Lead with AI
An 8-week AI capability and leadership program fro business owners who are ready to use AI with intention.
Leave with clarity, capability and the frameworks to govern it properly
EOIs open now - Register your interest below
The biggest opportunity for small and medium businesses
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.
AI has changed the economics of capability. 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. And most small businesses are not yet capturing it.
Not because they lack access to tools. Because there is a significant difference between using AI and leading 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.
Lead with AI is built to get you there. In eight weeks, 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 most businesses do not have, and that position you to make better decisions about AI from here.
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.
Wherever you are
Wherever you are on your AI journey, we meet you there:
Curious but unsure where to start
Using AI tools but lacking real structure to make it meaningful
Scaling and needing governance
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, determined by your AI Opportunity Map before the program starts.
Diagnose
Using proprietary diagnostics that consider leadership, business, and AI & Digital capabilities as well as Industry-specific opportunity mapping, we pinpoint exactly where you can benefit.
Grow
Once the high-impact AI opportunities aligned to your operations, customers and commercial goals have been identified, you’ll build your capabilities to embed them.
Lead
You will leave with clear priorities, defined boundaries, strategic differentiation, measurable opportunity, and a practical implementation roadmap with clear ROI.
Most businesses are experimenting with AI. Very few are leading it
The pattern we see consistently across the businesses we work with is the same. AI has been tried. Some tools have saved time. 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. 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.
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.
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
Artefacts that you have built using AI tools relevant to your AI Opportunity Map
Governance & Risk Frameworks for use by you, staff or your AI
12-Month Implementation Roadmap for momentum building post-program
ROI & Efficiency Modelling, ensuring you don’t waste time on things that won’t support your business
Capability & Training Plan for yourself and/or your team to help you continue to lead now and into the future
Clarity, confidence, direction and meaningful action
Evidence-based and Diagnostic -led
Lead with AI runs two parallel tracks within each cohort. 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 cuts through both.
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 or a hands-on technical course. Tools are changing quickly and we believe your human capabilities matter more than your technical capabilities
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.
25eight are taking EOIs for AI Strategy programs in 2026.
Complete the form to show your interest and be informed as soon as a program is confirmed
What People Are Saying
And why we designed the program