Digital Business

AI for Business & Productivity

Use AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Canva AI to automate workflows and create content.

Level: Beginner–Intermediate Beginner: 4 weeks • Intermediate: 8 weeks Contact for pricing

Prerequisites

No prior experience required — open to beginners.

Certificate

Awarded by Rescue Academy on successful completion of the program's assessments and final project.

Learn Online — Live Classes

Register, receive your schedule, and join live instructor-led AI for Business & Productivity classes on Zoom. Assignments, instructor feedback, and a certificate on completion.

Learn In Person

Attend AI for Business & Productivity classes in person in Juba with hands-on labs, instructor mentorship, and a certificate on completion.

What You'll Learn

What AI tools can and cannot do for business, and effective prompting
AI for customer service, operations, procedures and summaries
AI-assisted marketing content, design and translation
Prompt templates and simple no-code automation
AI-supported analysis, research and reporting
Customer chatbots, tool evaluation and value calculation
AI policies, staff training and measuring the impact of adoption

Program Objectives

Use AI tools productively for everyday business tasks
Keep AI outputs accurate, honest and safe for customers
Design AI-assisted workflows with human checkpoints and simple automation
Choose AI tools based on evidence, cost and value
Lead responsible AI adoption in a small organisation

Who It's For

Small business owners and managers
Office, administrative and customer service staff
NGO and school staff who want to work more efficiently with AI

Where You'll Use It

Small businesses and shops
NGO and school administration and reporting
Customer service, marketing and office work

Curriculum

Instructor-led, practical training. Each level is a block of 4, 8 or 12 weeks; every module ends with a practical activity and an assessment, and every level with a project.

Beginner

4 weeks · 52 guided hours · 5 modules Free taster lessons available Level overview

Module 1: AI at Work: Getting Started 10 h

Learn what today's AI tools do well and badly for business work, choose tools sensibly and write effective prompts. 3 lessons

Module 2: AI for Customer Service and Operations 11 h

Use AI to draft customer replies, summarise information and create clear procedures, always with human checking. 3 lessons

Module 3: AI for Marketing Content and Design 10 h

Create social media posts, product descriptions, simple designs and translations with AI, keeping a consistent and honest brand voice. 3 lessons

Module 4: Automating Everyday Work with AI 11 h

Find tasks worth automating, build reusable prompt templates and set up simple no-code routines. 3 lessons

Module 5: Responsible AI at Work 10 h

Protect customer and business data, check accuracy and use AI honestly so customers and staff can trust the business. 3 lessons

Level project: AI Productivity Kit for a Small Business

Intermediate

8 weeks · 90 guided hours · 6 modules Level overview

Module 1: AI for Business Analysis and Research 15 h

Use AI to explore spreadsheet data, research markets and draft reports — with verification at every step. 3 lessons

Module 2: Designing AI-Assisted Workflows 16 h

Redesign business processes with AI steps and human checks, and connect tools with no-code automation. 3 lessons

Module 3: AI for Customer Engagement 15 h

Plan chatbots and personalised communication that help customers while staying honest, safe and easy to escalate. 3 lessons

Module 4: Choosing and Evaluating AI Tools 13 h

Compare AI tools fairly, test them on real tasks and calculate whether they are worth their cost. 3 lessons

Module 5: Leading AI Adoption in Small Organisations 13 h

Write a proportionate AI policy, train staff, manage change and measure impact. 3 lessons

Module 6: AI Adoption Project 18 h

Plan, pilot, measure and present AI adoption for a small organisation. 3 lessons

Level project: AI Adoption Plan and Pilot for a Small Organisation

Final practical project

AI Adoption Plan and Pilot for a Small Organisation

A two-week pilot of AI-assisted workflows in a small organisation, measured against a baseline, with an AI use policy, training plan and an evidence-based adoption recommendation.

Deliverables

Before-and-after workflow maps with human checkpoints
Measured pilot results for time, quality and cost
A one-page AI use policy and staff training plan
A presentation with costs, value and a recommendation

Assessed on

Workflows protect data and keep people responsible for decisions
Measurements are realistic and include checking time
The policy and training fit the organisation
The recommendation follows from the evidence

Worked Examples

A selection of the visual, practical examples used in this program's lessons — each teaches a different skill.

Free Course: AI for Business Starter

A free, practical introduction to using AI tools at work: what AI can do for a business, writing effective prompts, creating content, automating routine tasks and using AI responsibly. Free, self-study, about 4 hours — no certificate. The full program above is taught live by an instructor, with practical assignments, assessments and a certificate.

Open the free course

Tools & Technologies

Primary Tools

AI chat assistants — Drafting, summarising, analysis support and brainstorming Practice: Prompting, templates and verification
AI features in office and spreadsheet tools — Working with documents and data inside familiar tools Practice: AI-assisted documents, summaries and analysis
AI-assisted design tools (e.g. Canva) — Creating marketing visuals Practice: Brand-consistent, honest visuals

Supporting Tools

Online forms and spreadsheets — Collecting data for AI-assisted routines Practice: Simple, reliable workflows
Machine translation tools — Communicating with customers in other languages Practice: Translation with fluent-speaker checks

Professional / Industry Tools

No-code automation platforms (e.g. Zapier, Make or Power Automate) — Connecting apps and AI steps into workflows Practice: Triggers, actions, approvals and error alerts
No-code chatbot builders — Customer-facing chatbots on websites or messaging channels Practice: Scoped knowledge bases and escalation

Career Opportunities

Freelancer or remote worker
Small business owner or e-commerce operator
Project/administrative support role at an NGO or company

Practical Projects

Design and implement an AI-assisted workflow that saves real time on a recurring business task
Write a responsible AI use policy and prompt library for a small business or team
Track time spent on a recurring task before and after introducing an AI tool for it, and calculate whether the tool is actually worth its cost

Problem-Solving Focus

Problem: A small business owner spends hours every week writing similar customer emails, social posts, and reports from scratch

Approach: Build a small library of reusable AI prompt templates for the recurring tasks, so each one takes minutes instead of starting from a blank page every time.

Problem: An AI tool drafts a customer response or report that sounds confident but contains a factual error the business would be embarrassed to send

Approach: Always fact-check and personalize AI output before it reaches a real customer or client — treat it as a fast first draft, never a final answer.

Problem: A business is paying for multiple AI subscriptions but isn't sure any of them are actually saving time or money

Approach: Measure real time and cost savings for the specific tasks each tool is used for, and drop subscriptions that aren't earning their cost rather than keeping tools out of habit.

Problem: A business wants to use AI more but has no policy on what's safe to paste into a chatbot — customer data, financial details, and so on

Approach: Write a simple, clear AI use policy — what data can and can't be shared with AI tools — before adoption grows past the point where everyone is already using it their own way.

Ready to register for AI for Business & Productivity?