Hands-on AI training for teams

Your team has ChatGPT. Most of them still use it like Google. In one day with James McAulay, they build AI agents that do real work from their week.

Hands-on AI workshops · In person or online · 10 to 200 people · Claude or ChatGPT

Led by James McAulay, ex-ElevenLabs and founder of Encore (acquired by Mixcloud).

James has trained 500+ people from 200+ companies:

  • Ocado
  • Entrepreneurs First
  • Huggg
  • Healf
  • Suri
  • Bloom & Wild
  • Doctify
  • Koru Kids
  • Wolf & Badger
  • Heights

Workshops available for all major agent platforms

Your teams learn to build in whichever agent they already use. On Microsoft 365? See what Copilot costs your team.

  • Claude
  • Claude Code
  • ChatGPT
  • Codex
  • Copilot
  • Gemini
  • Grok Bot
  • Hermes
  • Instinct
  • OpenClaw

Inside a two-day bootcamp at Huggg

Huggg’s CEO did the Agent Accelerator first, then booked this two-day bootcamp for his whole team.

Feb 2026
Paul Wickers, CEO and founder, joins Cohort 1 of the Agent Accelerator on his own.
Apr 2026
Six weeks after finishing, he books a private two-day bootcamp for the whole company: day one on Zoom, day two in person in London.
On the day
The sales team wire agents into their own Gmail, HubSpot, Slack and calendars. A developer builds an MCP server for the Huggg platform.
Impact
Paul reckons some of his team are 20% more productive, and some 300%.

“In my last six weeks or so since doing the course, I’ve achieved more individually than I would typically achieve in a year, just because of being able to use these tools in the right way.”

Paul Wickers, CEO and Founder, Huggg

Three ways to run it

Every format is hands-on and built on your own tools.

01

Half-day workshop

A good first step for a whole department. Everyone sets up Claude or ChatGPT with their own context and builds a first agent for a task from their week.

  • In person or online
  • Up to 50 people
02

One-day workshop, in person or online

Foundations in the morning, building in the afternoon, demos to finish. Everyone leaves with an agent working on their own data.

  • In person or online
  • A second facilitator for groups over 30
03

Two-day bootcamp

Day one: set up and build. Day two: agents that run on a schedule, with nobody at the keyboard. Leave a week between the two and people come back having used their agents on real work.

  • Can mix online and in person
  • Best for a whole company
Book a scoping callEvery workshop is quoted on group size and format. Not sure which fits? James will tell you on the call.

For a leadership team, see AI workshops for leadership teams. For a team on Claude, see Claude training for teams.

Who these workshops are for

Teams of 10 to 200 people

Companies that want their people building AI agents on their own work. Nobody needs to code: sales and ops build alongside the developers.

Fewer than 10 people

Send them on the live Agent Accelerator cohort instead. Plenty of companies start that way and book a workshop for everyone else afterwards. See the four-week curriculum.

“It’s probably the highest ROI thing I’ve done since the day I founded the company. There’s no doubt about it.”

Paul Wickers, CEO and Founder, Huggg, on the team bootcamp

What a workshop day looks like

A one-day workshop, start to finish.

Before

A short questionnaire and call about your team’s tools and what eats their time. It sets the goals for the day.

What you do: list the tools you use, so you build on your own work rather than someone else’s example.

Morning

The foundations: a second brain (the files that tell an agent who you are and how you work), connecting your own tools, security and permissions, and skills.

What you do: connect an agent to your own tools, read-only to start, the way you’d onboard a new hire.

Afternoon

Everyone picks a task from their own week and builds an agent to do it. James is in the room, with a second facilitator for groups over 30.

What you do: build one agent that does a real task, end to end.

Close

Demos: everyone shows the room their agent working, live.

After

James writes up a roadmap of what to build next and how, so each person can pick their next agent off it and build it themselves.

What your team leaves with

Agents on their own tools

By the end of one bootcamp, an account executive had an agent connected to his Gmail, HubSpot, Slack and calendar, so it can read a thread, check the deal and know when he is free before it drafts anything.

