Nine Dots Ofsted Strong Standard

AI LEADERSHIP UNITS Fully Funded Level 5

Lead with Confidence in the Age of AI.

No technical AI experience required.

Unlock AI opportunities, make informed decisions and lead meaningful change in your organisation.

Our three fully funded AI Leadership Units give managers and leaders the practical skills to develop AI strategies, adopt technology responsibly and deliver sustainable business improvements.

Funding Fully Funded*
Qualification Level Level 5
Duration 5 Weeks per Unit
Delivery Live Virtual Workshops

*Funding and eligibility is subject to our current funding criteria and course availability.

Unit 1 AI Strategy & Opportunity

Discover where AI can make the biggest difference

Unit 2 Procurement & Governance

Make informed AI decisions and build responsible governance

Unit 3 Delivery & Transformation

Turn AI strategy into lasting business improvements

Why AI Leadership Matters

AI Creates Opportunities.
Effective Leadership Turns Them into Results.

AI is changing how organisations operate, but adopting new technology successfully takes more than understanding what it can do.

Leaders need to recognise valuable opportunities, make responsible decisions and guide their organisations through change. Our AI Leadership Units develop these capabilities through practical, work-based learning, helping participants turn AI potential into measurable organisational improvements.

Identify AI Opportunities

Recognise where AI can create genuine value and prioritise improvements based on evidence.

Make Responsible AI Decisions

Evaluate solutions, manage risk and put appropriate governance in place.

Deliver Meaningful AI Change

Lead implementation, support people through change and ensure AI delivers lasting results.

Discover → Adopt → Transform

Three Units to Choose From.
One Clear Path to Confident AI Leadership.

Whether you're exploring AI for the first time, evaluating solutions or leading implementation, our three practical units help your organisation develop the capabilities it needs. Choose one, two or all three units to match your priorities.

Overview

Designed for leaders at the early stages of AI adoption, this unit helps you understand AI's capabilities, identify valuable opportunities and develop a clear, responsible strategy for your organisation. Move beyond the hype and make informed decisions about where AI can deliver genuine business value.

What You Will Learn
  • Understand AI's capabilities, limitations and organisational implications.
  • Identify and prioritise valuable AI opportunities.
  • Assess feasibility, risk and evidence for AI pilots.
  • Develop a responsible, practical AI strategy.
  • Build stakeholder support and communicate your direction effectively.
Who Is This For?

Leaders and managers whose organisations are exploring AI or need a clearer direction for its adoption.

Practical Outcome

An actionable AI strategy for your organisation.

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Overview

Choosing and adopting AI requires careful evaluation, sound commercial decisions and clear accountability. This unit equips leaders to assess AI solutions and suppliers, understand procurement risks and establish governance frameworks that protect their organisation while enabling innovation.

What You Will Learn
  • Evaluate AI solutions and suppliers against organisational requirements.
  • Identify Shadow AI and understand adoption options.
  • Develop evidence-backed business cases for AI investment.
  • Understand legal, ethical, data and procurement risks.
  • Establish governance, accountability and effective human oversight.
Who Is This For?

Leaders responsible for evaluating, selecting, purchasing or governing AI technologies within their organisation.

Practical Outcome

An AI Adoption and Governance Pack.

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Overview

Successful AI adoption does not end with a pilot. This unit helps leaders turn AI initiatives into sustainable organisational improvements by managing implementation, supporting workforce change and establishing effective monitoring and risk management.

What You Will Learn
  • Move AI initiatives from pilot to sustainable operation.
  • Lead delivery and measure meaningful business outcomes.
  • Assess workforce impact and plan appropriate development or redeployment.
  • Establish organisational AI risk management and incident response.
  • Monitor deployed AI and communicate risks responsibly.
Who Is This For?

Leaders overseeing AI implementation, operational transformation and the integration of AI into existing processes and ways of working.

Practical Outcome

An AI Transformation Leadership Plan.

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Fully Funded Training

Why Are These AI Leadership Units Fully Funded?

