Lead with AI
An AI capability and leadership program for business owners who are ready to move beyond experimentation and use AI with intention.
We help you build your understanding and application of AI whilst developing the direction and systems to maximise its benefit in your business
Where other programs teach you how to use AI or help you build an AI agent, we help you integrate it and make strategic decision about how you use it.
AI changed the economics of capability
For the first time, small business owners have access to the same knowledge infrastructure that large organisations have spent decades building.
The ability to analyse markets, model financial scenarios, develop strategy, systemise operations, and scale output is no longer the exclusive domain of businesses with large teams and large budgets.
A business of five can now operate with the strategic horsepower of a business of fifty, if the person leading it knows how to direct that capability with intention.
That is the opportunity for small business now.
But access to tools is not the same as knowing how to lead them.
AI capability is now leadership capability
There is a gap between the number of people using AI and the number of people getting meaningful results.
This is because there is a significant difference between using AI and understanding how to integrate it intentionally.
Move from experimenting or lack of result with AI to leading with it
The business owners who will build real competitive advantage over the next few years are the ones who move from experimentation to a clear, governed approach.
Who know where AI fits in their specific business, what it needs to work properly, and how to measure whether it is delivering.
They have built their capabilities to lead in an AI-enabled world.
You don’t need more information
With all due respect, other AI training offerings in the market for small business are using the same education model that has been used to teach people for decades.
Someone shares their knowledge on a subject in a webinar, workshop or online course. They may show you exactly how to do something. In both cases you have to interpret that for your situation.
None of them help you build the exact solution you need for your business whilst addressing the foundational layers that need building to make it work.
Lead with AI is built for you to apply your knowledge and integrate in your business.
Working directly on your business, you will build the capability and the frameworks to use AI with precision.
You will leave with a suite of governing documents that shape your AI outputs whilst adhering to your data security requirements, direction and opportunity mapping that position you to make better decisions about AI into the future and a roadmap and momentum to start getting meaningful results for you and your business.
AI adoption is not the goal. AI capability is.
Know exactly where it will work in your business and build the capability to use it properly.
After Lead with AI
You can expect to:
understand where AI creates real leverage having identified your highest-value AI opportunities
understand where AI should and shouldn’t be used in your business.
stop wasting time on disconnected tools
redesign your business operations to optimise human and AI co-creation
make more confident strategic decisions about your business and use of the technology
build governance before problems emerge
create systems that scale intelligently
lead you team through AI change confidently
know what matters versus what is noise
measure the ROI in cost and efficiency gains
Wherever you are
Wherever you are on your AI journey, we meet you there.
You may be
Curious but unsure where to start
Using AI tools, like Claude or ChatGPT but lacking real structure to make it meaningful or unsure what matters strategically
Experimenting with tools but seeing inconsistent results
Trying to scale AI use safely across a team
Concerned about governance, privacy and future competitiveness
Wanting to future-proof your business
This program is designed to support all stages of business growth and all stages of digital and AI capability.
Two tracks; Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced, determined by your diagnostic before the program starts.
The 25eight approach
Diagnose
Using proprietary diagnostics that consider the human, leadership, business, and AI & digital capabilities as well as Industry-specific opportunity mapping, we pinpoint where AI can create the greatest value in your business. We help you ensure these align to your operations, customers and commercial goals.
Grow
Once the high-impact AI opportunities are identified you’ll build your capabilities to integrate them. This includes the frameworks, workflows, artefacts and decision-making tools that help AI become useful in your actual business context and the boundaries, quality controls and risk frameworks needed.
Lead
You will leave with clear priorities, defined boundaries, strategic differentiation, measurable opportunity, tangible artefacts, systems set up and a practical implementation roadmap with clear ROI. Your capability to make better decisions about AI increases and you have the momentum to ensure real results happen.
Complete the EOI form to express an interest, receive further information and a no obligation next step process.