“It’s like I’ve got my own sales assistant working alongside me…”

Mustafa, Account Executive, Huggg

Engineers can go further

At one bootcamp, a developer built an MCP server for the company’s own platform on the day.

“One of the developers had created an MCP for our platform, which is mad…”

Lewis Quick, Commercial Director, Huggg

Claude or ChatGPT, set up for work

Claude or ChatGPT for work set up with each person’s context and connected tools, plus Claude Code or Codex for the people who want to go further. The setup is theirs to keep building on.

A written roadmap

What to build next and how, written up after the day.

Recent workshop topics

  • Building your own AI coach
  • Building AI GTM systems with Attio MCP, Granola and Google Workspace
  • How to learn anything with AI as your tutor
  • AI for growth hacking
  • Claude Code in 60 minutes
  • Going from basic ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini prompts to repeatable systems

Taught by James McAulay

James teaches every workshop himself. He led creator growth at ElevenLabs, ran Encore for ten years until it sold to Mixcloud, and studied Computer Science at Cambridge. He also runs the Agent Accelerator, the four-week cohort the reviews here come from.

500+people trained
119published graduate reviews
James McAulay
James McAulay
Leads every workshop himself
Cambridge Computer Science
Encore CEO (acquired by Mixcloud)
Creator Growth Lead, ElevenLabs (2025)

Reviews and ratings are from Agent Accelerator graduates. Read all 119 reviews.

“James' AI workshop was everything I needed: no filler bs, deeply interactive, and he clearly knows this space inside out. He kept the pace tight and made complex concepts click by getting us building, not just listening.”

Henrik Hagemann, Co-founder at Puraffinity, Forbes 30 Under 30 (Dec 2025 AI Workshop)
Book a scoping call

Other workshops James has run

James with Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford at the EF Global Summit, Athens
Entrepreneurs FirstJune 2026 · fund team

The EF team asked for James’ help in using AI agents more deeply in their own work. They were investing in AI companies, but knew they could use it better themselves.

Workshop 1
For 10 of EF’s investing and operating team. A 4-week agent-building programme, ending in a Demo Day.
Workshop 2
A 100-person AI hackathon for EF’s global team, at the EF Global Summit in Athens.
Impact
Finance saved a day of manual work every month. New Talent Investors got up to speed faster. And the team had more time for founders, with agents doing the ops and admin.

“The session was superb”

Alice Bentinck, CEO, Entrepreneurs First
Founders building agents at the LocalGlobe x Ada Ventures AI Accelerator Day, Phoenix Court
LocalGlobe x Ada VenturesSept 2026 · one-day workshop

One AI Accelerator Day at Phoenix Court in London, for 16 founders, operators and investors.

Morning
Set up the agent foundations: a second brain, connectors, security and skills.
Afternoon
Everyone built agents on their own work, then demoed them to the room.
After
Every attendee kept access to the self-paced course.

“Collectively we’ve likely already saved 100s of hours of work a month for our teams”

Ben Norton, Venture Partner - Talent, Ada Ventures
Ben Norton with James McAulay at Phoenix Court
Ben Norton, Venture Partner - Talent at Ada Ventures (left), with James at Phoenix Court

Running training for a fund or its portfolio? See AI agent training for VCs.

What people say after a session with James

  • “There's a lot of folks out there who know a lot about AI. But there's very few who are able to explain and teach it, in a way that's accessible, clear and fun. James is one of those rare few.”

    Tushar Agarwal, CEO at Hubble (acquired by Yardi) · Dec 2025 AI Workshop
  • “James was an incredible facilitator and guide. He was able to take us through a complex workflow quickly but patiently while keeping the whole group engaged. I also appreciated that he gave us the tools to continue to develop at our own speed afterwards.”

    Megan Bingham-Walker, Founder @ Anansi · Dec 2025 AI Workshop
  • “I saw James speak on three different topics at an AI bootcamp I attended recently, and each session stood out for the same reason. He has a rare ability to take something as complex as AI and make it feel practical, approachable and genuinely useful. If you want someone who can open your eyes to what AI can actually do for you, not in theory but in practice, James is your guy.”