The UK government wants businesses to adopt AI and they recognise that many don't yet have the skills to do it effectively.

100% Funded For most organisations/employers
Level 5 Government-approved apprenticeship units
Unlimted Enrolment Multiple places available

As part of its Growth and Skills Levy reforms, the government has introduced funding for short, practical training in priority areas such as AI. The aim is simple: help UK businesses improve productivity, remain competitive and prepare their workforce for an AI-driven future.

So What's the Catch?

There isn't a hidden catch or a compromise on quality.

These are government-approved, Level 5 apprenticeship units, developed around recognised occupational skills and delivered by approved training providers.

Who Pays?

The government funds 100% of eligible training costs for non-levy-paying employers, up to the published funding limit. Larger employers can use their apprenticeship levy funds, subject to eligibility.

In Short...

This isn't free training because it has no value. It's funded because the government believes developing AI skills is important to the future of the UK economy.

Funding is subject to eligibility and government funding rules. Employer contributions may apply in some circumstances.

How It Works

Practical Training Designed Around Your Organisation

Each AI Leadership Unit combines expert-led virtual workshops with practical workplace learning. Rather than focusing on technical exercises or specific AI platforms, learners develop real strategies, frameworks and plans relevant to their own organisations.

30 Hours per Unit

Focused, Level 5 learning delivered over five weeks.

Live Virtual Workshops

One scheduled day per week, 09:00–16:15.

Practical Workplace Outcomes

Apply learning directly to your organisation and produce a tangible piece of work.

Flexible Unit Selection

Choose one, two or all three units according to your organisation's priorities.

Fully Funded Training

Funding is available subject to the applicable eligibility requirements.

Learner Success Story

Lance's Story From Daily Reports to 1,000% More Output

Lance Mather was new to his role as Operations Analyst at Generator Power and relatively new to AI.

So far, his Level 4 AI & Automation Champion Training Programme has helped him transform how he works — without working any longer hours.

Different programme. Same potential for transformation.

Lance's story comes from our Level 4 AI & Automation Champion Apprenticeship, rather than the AI Leadership Units featured on this page.

While the programmes have different objectives, his experience demonstrates the real-world impact of developing AI skills — from saving hours of work to improving business performance.

It's a powerful example of why investing in AI knowledge, skills and leadership matters.

Reduced a daily reporting task from 4–5 hours to just 90 minutes — soon to be 15 minutes!

Completely automated a monthly report which used to take 6 to 7 hours.

Set up AI to help identify at-risk sites and inform preventative decisions.

Improved customer relationships through more detailed and timely reporting.

Key Results Summary

Area Before After / Current Position
Daily breakdown reporting 4–5 hours Approximately 90 minutes
Future daily reporting 90 minutes currently 15-minute target, in development
Monthly H&S reporting 6–7 hours of manual work Fully automated
H&S reporting coverage Approximately 400 customers Automated monthly reporting
Recurring breakdown identification Potentially 10–15 occurrences Potentially identified after 3
Customer performance presentations 5–6 slides Up to 30–40 slides
Customer information turnaround Potentially days or weeks Often 1–2 hours for additional requests
Personal productivity estimate Previous workload baseline Lance estimates a 1,000% increase
Working hours Normal working hours No additional hours reported
Career development Individual Operations Analyst Preparing to manage a new team member

Lance Mather works as an Operations Analyst at Generator Power. His role was created specifically for him in November 2025 and has evolved significantly over the past year. Initially, his main responsibility was analysing the previous day's equipment breakdowns across the country — examining component failures, machine age, locations, engineers attending and other operational factors.

His responsibilities have since expanded to include:

  • Equipment breakdowns and recurring faults
  • Refuelling activity
  • Equipment preparation
  • Servicing and maintenance
  • Deliveries and collections
  • Cross-referencing operational data to identify patterns and improvement opportunities
  • Preparing and presenting customer performance reviews

"A bit of a success story." — Lance, describing the development of his role.

The value of his work has helped Generator Power recognise the benefits of expanding the function — a new Operations Analyst is expected to join the business and report to Lance.

