NorthBound Advisory
Training Program

AI Foundations.
A safe, practical start.

Your employees are already using AI. It's built into Microsoft 365, it's a browser tab away, and it's showing up in everyday work whether or not you've decided how you feel about it. AI Foundations gives you control over how. It leaves your business with a plain-language AI usage policy and staff who know how to use AI tools well. No technical background required.

Under a minute: why AI Foundations exists, and what your team gets.

AI is already here

Employees are encountering AI inside Microsoft 365 and other everyday tools, with or without guidance.

Leaders are uncertain

Most businesses lack clarity on risk, policy, and appropriate day-to-day use. Hesitation and inconsistency follow.

Productivity is missed

Without a safe entry point, businesses miss real opportunities to improve how everyday work gets done.

What AI Foundations is
  • A practical entry point for building baseline AI understanding across your organization
  • Hands-on enablement using the Microsoft 365 tools your team already has
  • A plain-language AI usage policy tailored to your business
  • Foundational upskilling focused on your people, not your systems
What it isn't

IT system integration, custom AI development, enterprise-wide transformation, software procurement, or advanced technical training. Those come later, if and when you're ready.

This is the groundwork.

Who it's for

Built for teams like yours

Company size

Small and mid-sized employers, ideally fewer than 50 employees.

Tech platform

Organizations using Microsoft 365 as their primary productivity platform: Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams.

AI maturity

Early stage, with no formal AI policy or internal guardrails yet in place.

Roles

Knowledge workers using computers daily for email, documents, meetings, and reporting.

Readiness

Leaders looking for clarity and consistency before broader adoption. No prior AI experience needed.

How the program works

Five steps, thirty days

  1. 1

    Readiness assessment

    A short online assessment covering current AI exposure, data sensitivity, and workforce profile.

  2. 2

    Intake and orientation

    A 30-minute call to confirm objectives, expectations, and scope.

  3. 3

    Leadership working session

    A two-hour facilitated session covering practical AI concepts, real use cases, and where responsibility sits.

  4. 4

    AI usage policy

    A plain-language policy defining allowed, restricted, and prohibited everyday AI uses in your business.

  5. 5

    Training and enablement

    Self-paced modules, roughly 90 minutes per employee, completed within 30 days.

Total time commitment: about 90 minutes per employee and five hours per leader.

The training

Ten modules, twenty-plus short video tutorials

Delivered through a self-paced online platform with video walkthroughs, worked examples, and progress tracking. Each tutorial is under three minutes, so employees can fit training around their actual workload.

  1. 01Intro: AI Assistants at Work
  2. 02Ethics and Safe Use of AI at Work
  3. 03Prompting Effectively with AI Assistants
  4. 04Writing Smarter with Copilot in Word
  5. 05Powerful Slides with Copilot in PowerPoint
  6. 06Working with Data Using Copilot in Excel
  7. 07Communicating Smarter with Copilot in Outlook
  8. 08Collaborating Effectively with Copilot in Teams
  9. 09Using Chat-Based AI Tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity)
  10. 10Creating Visuals Smarter with Canva AI
What you walk away with

Outcomes, not homework

An AI usage policy

Plain-language and specific to your business, covering allowed, restricted, and prohibited uses.

Shared understanding

Leadership and staff working from the same practical foundation instead of a dozen private assumptions.

Productivity gains

Visible improvements using the Microsoft 365 tools and the team you already have.

Reduced risk

Clear guardrails cut down on uncertainty, inconsistency, and unintended data exposure.

Low disruption

Self-paced training, 90 minutes per employee, completed within 30 days.

Workforce readiness

A team that's confident and prepared for whatever AI initiative comes next.

Why NorthBound Advisory

We help small and mid-sized businesses adopt AI in practical, impactful ways. Our founders bring 25+ years each of technology leadership across Salesforce, Introhive, Bell Canada, and Alcatel, including scaling startups to $40M ARR and architecting AI-powered platforms used by PwC, Deloitte, and KPMG. We do hands-on implementation, not just advice.

Give your team a safe,
practical start with AI.

Book a no-commitment call