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Sterla Academy · Workshop 1

How AI Really Works

A hands-on 4 hour workshop that gets past the hype. Your team leaves able to work with the latest and best practices for AI usage and prompting, and gets a strong base from which to start learning about skills and workflow automations.

FormatHalf-day, in-person or online
Group SizeMaximum of 6 to 8 participants
Price£795 per group

What your team walks away able to do

The typical agenda

Four hours, built to move from how the model behaves to a controlled experiment your team can run on Monday. Interrupt and challenge at any point.

  1. 01

    Split the work, not the role

    Where AI prepares, where people decide, and where people stay accountable.

  2. 02

    How the model behaves

    Why fluent output isn’t evidence, and where the model is strong versus fragile.

  3. 03

    It’s a system, not just a model

    Context, memory, skills and tools — what each one is and when it fails.

  4. 04

    What to delegate, and how much

    The autonomy ladder: choosing the right level of control for each task.

  5. 05

    Brief the work, not the wording

    Six management decisions that turn a vague request into a reviewable assignment.

  6. 06

    Checking the work

    Matching the depth of your check to the stakes — and why agreement isn’t a check.

  7. 07

    What’s possible

    Worked examples: a messy thread, a launch, and a recurring report, done with AI.

  8. 08

    Spot, test and design your own

    Four tests before you pilot, and one narrow experiment to run on Monday.

Inside the room

A scroll through the core cards we work from — the ideas your team keeps long after the session.

AI prepares

  • Reading and extracting
  • Comparing and formatting
  • First drafts

People decide

  • Angle and priority
  • Interpretation
  • The exceptions

People own

  • Client and stakeholder trust
  • Key relationships
  • Commitments and final sign-off
1

What is it producing?

generating · transforming · retrieving · proposing an action

2

What evidence is it using?

model knowledge · a supplied brief · an approved source · a live trusted source

3

What is it allowed to do?

read · draft · prepare · change · send

4

Who checks and approves?

factual checking · judgement · exceptions · final action

“The report was issued on 9 May.”

traceable to the brief

“The report reached 12,000 readers.”

no source — invented

Strong

  • Transformation and summarisation
  • Comparison
  • Familiar formats
  • First drafts

Fragile

  • Current specifics and niche facts
  • Live information without retrieval
  • Exact quotes
  • Exact calculations without a tool
  • Sensitive relationship judgement
0Researches or critiques — no change to the work.
1Drafts — a person edits and acts.
2Prepares and queues — completes steps, holds a proposed action.
External action begins here
3Acts after approval — an explicit human gate before any external effect.
4Acts within narrow rules and reports — routine, reversible, monitored work only.
SeeWhat can it see?An approved list, not the whole database
ProposeWhat can it propose?A draft, not a promise
ChangeWhat can it change?An internal status field only
ApproveWho approves?A named, accountable person
RecoverHow is it stopped?Log, stop, correct and notify

Book this workshop for your team

Tell us about your team and we’ll get you set up.