AI for Leaders
Executive workshop on where AI fits in your business, what it costs and what it changes. A practical programme for leadership teams, from Arclight.
Contents
Executive workshop on where AI fits, what it costs and what it changes. It gives leaders a clear view of what to do first, and what to leave alone.
Most leadership teams hear about AI daily and still lack a shared view of it. One person has tried a chatbot, another has been pitched an agent, and the board wants a position. The result is scattered pilots, unclear budgets and decisions made on hearsay. AI for Leaders is a single workshop that fixes this. It puts the whole team in one room, explains plainly what current systems can and cannot do, and works through your own business, function by function. It asks where AI would change the work, what that would cost to build and to run, and who would have to change how they operate. You leave with a short list of choices you can defend.
It was designed for leaders who run a business from London, Dubai or New York. It is shaped by Arclight's work in frontier AI, led by its founder.
Format: a half-day or full-day session, in person or online, for one leadership team at a time. The agenda is agreed with you beforehand and adjusted to your sector and the decisions you face.
How it works
The programme runs across five parts. Only the first asks for preparation, and only the last asks you to commit to anything beyond the room.
- Opening. We agree what the day is for, check the group's starting knowledge with a few questions, and note any rules around data. Nothing is presented yet.
- Opening discussion. We begin with your own questions and sort them into a few kinds: a reaction to hype, a general question about the technology, a worry about a competitor, a request to fix a known problem, and a real decision waiting to be made. The first kinds need explanation. The last needs a plan. For each decision, we ask whether the business already holds what is needed, who would own it and which team would feel the change first. Every idea is checked against that list before it goes any further.
- During the work. We watch what the group decides, challenge vague claims and record each choice. Slides are kept to a minimum. Nothing is shared outside the room.
- After each module. The group states what changed in its thinking. Doubts stay on the list until later discussion settles them; the closing module resolves what can be resolved.
- Closing. The group agrees owners and next steps, and the notes are tidied and sent after the day. Open questions stay on a list.
Every AI idea falls into one of three groups:
| Group | Format | What follows |
|---|---|---|
| build now | "the board pack is rebuilt by hand", "tickets need sorting before anyone reads them", "contracts wait for review" | a scoped pilot with a named owner |
| a useful experiment | "let one team test a drafting assistant" | a short trial, then a decision to scale or stop |
| roadmap | "we should do something with AI", vague ambitions, tools bought without an owner, ideas that need clean data you do not have | parked |
The line is one test: would the business notice if this worked tomorrow, and could someone own the result?
Personal productivity habits (which chat tool people prefer) are out of scope: they belong in your own team's working agreements, which people already follow. The workshop is about company decisions only.
Within a week of the session, the group receives a short written summary and a one-page AI plan. The summary records every use case discussed, the group's verdict on each and the owner it was given. The plan lists a small number of choices only: the pilots to start, the ideas to test cheaply and the ones to park. Nothing is added that the room did not agree, and anything contested is marked as open. If the group reconsiders an item later, the new view replaces the old one in the plan; every other line stays exactly as written. A month on, an optional call reviews what moved, what stalled and what the group would now do differently.
The full agenda, hour by hour, is agreed with you before the day.
Why it is designed so
- The workshop is about decisions, not demonstrations. Leaders hear few slides and spend most of the time on their own questions. A typical day has five parts: where AI fits, what it costs, how roles change, where the risks sit, and what to do in the first ninety days. Each part ends with a written decision or an open question with an owner. We keep a strict rule on time: every discussion either closes or is moved to the list. The closing hour turns the day's notes into the plan the group takes away.
- Start from the decision. When a team has no problem to solve yet, a tool is a solution looking for work. We ask what decision is waiting, and only then what AI could do about it.
- Your business is the evidence. Your own processes, data and customers decide what is worth doing; generic examples are only used to start a conversation.
- Claims need evidence. When a view changes, we ask what would show it was right, and agree a small test before anyone commits budget.
- Small first, large second. We pick modest pilots before company-wide programmes, and prove value there.
- One owner per outcome. Every use case leaves the session with a named person responsible and a place where progress is reported; we do not keep a second list. The plan lives with you.
- Stop early when it makes sense. If an idea fails the first test, we say so on the day and move to the next one.
Preparation
The session notes are written by the facilitator and shared with the whole group at the end, so everyone reads the same record. A decision noted in one discussion is visible in the next, and in the closing hour. Notes are only added to, never quietly edited. At the end, the group reviews them together, and the facilitator tidies them into the plan.
The one-page AI plan is the one document you own. Arclight drafts a first version in the session and flags gaps afterwards, but never decides for you.
Enrolment
Who attends:
- A laptop and a notebook; no software to install, no accounts needed
- a sponsor from the leadership team
- a clear question you want answered, from strategy or operations; no technical background needed
A full day covers all five parts with time for questions. A remote session follows the same agenda in shorter blocks.