Most businesses are experimenting with AI. Very few are leading it
The pattern we see consistently is that AI has been adopting, some tools have saved time, whilst others have been abandoned after a few weeks. The results have been mixed, and there is no clear view of what to do next or whether any of it is actually moving the business forward.
Part of this is a sequencing problem. Most people start with tools and work backwards to a use case.
What works is the reverse: start with the specific gaps and opportunities in your business, and then work out which tools, if any, are the right fit.
Part of it is a content problem. It is easy to see how AI can help with visible tasks like writing, social posts, and marketing copy. It is harder to see where it can build real operational leverage.
And part of it is a governance problem. As AI use scales inside a business, questions that nobody planned for start to surface.
Who is responsible for the outputs?
What data should AI be touching?
How do you maintain quality and accountability when AI is involved in client work?
Without a governance framework in place, these questions get answered reactively. Lead with AI builds the framework before those moments arrive.
When AI only touches surface-level tasks, the return is modest and the effort is high. The businesses seeing genuine results are using AI deeper in the business: in decision support, in process design, in client delivery, in how their team works. Getting there requires a structured approach, not more tool testing.
What you’ll leave with
What you won’t leave with is more content that doesn’t help your business stand out, more automations that amplify broken processes and need more time to manage, more guesswork trying to figure out how things apply to your business. You’ll have clear priorities, defined boundaries, strategic differentiation, measurable opportunity and a practical implementation roadmap.
What you will leave with is:
AI Opportunity Map: Highlighting the possibilities for your business and your industry, reshaping how you think AI can work for you
Tangible Artefacts: that you have built using AI tools relevant to your AI Opportunity Map saving months in time and ensuring higher quality outputs
Governance Frameworks: Clear rules for how AI should and shouldn’t be used in your business
System set up: Depending on your track, those just starting out will get their basic system set up and those more advanced can expect to develop and deploy products that solve business problems.
12-Month Implementation Roadmap: for momentum building post-program
ROI & Efficiency Modelling: giving your confidence that you’re investing time and money into AO opportunities that actually matter.
Capability & Training Plan for yourself and/or your team to help you continue to lead now and into the future
Momentum: You’ll feel psychologically ready to lead your business confidently through it’s AI transformation
Clarity, confidence, direction and meaningful action
What participants have said
At the start of the program, one participant wrote “Whilst I am comfortable exploring and using technology in my business, I also realise that I have barely touched what is possible with AI and the speed of progress far exceeds my rate of adoption.”
By the end of the program, the same participant “I would rate my confidence as high. I am very comfortable with technology and have a strong working understanding of AI-powered tools, which I actively use to support analysis, planning, and day-to-day problem solving. I approach these tools thoughtfully, focusing on practical application rather than novelty, and I remain conscious of their limitations as well as the need for oversight. I continue to build my capability in this area and see it as an important part of improving how I work and lead over time.”
Evidence-based and Diagnostic -led
Lead with AI runs two parallel tracks within each cohort, a Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced. Your track is confirmed before the program begins, based on your AI Opportunity Map and Capability Gap diagnostic results.
This matters because the most common mistake in AI capability building is starting at the wrong level.
Owners who have been experimenting with tools often overestimate their strategic readiness.
Others who have done solid foundational work underestimate it.
The diagnostic helps you focus on exactly what will provide value for your business, rather than be a distraction.
Who this is for
Lead with AI is for established business owners who are ready to move from using AI to leading it.
The diagnostic determines your track. What is consistent across all participants is the same readiness: you are done experimenting, and you want to build something that lasts.
This program is a good fit if you:
Have been using AI tools and want to move from ad hoc experimentation to a clear, governed approach
Understand that AI is relevant to your business but are not yet sure where to focus or in what order
Want to build AI capability that runs across your business, not just within your own hands
Need to be able to explain your AI direction to a board, a leadership team, a funder, or a business partner with confidence
Run an established business and want an honest, research-backed view of where AI will add genuine leverage and where it will not
Are facing industry disruption and want to understand what AI means specifically for your business, not in general
Attended the AI Opportunity Workshop and are ready to act on your map
AI should amplify what makes your business unique and this program ensure your use of AI us deliberate, differentiated and aligned to long-term growth.
