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    Practical AI adoption for organizations

    Help your organization put AI to work.

    Practical training, hands-on workflow building, and ongoing support. We help your team use AI in everyday work, whether you’re getting started or improving the agents you already use.

    30 minutes with Todd. Bring your team’s priorities; we’ll discuss a useful next step.

    The 4 Gears of AI Usage

    USE THE SMALLEST GEAR THAT CAN OWN THE RESULT

    1234LoopsSustain an outcomeAgentsComplete an objectiveAssistantFinish a deliverableChatAnswer a question
    1234
    1. 1 · ChatAnswer a question
    2. 2 · AssistantFinish a deliverable
    3. 3 · AgentsComplete an objective
    4. 4 · LoopsSustain an outcome
    FoundationHuman Intelligence

    Sets direction · defines good · reviews the work · owns the outcome

    We help your team choose the right gear for the work, then build the skills and workflows to use it well.

    How we put this into practice

    We’ve trained leaders and staff from organizations including

    • Vercel
    • LaunchDarkly
    • Fivetran
    • GitLab
    • Calendly
    • Amazon
    • Nike
    • Netflix
    • Dell
    • Salesforce
    • Red Hat
    • Peloton
    • Stryker
    • Worldline
    • LegitScript
    • Cash App

    8,000+ professionals trained across our programs.

    The state of AI

    Loud at the edges.
    Useful in the middle.

    Most of the AI conversation pulls toward an extreme: hype or letdown, doom or utopia. The useful work happens in the middle, with a simple rule for sharing the work between your people and AI.

    The 10-80-10 rule

    1. 10%
      People set the direction

      Choose the task, gather the inputs, and define what good looks like.

    2. 80%
      AI does the heavy lifting

      Drafting, research, and the repeatable steps in between.

    3. 10%
      People review and own it

      Check the result, handle the edge cases, and own the outcome.

    How we help

    Clarity for your leaders.
    Capability for your team.

    Successful AI adoption involves people, processes, and technology. We help you connect all three, around your organization’s priorities.

    Give your team a shared foundation.

    Useful when: Your people are experimenting with AI, but adoption is uneven.

    Bring leaders and staff together around what AI can do, where it fits, and how to use it responsibly. We facilitate decisions and teach practical skills through your team’s real work.

    • Leadership alignment and facilitated workshops
    • Hands-on AI training for workplace teams
    • Practical playbooks, examples, and templates

    Turn useful ideas into working workflows.

    Useful when: You have promising use cases and need help implementing them.

    Choose the work worth improving, then map, build, and tune AI workflows and agents alongside your team. Connect the instructions, context, and quality checks to the result you need.

    • Workflow discovery and prioritization
    • Custom AI workflows and agent co-building
    • Human review and clear operating boundaries

    Help the new way of working stick.

    Useful when: You’ve completed training and want the new habits to stick.

    Keep applying what you learn with coaching, implementation support, and a place to work through obstacles. Help people build confidence, review results, and make the next improvement.

    • Implementation coaching and ongoing support
    • AI Mastermind sessions and peer feedback
    • Workflow review and continued improvement

    The ROI of AI

    Aim AI at a job.
    Skip the waste.

    AI pays off when it saves time on a specific, recurring job, and that time helps your team make money or save it. So instead of asking “How can we use this tool?”, ask “Which job should this improve?”

    A job to be done

    When a newsletter is approved, I want to post it on LinkedIn automatically, so I can drive conversions and traffic.

    Find the job to be done

    • Save time, make money

      Speed up recurring work that brings in revenue, like prepping prospect outreach.

    • Save time, save money

      Take hours out of recurring work, like drafting the weekly board update.

    • Waste

      Tool-first use with no clear job burns time and tokens, and can leak sensitive data.

    Our work / Health tech

    30 leaders.
    One shared language for AI.

    A $75M health tech company needed a common foundation for AI adoption across executives, managers, and analysts.

    We delivered a private, customized program connecting AI fundamentals to department workflows, a company playbook, and ongoing implementation support.

    Participants
    30 leaders
    Program timeline
    3 weeks
    Format
    Private, custom program

    Inside the company AI-First Playbook

    A deliverable from this engagement

    • AI usage policies and governance
    • Department-specific prompt libraries
    • Tool selection and integration guides
    • Quality and validation checklists
    • ROI tracking and success metrics
    • Security and compliance guidelines
    Explore what we delivered

    What changed for the team

    The client’s starting point and what the program helped them build
    Where they startedWhat they built
    Different understandings of AIA shared language, from executives to analysts
    Unclear connections to daily workDepartment workflows tied to practical applications
    No common framework for adoptionA company playbook and ongoing implementation support

    Our platform / Longhand

    From training to operational AI.

    Longhand is our platform for building and running AI workflows. It connects practical AI skills with the repeatable work your team does every day.

    The related enterprise classification case study shows the approach in action. In the workflow demo, agents research each item and propose a classification. Analysts review uncertain results, with their corrections captured as feedback for future runs.

    See the operational case study on Longhand

    Ways to work with us

    The right support
    for your next step.

    Choose a focused program or talk with us about a private engagement. We’ll discuss your team, priorities, and timing, then confirm what the work includes.

    AI 90 · For leadership teams

    Team training and adoption

    Build AI literacy and practical skills across your organization, with live training, custom tools built in the sessions, an executive debrief, and implementation support.