These details match the standard workshop. Dates, venue, in-person or remote delivery, and tailoring to your sector are agreed during the first conversation.
Then book the session, share the attendee list and tell us the questions you want answered. Arclight will confirm the agenda and flag anything that needs preparation. Nothing is needed beyond that.
Session format
Content is tailored from your briefing before the day. The five parts below make up the standard agenda.
| Module | Length | Key question |
|---|---|---|
| Where AI fits | Part 1 | Which of our functions would change first, and why? |
| What it costs | Part 2 | What would it cost to build and to run, in plain terms? |
| How roles change | Part 3 | Who would have to work differently, and how? |
| Where the risks sit | Part 4 | What could go wrong, and who owns each risk? |
| The first ninety days | Part 5 | Which pilots do we start, test cheaply or park? |
What you take away
| Module | Topic | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Case for change | a guided walk through the places AI changes work (sales, operations, finance, customer service, software and people), with examples from your own sector, a short discussion of what each could mean for your teams, and an honest look at where it does not help yet; the module closes with each leader naming the two questions they most want answered by the end of the day | half a day, with a short break and time for questions |
| The cost of AI | how to size the effort: licences, usage, engineering, training and the cost of changing how people work, with a worked template to take away | one hour, plus a short exercise on a project you are weighing |
| Choosing and owning | the group maps each function to the tasks that could change, then ranks them by value, difficulty and risk; leaders choose the shortlist together, give each item an owner and agree what evidence would make them continue or stop | opening hour, after lunch on a full day, and the closing hour; a follow-up call a month later if you want one |
Every module draws on your own context as well as ours. Bring real questions and real constraints; the more specific they are, the more useful the day. Anything sensitive can stay in the room, and we do not ask for documents.
Nothing confidential is needed in advance. Please do not send customer data, credentials or contracts ahead of the session. We work from descriptions and anonymised examples, and take away only the notes the group agrees to share. If your sector limits what can be discussed, tell us at the first call.
Some leaders arrive wanting a verdict on a specific tool or supplier. We do not sell any, and the workshop is not a comparison. It gives you the questions to ask any vendor, so the choice stays with you and does not rest on a demonstration.
Pricing
Costs depend on the length of the session, the size of the group and where it is held. We scope the programme after a first conversation and agree it in writing before anything starts. The workshop needs no software licences, and we do not ask you to buy tools. The cost module is there to help you understand what a project would involve, including usage, upkeep and the effort of changing how people work.
Following up afterwards
Everything we discuss goes into the session notes, with the owner of each point. If a question cannot be answered on the day, we write it down and reply afterwards, so nothing is lost. If you would like a recording, ask in advance and we will agree who may see it.
Agendas are illustrative, not fixed timetables. Each is adjusted to the group before the day.
If plans change
| Issue | What we do |
|---|---|
| A leader cannot attend | a deputy joins with the sponsor's briefing, or the session is moved to a later date |
| The group is large | we run two cohorts |
| Sector rules limit sharing | we work from anonymised examples only |
If a session has to move, tell your Arclight contact as early as you can. Nothing is lost: the agenda and the briefing stay as agreed, and we rebook around your calendar. If the sponsor changes, we ask for a short handover so the aims of the day stay the same. A missed module can be taken in the follow-up call.
If a session is postponed, tell your Arclight contact and we will rebook it. Nothing needs to be redone: the briefing and the agenda stay as they were, and we pick up at the module where the group stopped. Rebooking does not reset the agreed scope. A postponement is not announced to anyone else, and attendees do not need to repeat preparation. If the sponsor leaves, we ask the new one for a short call first. There is no automatic rescheduling; every change is confirmed in writing.
Venues
| Option | Details |
|---|---|
| Executives | in person or online, as you prefer |
| Boards | onsite or remote |
| Follow-up | optional, a month after the day |
| Advice | by request: a short call to review the one-page plan |
Delivery
The exercises use invented data, a fictional company and no company systems. Nobody needs to install anything, bring credentials or connect to a live tool. Rooms need a screen, a wall for sticky notes and a reliable network, nothing else. A remote session needs a video call and a shared whiteboard, and we bring both.
The programme is delivered by Arclight in sessions designed for leadership teams, and it is adjusted after each run. We ask every group for written feedback at the close of the day: what was useful, what was missing and what they would cut. The agenda changes only when feedback points the same way more than once. Sector-specific examples are prepared per group and never reused with identifying detail. The day does not promise outcomes for your business; it gives your team a shared view and a plan. Questions or suggestions are welcome at contact@arclight.im.
About Arclight
AI for Leaders was written by Arclight for executives who must decide on AI spend before the first pilot and want to understand it first-hand, in plain language. It is independent of any tool vendor and does not promote one.