Before Lance began exploring AI, Generator Power had very limited AI adoption — usage generally consisted of occasional employees using ChatGPT for searches. Lance's line manager, the Operations Director, recommended the Level 4 AI & Automation Champion Apprenticeship.

He welcomed the practical structure of the programme, particularly its monthly workshops and opportunities to apply learning in real workplace situations. Lance prefers experimenting and learning through trial and error rather than relying solely on classroom-based instruction.

"I'd rather try it, get it wrong 20 times and learn that way."

Understanding APIs

One of the most valuable topics Lance has studied is Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). He recognises their potential to connect systems, access information and develop more sophisticated automations. However, he has not yet been able to apply this learning because the relevant third-party systems have not provided the necessary API access.

Using AI to Build Automation

Lance has developed a much better understanding of how AI can support automation development. Rather than repeatedly asking Microsoft Copilot to perform operational processes itself, he now uses Copilot to help him design and build more reliable automations using tools such as Power Automate and Excel.

"I'm using AI to talk me through how to build AI."

1

Reducing Daily Breakdown Reporting

4–5 hrs ~90 mins

An estimated reduction in processing time of 62.5–70%, with a future target of around 15 minutes through further automation.

2

Fully Automating Monthly H&S Reporting

6–7 hrs / month Fully automated

Reports covering around 400 customers are now generated and emailed automatically at 1:00am on the first day of each month.

3

Automated Operational "Watch List"

An automated monitoring system evaluates six operational parameters — including downtime, fault frequency and theft-related concerns — to flag sites that may require attention during leadership meetings.

4

Identifying Recurring Breakdowns Earlier

10–15 occurrences Identified after 3

Breakdown data is now analysed daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and half-yearly, enabling earlier investigation and fewer repeat visits.

5

Improving Customer Performance Reporting

5–6 slides 30–40 slides

Additional customer requests can generally be answered within one or two hours, supported by AI and automation.

6

Increasing Productivity Without Longer Hours

~1,000% increase in output

"Without exaggerating, [my output] has probably gone up 1000%, but I'm not working any harder. I'm not working any extra hours." — Lance's own estimate.

Early in his AI journey, Lance attempted to automate a recurring Excel process directly through Microsoft Copilot. The process worked for around nine or ten days before it stopped — he discovered the version of Copilot integrated into his applications had a conversation-length limitation, causing earlier instructions to be lost over time.

AI assistants can be valuable tools for designing automations, but recurring business processes shouldn't depend on an AI conversation remembering every previous instruction.

He now uses Copilot to help build structured automations using appropriate tools, rather than relying on the conversation itself to execute recurring processes. Limited API access and finding time to support other departments remain ongoing areas for future development.

  • Experiment with AI — practical experimentation helps people understand what is possible.
  • Understand the limitations — AI tools are powerful, but effective automation requires the right systems and processes.
  • Focus on productivity, not longer hours — AI can help people achieve significantly more without increasing their working hours.

Inspected & Rated

Backed by a Strong Ofsted Result

Our commitment to quality, learner experience and meaningful outcomes is reflected in the standards we deliver across every programme we run, including our AI Leadership Units. Ofsted assessed every graded area of our apprenticeship provision and found a consistent standard throughout.

Inclusion Strong
Leadership & Governance Strong
Apprenticeships Overall Strong
Achievement Strong
Curriculum, Teaching & Training Strong
Safeguarding Standards Met
Strong standard in every area

Ofsted Inspection 2026

Nine Dots achieved a "Strong standard in every graded area"

It's a result that reflects the same high standards built into every AI Leadership Unit — from the quality of our workshops through to the practical support learners receive in their own organisations.

Explore Our Ofsted Results

Testimonials

What Our Learners Say...

Discover how our learners have developed their confidence, improved their skills and made a real difference in their workplaces.

Next Steps...

Discover exactly what each unit covers, how the training is delivered and the practical outcomes your leaders can achieve. Complete the short form to access the detailed guide to all three AI Leadership Units.


Next Steps...

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