    8 live training hours · 90 days of support
    Up to 30 leaders

    Explore the team programShare the program overview with your team

    For your organization or event

    Private workshops and implementation

    Bring us into your organization for facilitated workshops, practical AI training, workflow implementation, or coaching shaped around your priorities.

    Scope and delivery agreed with your team
    On-site or virtual options

    Discuss your team’s AI priorities

    AI 30 · For individuals

    Individual agent co-building

    Build and improve AI agents alongside us over 30 days. Bring work you want to automate, whether you’re starting fresh or expanding what you already use.

    30 days of hands-on co-building
    One year of AI Mastermind support

    Explore AI 30 for individuals

    Who we are

    Practitioners, educators,
    and people in your corner.

    Tech Leaders was founded by Todd Larsen and Stephen Bates to help technical professionals grow as leaders. Our work brings that foundation in leadership development to the challenges of AI adoption.

    Our founders and educator network bring experience in engineering, executive coaching, product, and organizational change. We facilitate, train, and coach alongside your team.

    Todd Larsen

    Todd Larsen

    Co-founder · Engineering & AI implementation

    Former Global Platform Engineer at Groupon and Founding Engineer at Digit. Brings product, engineering, and technical leadership experience to practical AI adoption.

    Stephen Bates

    Stephen Bates

    Co-founder · Leadership & organizational change

    Executive coach and leadership consultant with more than 25 years of experience in corporate training and developing technical leaders.

    John Chapman

    John Chapman

    Coaching & team development

    Former IT Applications Services & Development Manager at iPSL. Helps leaders and teams build confidence and turn learning into action.

    Amelia Leigner

    Amelia Leigner

    Product, marketing & growth

    Fractional CMO for Tech Leaders and product and growth leader at Bottega8, with experience helping startups and AI companies launch and scale.

    Nick Talwar

    Nick Talwar

    AI strategy & technical leadership

    Former Microsoft technical leader and CTO and Partner at Bottega8. Advises executives and boards on AI strategy and implementation.

    Matt Kirk

    Matt Kirk

    AI & machine learning

    Engineering leader with experience at AugmentAI and Zeitworks, and author of the O’Reilly book Thoughtful Machine Learning.

    Manju Abraham

    Manju Abraham

    Enterprise engineering & transformation

    VP of Engineering at Bottega8 and former engineering executive at HPE and Delphix. Connects AI ambition with people, governance, and organizational change.

    Read the full team profiles

    Our approach

    Start with the work.
    Build with your people.

    Whether your team is exploring AI or already building agents, we begin with the work you want to improve and what a useful result would look like.

    1. Understand the work

      Start with your priorities, the people involved, and what is already happening with AI.

    2. Choose a useful starting point

      Agree on the scope, a practical use case, and what a good result should look like.

    3. Learn and build together

      Apply the training to real workflows. Practice, build, and review with your team involved.

    4. Support the next improvement

      Use feedback, coaching, and agreed measures to improve the work and continue adoption.

    Participant perspectives

    What it’s like to learn and work with us.

    Feedback from leaders and professionals who have taken part in our programs.

    “With the help of this program, I can focus on building better solutions and significantly reduce the time I spend on repetitive tasks.”

    Marco MonteiroProgram participant

    “Tech Leaders will meet you where you are with patience, understanding, and real practical help.”

    Pamela JohnstonSenior Business Strategy Consultant · Program participant

    “Todd shows where the rubber hits the road because he's actively doing it for his companies at the exact same time.”

    Brett P WilzbachProgram participant

    Practical questions

    A few things
    you may be wondering.

    Have a question specific to your organization? Email Todd or book a conversation.

    Can you help if our teams are at different stages with AI?

    Yes. We work with leaders and teams who are getting started, as well as people already using AI workflows or agents. We start with your organization’s current experience and priorities, then shape the training and implementation work around them.

    Do participants need a technical background?

    No technical background is required for our AI training and agent co-building programs. We connect the learning to participants’ roles and recurring work. The tools, integrations, and technical requirements for an engagement are discussed when we agree on scope.

    How do you approach responsible use and sensitive information?

    Our training covers responsible AI use, output validation, and human accountability. Before applying AI to a workflow, we discuss your approved tools, data boundaries, access, and review requirements. Your organization’s policies and decision rights guide the work.

    Can you work with our organization privately?

    Yes. We offer private, customized programs for organizations, with on-site or virtual delivery. We discuss the participants, business priorities, delivery format, and support needs before defining the engagement.

    How much time does an engagement take?

    The scope depends on the participants and the work. Our AI 90 team program supports up to 30 leaders, with 8 hours of live training and 90 days of implementation support. Private workshops and implementation engagements are scoped with your organization. AI 30 is a separate 30-day co-building program for individuals. We confirm the scope and schedule with you before you commit.

    Explore our thinking

    Get a feel for
    how we work.

    Start with practical examples, or explore how we can help at your next event.

    A practical resource for your team

    Get the Fortune 100 AI Prompt Library.

    100 practical AI workflows for leaders and teams. Find a task, adapt the instructions, and put the ideas to work.

    An example from the library

    Meeting Decisions & Action Items

    You bring: Meeting transcript or notes.

    You get: A draft of the decisions and actions, with owners, deadlines, and source references. Missing details stay marked for confirmation.

    Try this workflow

    Sent to your inbox. Unsubscribe at any time.

    Let’s talk about your organization

    What would useful AI
    look like for your team?

    In a 30-minute conversation with Todd, we’ll discuss your priorities, how your people use AI today, and where training or implementation support could help.