    Joel Rémy Parkes, CEO and Founder at bamboo bamboo · Dec 2025 AI Workshop
  • “Very practical and well thought through. They really gave me a window into best practice and were delivered thoughtfully and creatively. Definitely someone I would love to hear more from!”

    Richard · Dec 2025 AI Workshop
  • “In the turbocharged world of AI, the best way to learn is to do — and James had us building a personal AI coach in just an hour. It truly opened my eyes to what is possible and laid the groundwork to do so much more.”

    Michael Mangion · Dec 2025 AI Workshop

How booking a workshop works

  1. 01

    Scoping call

    20 minutes with James to pick the right format. A quote follows.

  2. 02

    Setup intake

    Your team tells James its tools and what eats its time, and the exercises are built from the answers.

  3. 03

    The workshop

    James runs it on your team’s own tools.

  4. 04

    Written roadmap

    What to build next, so the team can carry on without James.

AI workshop questions, answered

How much does an AI workshop cost?

Each workshop is quoted on group size and format. Book a scoping call and James will send a quote.

How do you run AI training for a whole team?

As a hands-on workshop on the team’s own tools. It starts with a 20-minute scoping call and a setup intake on the tools you use, then the workshop itself (half a day to two days, in person or online, for 10 to 200 people), and ends with a written roadmap so the team can keep building without James.

Do we need technical people?

No. The workshops assume no technical background. Most people work in Claude or ChatGPT for work, and engineers can go further with Claude Code or Codex in the same room.

What will our team leave with?

Working agents connected to their own tools, Claude or ChatGPT for work set up with each person’s context (plus Claude Code or Codex for anyone who wants to go further) and a written roadmap of what to build next. Sales teams typically leave with agents wired to their email, CRM, Slack and calendars.

Claude or ChatGPT?

Either. Workshops run in Claude and Claude Code, or in ChatGPT for work and Codex, whichever your team already uses. The approach is the same in both. Say which you use on the scoping call. For a team on Claude, see Claude training for teams.

How long is a workshop?

Half a day, one day, or two days. A half day suits up to 50 people getting started; a full day gives everyone time to leave with a working agent; two days adds agents that run on a schedule. Two-day bootcamps can be split, for example day one on Zoom and day two in person a week later.

How many people can attend?

Between 10 and 200. Above 30 people a second facilitator joins James, and the online half day is capped at 50. For fewer than 10 people, the live Agent Accelerator cohort is usually the better fit.

Is it online or in person?

Either, for every format. Online days run on Zoom with the same hands-on structure as a day in the room, but James recommends in person: the change is bigger and happens faster with everyone in the room. A two-day bootcamp can mix the two.

How do we book?

Book a 20-minute scoping call with James, or send an enquiry. He’ll follow up with a quote.

Are AI workshops worth it?

Huggg is the clearest example. After a two-day bootcamp, its sales team were using agents connected to their own Gmail, HubSpot, Slack and calendars, and the CEO, Paul Wickers, reckons some of his team are 20% more productive and some 300%. What he said about the return is in the Huggg case study.

Which AI workshop is best?

Ask any provider whether every attendee will build something on your real data, whether the trainer uses agents in their own work, and what happens after the day. Agent Accelerator workshops start with a setup intake on your tools and end with a written roadmap.

Can I learn AI by myself?

Yes. The sticking point is usually getting an agent to work on your own tasks, with nobody to ask when it goes wrong. For individuals who want structure, the Agent Accelerator runs as a four-week live cohort or as a self-paced course. Compare them on the AI agent courses page.

What is an AI workshop?

A live, hands-on session where a team learns to use AI on its own work, with an instructor in the room. The useful ones are mostly building time: people connect an AI agent to the tools they already use, give it a real task from their week and leave with it working. Some sessions sold as workshops are mostly slides, so ask how much of the day is spent building.

Book a 20-minute scoping call

A quote follows. Rather not book a call? Send an enquiry instead.

Choose a time

Or send an enquiry

Tell James a little about your team and he'll be in touch.

James replies personally.

Talk to James about a workshop for your team

Book a scoping call, or send an enquiry and James will get back to you.

Learning on your own? See our AI agent courses