Make AI Work for You: our first CPD-certified workshop comes to Bexhill on 17th November

Tried AI, but think you're just scratching the surface?

Plenty of people already use AI. But for most, it’s still pretty much ad hoc: a quick question here, a draft email there, with no clear method and no real sense of whether it’s saving time or adding value.

That approach won’t be enough for much longer. We’re entering a new era in which businesses need to be AI-ready to stay profitable and work as efficiently as possible. Those that use AI with focus and purpose will pull ahead; those that only dabble risk being left behind.

What’s usually missing is a simple, consistent way of choosing the right tool, asking it the right questions and checking what comes back. That’s exactly what our new workshop sets out to provide.

Introducing Make AI Work for You

On Tuesday 17 November, Portobello Business Centre is running Make AI Work for You: A Practical Business Workshop at The Manor Barn in Bexhill. It’s a three-hour, hands-on session focused on simple ways AI can lighten your workload and help your business run more smoothly.

It’s also a milestone for us: this is PBC’s first CPD-certified workshop. The session has been independently assessed by The CPD Certification Service and meets its Continuing Professional Development standards (Certificate No. 77515).

That means it carries 3 CPD hours. If your professional body or employer asks for evidence of ongoing learning, you can log it towards your CPD record. Attend the full session and you’ll receive your CPD certificate by email within 28 days. That’s particularly useful for accountants, solicitors, HR and marketing professionals, as well as charity trustees and managers.

What we’ll cover

The session resets how you approach AI, from the basics through to a plan you can put to work the following week:

• What AI really is, and isn’t - cutting through the hype and the myths

• Five principles that outlast any single tool: prompting, context, verification, workflow design and human judgement

• A head-to-head comparison of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot - their strengths, costs, and when to use each (many businesses already pay for a tool through Microsoft 365 without realising it)

• The CLEAR framework for writing prompts that get useful results first time

• AI in practice across finance, marketing, governance and HR, with live demonstrations

• A hands-on build: create your own prompt library for real tasks in your business, then test it in a short peer-reviewed exercise

• Safe and compliant use: data privacy and GDPR in plain English, and the four common failure modes to avoid

• Your 90-day AI action plan: one task, one tool, one measure

Throughout, the principle is simple: AI assists, people decide. Every AI output is treated as a draft to be checked, not a fact to be trusted.

Who it’s for, and what you’ll take away

The workshop is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, professional firms and charities in East Sussex. You don't need any previous experience but it's also a good fit if you already use AI now and then and want to get more out of it.

By the end of the morning you'll have

• A working prompt library, built around real tasks in your own business

• A 90-day action plan: one task, one tool, one measure, with an estimated return on investment

You’ll also know how to choose the right tool for a job, judge the quality of what it produces, and check a new AI tool against your data privacy and GDPR duties before you adopt it.

To view more on the course and make a booking, click here.