Beginner AI courses for executives and senior leaders
You have tried an AI assistant a few times, or not at all, and want a safe, practical start. 1 course is written for executives and senior leaders at this level.
Written for executives and senior leaders
Microsoft
Explore the business value of generative AI solutions
Microsoft Learn’s free path for business leaders on the value of generative AI solutions. The level is ours.
General beginner AI courses
These fit any role.
IBM
AI for Everyone: Master the Basics
BeginnerFreeAny roleA free-to-audit foundational course on AI concepts and terminology.
Anthropic
Claude 101
BeginnerFreeAny roleEveryday use of Claude as an AI assistant for writing, research and analysis, with the prompt writing habits that make it reliable.
GitHub
Getting Started with GitHub Copilot
BeginnerFreeAny roleGitHub’s free hands-on exercise in its own repository: use Copilot as an AI pair programmer to write, debug and ship code faster.
Google Cloud
Introduction to Generative AI
BeginnerFreeAny roleA free, short intro to what generative AI is and how it works.
Microsoft
Use Copilot in Power Automate
BeginnerFreeAny roleA short Microsoft Learn module on using Copilot in Power Automate to build and change workflows by describing what you want.
DeepLearning.AI
AI For Everyone
BeginnerCheck costAny roleA foundational, non-technical introduction to what AI can and can't do.
DeepLearning.AI
Generative AI for Everyone
BeginnerCheck costAny roleA plain-language overview of generative AI and how it applies across roles.
Google
Google AI Essentials
BeginnerCheck costAny roleA practical, beginner-friendly course on using AI tools day to day.
Google
Google Prompting Essentials
BeginnerCheck costAny roleA short, practical course on writing effective prompts for everyday tasks.
Runway
Runway Academy
BeginnerCheck costAny roleRunway’s own lessons, tutorials and hands-on training for AI video creation and generative AI creative tools.
Levels and functions are NextChapter's guidance, read from each course's own description; the provider may label them differently or not at all. Cost, dates and content are set by the provider, so check its page before you enroll. Providers marked "Partner" have a relationship with NextChapter; the others are included because the course is good.
Other levels for executives and senior leaders: Intermediate, Advanced · All levels
Find your AI level
Four questions about what you already do. It takes under a minute and shows the courses that fit.
1. Do you use an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot) at least weekly for real work?
2. Do you write your own detailed prompts and rework them when the answer is off?
3. Have you built a repeatable AI workflow, such as a saved prompt library, an automation or an AI agent?
4. Have you set AI rules, evaluated AI output for a team, or led an AI project?
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