Foundation series

“I realized I was only using a fraction of what ChatGPT had to offer.”

Some version of that is the most common thing we hear from participants in the You & AI workshop series.

AI has features most people never touch — memory, projects, connectors, model selection. This series teaches you to use them together, so AI becomes a genuine thought partner

Foundation series

Each session builds a new dimension of AI capability, compounding into more effective & efficient use.

  • AI isn’t a magic typewriter, but it can be a powerful ally throughout the writing process. We’ll walk through how I collaborated with AI to write a LinkedIn post that got 400,000+ views and unpack the step-by-step approach behind that collaboration. From there, we’ll introduce a framework for working with AI at different stages of the writing process. We’ll close by highlighting common signs of weak LLM writing.

    Homework: Write or revise something using strategies from this session.

  • Projects can turn ChatGPT into a personal operating system—one that remembers your goals, holds relevant files, and supports your work. Learn to layer knowledge, project instructions, and prompting to create high-leverage workflows for tasks like writing, networking, and planning (whether your week or your meals).

    Homework: Create two Projects to assist your workflows—one for writing and one for something that matters to your work.

  • AI becomes far more powerful when it knows your goals, adapts to your preferred work style, and produces output the way you like. Memory enables this. You’ll learn to use memory to define working ‘modes’ and use AI to surface habits, strengths, and growth edges.

    Homework: Teach AI something useful about your work and set up at least one “mode” that you want to be able to switch on at any time.

  • Learn to leverage AI as a research assistant that helps you find sources and synthesize across them. You’ll learn to set up Connectors to mine your own information and use Deep Research to explore topics more broadly & deeply. You’ll also learn the different types of models you can select from, why they matter, and when to use them.

    Homework: Use two of the ways we showed knowledge-building in class.

  • Learn how to use AI as an analytic partner. We’ll walk through how to collaborate with AI both inside spreadsheet environments and in broader analytic workflows—framing questions, guiding analysis, and extracting insights that go beyond the obvious. Whether you're working with surveys, financial data, or messy qualitative responses, you'll learn techniques to move from raw inputs to meaningful conclusions.

Logistics

Duration: 5 sessions, 75 minutes each, on Zoom

Style: These are small live seminars, capped at 12 people each

Enroll in an upcoming series

February start date:

February 27, March 6, 13, 20, & 27: 10:00-11:15am ET

Check availability & enroll

  • "The course has sparked so much new energy...and that has felt so electric and fun. This honestly might be the best professional development class I've taken in 25 years and several different industries."

  • “This course will save you so much time.”

  • “I came in with essentially zero familiarity and now feel like I know the fundamentals of what AI can do and how I can play with it, test its limits, and integrate it into my life.”

  • "I realized I was using 1% of what ChatGPT has to offer."

  • "The ROI on this course was very, very, very high."

  • "This is by far the best AI learning experience I've had, full stop."

Past participants came from organizations like these

Your instructor

I’m Sarah Dillard, an entrepreneur and educator.

I first got interested in LLM tools after reading collected pieces about them in the 2020 Best American Science & Nature Writing. This led me to start experimenting before ChatGPT had even launched. When it did, it immediately felt like a game-changer. So much so that I wrote the first education sector op-ed on ChatGPT: “Schools Must Embrace the Looming Disruption of ChatGPT.”

In additon to my work leading You & AI, I also advise Harvard Business School on the design of their online entrepreneurship program, with a focus on how AI is reshaping what—and how—we can teach.

I have an MBA from Harvard Business School & an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School and started my career at Bain & Company. When not collaborating with AI, I enjoy hiking, hosting friends, and hanging out with my nieces (7 & 5).

FAQs

  • Some people start from no/low background & some start from daily professional use. The destination is the same either way: the series is designed to get people into top 10% of AI use.

  • If you can already do all of these things fluently, you may be looking for something more advanced:

    • Use Projects as lightweight operating systems

    • Direct persistent memory

    • Select the appropriate model for the task

    If you have questions about fit, please feel free to contact me.

  • The easiest level up available in AI is to pay for your account, whether it’s with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot. Which AI you choose matters less than whether you’re using a free account vs a paid one.

    That said, as of the beginning of 2026, Claude offers the most powerful set of features for most professional work. It is our recommended AI if you are choosing one.

    The Foundation series will center features that are common across the AIs and use ChatGPT to demonstrate these since it is the most popular AI. It will also highlight some unique and valuable features in other foundation models.

  • If you add your email address here, I'll notify you when we open future trainings.

  • I'll send you a recording of the training for personal use that is good for seven days so you can catch up before the next class.

  • Unfortunately, once you're registered, we aren't able to offer refunds but can issue a credit that you can use to enroll in a future course.