Build the AI automation skills that turn manual work into real results.
The AI Automation Practitioner programme trains one of your team to spot repetitive, time-consuming work and build the AI automations that fix it. Hands-on, practical, and government-funded.
AI is changing the way every business operates. The question isn't whether your organisation needs to adapt, it's who's going to turn that change into action.
The AI Automation Practitioner Apprenticeship equips you to be that person. Through expert-led training and real workplace application, you'll learn to identify where AI creates value, build working solutions using real tools, and drive meaningful change from the inside.
This is not a theoretical course. It’s a practical programme designed to build your confidence, capability and impact over time. You’ll develop AI skills you can apply straight away, progress into more advanced tools and automation, and bring everything together in a workplace-based project that delivers real value to your organisation.
What the programme covers
Across the three cycles, you'll work with:
- AI fundamentals, context engineering and responsible use
- Workflow mapping and Standard Operating Procedures
- Custom AI assistants (GPTs and GEMs) in ChatGPT and Gemini
- AI Impact Assessments and data compliance
- Data cleaning, visualisation and dashboards in Google AI Studio
- No-code automation using Zapier
- Integrations: Zapier with Mailer Lite, Monday.com and Google Workspace
- Agentic AI tools: Claude Co-work, Google Antigravity, VS Code with AI extensions
- AI Implementation Framework - a structured approach to planning and communicating AI projects
- Stakeholder engagement, change management and workforce enablement
Tools you’ll work with
You'll get hands-on experience with:
ChatGPT
Google Gemini
Claude
Microsoft Copilot
NotebookLM
Google AI Studio
Zapier
Mailer Lite
Monday.com
Claude Co-work
Google Antigravity
VS Code (with AI extensions)
No single tool is required in advance. You'll explore and evaluate them as part of the programme.
Real projects. Real time saved.
Our Level 4 apprentices build working automations in their own workplaces from early in the programme.
A few examples of what they've created:
- Automated expense reporting: an app that reads receipts from a phone photo, extracts the merchant, date, VAT and totals, and prepares a submission-ready report, removing hours of manual entry.
- AI-assisted rota planning: a tool that drafts weekly staff rotas against forecast sales and staffing rules, turning a manual, judgement-heavy task into a fast first draft with clear wage-cost visibility.
- Consolidated marketing reporting: replacing a manual, five-platform reporting job with a single, scheduled dashboard.
- Automated invoice triage: a workflow that sorts and routes incoming invoices automatically.
- Faster monthly reporting: automating a recurring sales report as part of a wider finance efficiency drive.
Across finance, operations, HR and marketing, the programme flexes to whatever your business needs.
What it means for your business
- A capability you keep. Rather than paying for one-off consultancy, you build lasting AI and automation skills inside your own team.
- Value from early on. Learners apply what they learn straight away, so the benefit starts well before they finish.
- Government-funded. Funded through the apprenticeship system, fully funded for many employers, with a small contribution for some, depending on your circumstances. We'll confirm exactly what applies to you.
- A light commitment from you. Your team member learns mostly through their day-to-day work, with protected learning time and a short progress review each cycle. We handle the funding setup, paperwork and compliance.
This is for someone ready to build with AI, not just use it, no technical background required, just curiosity and a role where they can apply what they learn. It suits people in operations, admin, finance, marketing, HR or coordination roles, where there's real manual work to streamline.
Because it's an Apprenticeship, the learner needs to be employed throughout (so it isn't suitable for self-employed individuals), living in England, in a role where they can apply their learning, and with their employer's support.