AI That Works: Critical Thinking for Smarter Workflows

AI can accelerate your work—but speed alone does not guarantee better results. The real advantage comes from knowing where AI adds value, how to ask better questions, and when human judgment needs to take the lead.

This highly practical, full-day workshop brings critical thinking and AI-enabled workflow improvement together. Participants learn how to evaluate their current ways of working, identify appropriate opportunities for AI, create more effective prompts, critically evaluate AI-generated results, and redesign workflows with purposeful human review built in.

How You Will Benefit

Develop thinking skills to use AI effectively and responsibly across tools and environments.
Explore AI's practical capabilities, recognizing assumptions, bias, errors, and limitations.
Apply learning to real workflows by mapping processes, identifying friction points, and pinpointing AI help areas.
Develop and test prompts, evaluate results, and redesign workflows with structured human review.
Gain a practical approach for daily work and critical-thinking habits to assess AI’s actual impact.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Apply critical thinking to AI-assisted work using a structured approach to analysis, questioning, evaluation, and decision-making.
Identify opportunities for AI within existing workflows by mapping real processes, recognizing friction points, and determining where AI capabilities can add meaningful value.
Match AI capabilities to business needs by defining the question or problem before selecting how AI should be used.
Create more effective AI prompts using a five-part structure—Role, Task, Context, Format, and Constraints—grounded in disciplined inquiry rather than trial and error.
Evaluate AI-generated output critically for accuracy, relevance, completeness, logic, and risk before putting it to use.
Recognize human and AI-enabled bias, assumptions, and reasoning errors that can affect the quality of AI-supported decisions and work products.
Apply the LAB framework—Limitations, Assumptions, and Bias to establish meaningful human review checkpoints in AI-enabled workflows.
Use the COACHES characteristics of effective critical thinkers, with particular emphasis on Curiosity, Humility, and Objectivity, to support responsible AI use.
Redesign a real workflow with AI intentionally integrated, including clear human review points and measures of success.
Identify specific behaviors for improving personal and team AI use after the workshop.

Who Should Attend

This workshop is designed for mid-level leaders, team leads, and knowledge workers who perform operational work themselves and/or influence how their teams use AI.

It is particularly valuable for professionals who want to move beyond experimenting with AI and develop a more disciplined approach to deciding where to use it, how to use it, and how to evaluate the results.

Course Prerequisites

No previous AI experience is required. To participate fully in the hands-on exercises, participants should:

Have access to an AI tool approved by their organization or IT/compliance team.
Complete the provided pre-work checklist before attending.
Come prepared to identify a recurring work process or workflow they can examine and improve during the workshop.

Format

Virtual Classroom: 1 day of web-based eLearning with a live instructor. To help assimilate the tools and techniques learned, there is a mixture of individual and group exercises throughout the course. Students need to be prepared for a high level of participation.

In-House: If you have 10 or more employees seeking training, we will deliver the course at your facility or in a private virtual session.

Duration

1 Day(s) | 7 PDUs | 0.7 CEUs

Outline

Course Introduction

Course overview
Learning objectives review

Modern Critical Thinking in the Age of AI

Thinking, critical thinking, and AI-assisted thinking
The opportunities and limitations of AI
Why AI fluency should not be confused with AI accuracy
Open-mindedness as a workflow skill

Understanding What AI Can (and Cannot) Do

Explore five practical AI capabilities commonly used in knowledge work
Exercise: Map your workflow with a critical thinking lens
Debrief: Identifying Patterns

Utilizing Analysis and Logic with AI as the Resource

Defining the problem before asking AI to solve it
Applying analysis and logic to AI-assisted work
Distinguishing a well-formed question from a poorly formed one
Identifying assumptions hidden inside prompts
Using follow-up questions to improve both AI output and human reasoning

Match the AI Capability and Define the Question

Determine how friction points help determine AI appropriateness
Exercise: Find where AI fits
Debrief: What information would AI need?

COACHES for Responsible AI Use

COACHES model for critical thinking and responsible AI use
- Curiosity
- Objectivity
- Active listening
- Contextualization
- Humility
- Emotional control
- Self-awareness