Two Hours from AI Curious to AI Confident

How a chat with a friend turned into a hands-on, 1-to-1 AI session for business leaders

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Can you name one task your team repeats every week that AI could draft? If not, you’re nodding along while others get ahead. I run 2-hour, 1-to-1 AI coaching for business leaders, explaining AI in plain English and tying it to your business. Each coaching session follows three steps: show it, try it, apply it. You see what AI can do, you have a go yourself, and you leave with ideas for your own work, your colleagues and your business.

How did 1-to-1 AI coaching for business leaders start?

It began as an impromptu, in-person chat with a friend who knew nothing about AI. Two hours later, we were still talking.

My friend went from not knowing where to start to wanting to explore. Not an expert, but confident.

That was the spark. If two hours could do that for one person, it could do it for others. So I turned that conversation into a structured, 2-hour 1-to-1 session on AI and how it fits into a business.

What happens in the two hours?

It’s a conversation, not a lecture. No slides full of jargon, and no technical terms without a plain-English explanation alongside them.

  • Show it. I demonstrate what AI tools can do today, using real, everyday tasks.
  • Try it. You take the controls. Typing your own request and seeing the result is where it starts to click.
  • Apply it. We talk about your business: where AI could save you time, and how you might open it up to your colleagues.

Because it’s 1-to-1, the session bends around you. A finance director and a marketing manager will want very different things from it, and that’s fine.

Why does hands-on beat reading about it?

Here’s the test I use: can you name one task your team repeats every week that AI could draft? If not, you probably haven’t tried it hands on yet. Pick one real task this week, try it, and time it.

The tools change fast, so last year’s opinion is already out of date. At ElevenLabs’ recent summit in Bengaluru, a presenter showed how their team built a multilingual ad campaign (opens in a new tab). He said “just last year it wouldn’t have been possible to get that level of quality.” Now, he explained, one of their creatives can go “from idea to full campaign in under a day.”

That’s why I like to show people things live. When I turned a photo of myself into a clay figure in about a minute, with no prompt writing (my own test, one example rather than proof), it showed how fast the tools move.

Why is it so rewarding?

Because, in my own sessions so far, the shift tends to come at the same point: when you type your first request and see the result. That’s my observation, not a study. Somewhere in the two hours, AI stops being a headline and becomes a tool. The questions change from “what is it?” to “could it do this for us?”

You arrive curious. You leave with one weekly task handed to AI.

The practical yardstick is the test above. If you leave with one real weekly task, and a first attempt at it timed, the two hours have done their job.

Pick one weekly task. Time a first attempt. Then ask what else it could do.

Two hours in, AI stops being a headline and starts being a tool.

Ian

Still nodding along when AI comes up in meetings? Get in touch and let’s book your two hours.

FAQ

Do I need any technical knowledge to attend an AI coaching session?

No. The session is designed for business leaders and stakeholders who are new to AI. Everything is explained in plain English, and the focus is on what AI can do for your work and your business.

What happens in a 1-to-1 AI coaching session?

It runs for two hours and follows a simple shape: show it, try it, apply it. You see AI tools in action, have a go yourself, then talk through how AI could help you, your colleagues and your business.

Why is a hands-on session better than reading about AI?

Using AI yourself makes it click in a way articles rarely do. The tools are also improving quickly: at an ElevenLabs summit in October 2026, a presenter said one of their creatives can now go from idea to full campaign in under a day.

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