
- What “done” means: a working prototype, fully documented, with a path to production.
- The 90-day commitment: deployment is your owned next step; data-governance sign-off and production rollout live here.
- Sustaining the change after the program ends.
Closing Work
Together, these form your program credential.
D-1Present the capstone against the rubric▼
Present your working capstone to the cohort, reviewed against the published Capstone Rubric.
D-2Three 90-day commitments▼
Submit three 90-day commitments alongside the documented capstone. Together with the capstone, these are the program credential.
D-3AI Calibration (post)▼
Complete the post-program AI Calibration, closing the pre/post learning measurement against your Pre-Assessment baseline.
After the Program
Credential & Beyond
Learning Measured
Your post-program AI Calibration is benchmarked against your pre-program baseline — evidence of the learning gain.
Credential Awarded
McMillanAI Certified AI Manager — awarded against the Capstone Rubric: a working capstone, the dossier, and your 90-day commitments.
60-Day Review
A sponsor-facing session at about day 60: the cohort's capstones reviewed against their 90-day commitments — what deployed, what stalled, what is next.