AI Fundamentals – Level 2 (2 Days) builds on foundational knowledge and focuses on applying AI directly within everyday tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Participants learn how to use AI to draft documents, create presentations, generate formulas, and analyze data, turning common workplace tasks into faster, more efficient workflows. The course is highly practical, with hands-on exercises that reinforce real-world use cases.
It also introduces more advanced capabilities, including AI-assisted scripting with VBA, data transformation, and multi-tool workflows. Participants gain a clear understanding of when and how to use leading AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini, along with the strengths, limitations, and policy considerations of each.
By the end of the course, participants will be able to confidently integrate AI into their daily productivity tools, automate routine tasks, and produce higher-quality outputs with less effort. They will also be prepared to move into more advanced AI applications and development concepts covered in Level 3.
Course Outline
Word and PowerPoint Creation with AI
- Drafting documents from scratch using AI: eliminating the blank page
- Structuring Word documents with headings, styles, and tables of contents
- Using AI to generate, revise, and tighten professional writing
- Building PowerPoint slides with AI: from outline to finished deck
- Slide logic: one message per slide, charts that communicate clearly
- Hands-on exercise: draft a briefing note and a 5-slide presentation from a single prompt
Excel Integration with AI
- Using AI to generate formulas: SUM, IF, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, SUMIFS
- Troubleshooting formula errors with AI assistance
- Building conditional formatting rules through natural language
- Data cleaning and transformation strategies using AI prompts
- Asking AI to explain formulas you inherit from colleagues
- Hands-on exercise: build a working budget tracker using only AI-generated formulas
Data Analysis and Reporting with AI
- Summarizing datasets: asking AI to find patterns, outliers, and trends
- Using AI to write chart titles, axis labels, and executive summaries
- Formatting and presenting data for decision-makers
- Combining Word, Excel, and PowerPoint outputs into a single deliverable
- Hands-on exercise: turn a raw dataset into a one-page report with charts and narrative
VBA and Scripting Possibilities
- What VBA is and why AI changes everything about it
- Using the macro recorder as a starting point
- Asking AI to write, explain, and debug VBA code
- Practical automation: buttons, auto-formatting, data entry shortcuts
- Introduction to Power Query M code with AI assistance
- Hands-on exercise: build a click-to-increment meeting tracker with AI-written VBA
Tools Showcase
- Comparing Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini side by side
- Strengths and weaknesses of each tool for government work
- When to use which tool: writing, code, analysis, research, images
- Free vs. paid tiers and what the differences actually mean
- Privacy and policy implications of each platform
- Live comparison: same prompt, four tools, different results
Wrap-Up and Next Steps
- Review of key concepts across all areas
- Open Q&A and real-world scenario discussion
- Course exam
- Resources and next steps toward Level 3