This probably not the right fit if you:
Are looking for a tool tutorial. Tools are changing quickly and we will teach you how to select the best tool for your situation
Want general AI awareness rather than applied capability in your specific business. We have a free AI video series for awareness building.
Capability can’t be built in a workshop, however, we offer the AI Opportunity Workshop as an entry level alternative for those interested in understanding their opportunities in more detail before committing to a capability building program.
Are still developing your core business offer or are not yet operational. AI is a great tool to help you find product/market fit but as we focus on business growth from an established base, you won’t get as much benefit from the program as those with an established business will.
Why now
We ordinarily refrain from urgency tactics and do not believe that you are behind already; you’re not.
However, the businesses that build AI capability now will:
move faster
operate leaner
make better decisions
and adapt more effectively
But the important focus is to build capability, not just adopt tools reactively. Without the capability layer underneath, adopting AI tools will create fast mediocrity at scale.
Choose your level of support
Every version of Lead with AI is built on the same 25eight methodology. The difference is the level of guidance, feedback and implementation support you receive.
Lead with AI
For business owners who want to identify practical AI opportunities and create a first version of their AI roadmap independently.
- Self-directed leaders who want to move beyond scattered AI experimentation.
- Business owners who already have a coach, advisor or internal expert to support application.
- Businesses that want a structured way to identify where AI could create value.
- Those who want to create a first version of their AI strategy, governance and roadmap.
- 12 self-guided capability-building modules.
- AI capability diagnostic.
- AI Opportunity Map.
- Governance and risk templates.
- ROI and efficiency modelling tools.
- Workflow opportunity identification activities.
- 12-month AI implementation roadmap template.
- Online tutorials, prompts, worksheets and examples.
- Live group workshops.
- Personalised coaching sessions.
- Coach feedback on AI artefacts.
- Workflow or system set-up support.
- Peer accountability and cohort support.
Lead with AI
For business owners who want expert guidance to move from AI experimentation to intentional, responsible implementation.
- Business owners who want to use AI more intentionally and confidently.
- Leaders who need structure, momentum, accountability and expert feedback.
- Businesses ready to move from scattered AI experiments to a clear implementation roadmap.
- Those who want support to refine their AI Opportunity Map, governance and key artefacts.
- Five live 1.5-hour group workshops facilitated by 25eight.
- Eight 30-minute 1:1 coaching sessions.
- Coach feedback on key AI artefacts.
- Peer learning and cohort accountability.
- Support to interpret diagnostics.
- Support to refine the AI Opportunity Map.
- Governance, risk and implementation guidance.
- Commencement and exit diagnostic.
Lead with AI
For businesses that want dedicated support to identify high-value AI opportunities, strengthen governance and set up practical AI workflows.
- Businesses that want the program delivered privately.
- Teams that need practical AI workflows, prompts, templates or systems set up.
- Leaders who want dedicated support to move from strategy to usable AI-enabled ways of working.
- Businesses that need clearer governance, risk and implementation priorities.
- Private facilitation instead of group workshops.
- Full Lead with AI online pathway.
- AI diagnostic and interpretation.
- Dedicated coaching and implementation guidance.
- AI Opportunity Map for the business.
- Governance and risk framework support.
- Workflow identification and prioritisation.
- Support to set up selected practical AI workflows, prompts, templates or systems.
- ROI and efficiency modelling.
- 12-month AI implementation roadmap.
- Set completion timeframe, usually 8–10 weeks.
- AI integration sprint.
- Workflow redesign sprint.
- Team AI training workshop.
- AI governance implementation support.
- Local or private AI advisory support.
Complete the EOI
What People Are Saying
And why we designed the program