AI is advancing faster than most organizations can evaluate, govern, and create actionable strategies. For leaders, the challenge is no longer simply understanding what AI can do. It is determining where AI can create meaningful business value, which investments are worth pursuing, and how to move forward without exposing the organization to unnecessary risk.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

AI Essentials for Leaders: From AI Possibility to Business Performance is an immersive executive education experience from the University of Louisville College of Business that translates a rapidly changing technology landscape into practical business decisions. Led by Todd Creek, an accomplished entrepreneur and AI strategist, the course combines the business perspective of the College of Business with Todd's real-world experience helping organizations move from AI experimentation to implementation.

This is not a technical course or a day of AI theory. It is a practical working session designed to help business leaders turn AI questions into informed action.

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN:

By the end of the course, you will be better prepared to:

• Lead AI initiatives with confidence: Ask better questions, evaluate proposals and make more informed investment, governance and risk decisions.
• Recognize high-value opportunities: Identify business processes, decisions and workflows where AI can produce measurable improvements.
• Use AI as a strategic thinking partner: Apply repeatable methods to research, analyze, develop ideas, challenge assumptions and accelerate executive-level work.
• Navigate the AI marketplace: Understand the differences among leading general-purpose and reasoning models-and evaluate their strengths, limitations and appropriate uses.
• Build practical fluency: Gain firsthand experience with the AI tools professionals are using for research, analysis, presentations, training content and other business applications.
• Manage risk responsibly: Address privacy, data security, shadow AI and governance with practical guardrails your organization can use.
• Move from use case to implementation: Apply a structured approach for prioritizing opportunities, anticipating barriers and building an actionable AI roadmap.
• Prepare for what comes next: Understand AI agents, agentic workflows and other emerging capabilities that could reshape how work gets done.

PROGRAM EXPERIENCE:

Through strategic discussion, live demonstrations and hands-on application, you will explore today's leading AI models and tools while developing the judgment needed to evaluate opportunities, establish appropriate guardrails and guide responsible adoption. You will leave with greater confidence using AI yourself-and a clearer framework for leading its use across your organization.

Registration includes course materials, continental breakfast, lunch, parking and an official University of Louisville certificate of completion.

Course Agenda

• Why AI-and Why Now? - Understand the developments that produced today's rapid acceleration in AI capability and what they mean for business.
• The AI Landscape - Build a working understanding of essential terminology, major model categories, leading providers and the capabilities leaders should be watching.
• Using General-Purpose AI Effectively - Explore ChatGPT and other leading models through practical exercises focused on prompting, optimization, model selection and output evaluation.
• AI as a Thinking Partner - Use AI to strengthen research, analysis, ideation, decision-making and other high-value leadership work.
• Hands-On Tool Labs - Experiment with tools for research, presentations, training videos, podcasts and other professional applications.
• Inside the Model - Develop enough understanding of how AI models work to recognize their capabilities, limitations and potential failure points.
• Risk, Privacy and Governance - Examine shadow AI, sensitive data, responsible-use expectations and practical safeguards for organizational adoption.
• AI Agents and the Future of Work - Explore how AI agents and agentic workflows differ from today's tools-and how they may change processes, roles and operating models.
• From Opportunity to Game Plan - Identify promising use cases, establish priorities and outline practical next steps for applying AI within your organization.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This course is designed for business leaders and nontechnical professionals who need to make informed decisions about AI-not build the technology themselves. It is especially valuable for:

• Executives and senior leaders shaping organizational strategy
• Functional leaders in operations, finance, marketing, human resources and other business areas
• Managers responsible for improving productivity, processes or customer experience
• Decision-makers evaluating AI tools, vendors, investments or policies
• Professionals who want to use AI more effectively in their own work
• Leaders responsible for guiding responsible AI adoption across teams

No technical background is required. Participants should bring their own laptop, curiosity, business challenges, and a desire to move beyond the hype toward practical, responsible application.

Facilitator Bio

Todd Creek is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in financial services, energy commodities, consumer goods, and artificial intelligence. As an architect of innovation, Todd leverages cutting-edge technology and deep business insights to develop efficient processes and groundbreaking solutions. His unique ability to bridge technical and commercial teams has driven growth through customer-centric design, data analysis, and iterative experimentation. Todd excels as a problem solver, adept at uncovering often-hidden issues to create valuable insights that address both spoken and unspoken needs of companies and their customers.

He is currently the head of Artificial Intelligence Business Engineers (AIBES), a company leading the charge on innovation, automation, and transformation through the implementation of artificial intelligence. Known for redefining business models and organizational structures, AIBES is at the forefront of digitalization and mastering information processes.