Training course – AI Agents – Leadership & Management

AI Agents for Leaders

Agentic AI for business teams: understand AI agents, automate workflows safely and keep control with human-in-the-loop and governance.

Duration
6 hours, one session
Format
Online or on-site
Language
German or English
Participants
open dates or exclusive for your team
Certificate
Certificate of attendance

Overview

“AI Agents for Leaders” is designed for roles such as Managing directors and board members, Division and department heads and Team leaders and shows step by step how to use AI Agents productively, safely and transparently in Leadership & Management – from the fundamentals to advanced workflows.

AI agents go a step beyond conventional chat assistants: they plan sub-tasks, use tools such as search, files or business applications and complete multi-step work largely on their own. In this compact course you will learn how agents are built, how they differ from chatbots and traditional automation, and which tasks genuinely justify their use. Widely used platforms serve as practical examples, including Microsoft Copilot Studio, custom GPTs and Claude with projects and tool connections.

In the hands-on sessions you design agent workflows for tasks from your own area of work, from triaging requests through research and drafting to handing results over to business systems. You decide where a person reviews and approves, which permissions an agent receives and how errors are detected. A dedicated block covers governance, data protection and accountability, so that your agents not only work but remain controllable, traceable and defensible within your organisation.

For leaders, generative AI matters in two ways: as a personal tool and as a strategic topic for the organisation. Personally, AI helps you grasp decision papers faster, structure strategy documents, prepare difficult conversations and sharpen your own communication. Strategically, leaders must judge where AI creates real value, what risks arise and how to support their teams in building skills. AI agents are changing roles, processes and responsibilities, which calls for clear guardrails, employee participation and an open learning culture. Leaders who have experienced AI hands-on can assess opportunities realistically, steer investment purposefully and lead change credibly.

The course is delivered live – either online in a virtual classroom or on-site in our training rooms in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run it exclusively for your team.

Who is this course for?

  • Managing directors and board members
  • Division and department heads
  • Team leaders
  • Strategy and transformation leads
  • Emerging leaders

Typical challenges we address

  • Information overload from reports, emails and decision papers
  • Uncertainty about where AI realistically adds value in your area
  • Teams with very different levels of AI knowledge and reservations
  • Legal, ethical and employee relations questions when introducing AI

What you will be able to do

  • You can explain how AI agents are structured and clearly distinguish them from chatbots and classic automation.
  • You can select a suitable agent platform for your requirements using transparent criteria.
  • You can design an agent workflow for a real process in your area and build a working prototype.
  • You can define human-in-the-loop checkpoints, test cases and escalation rules.
  • Use AI confidently in your day-to-day leadership work for analysis, communication and preparation.
  • Assess AI opportunities and risks in your area realistically and prioritise pilot projects.
  • Lead AI adoption in your team with clear guardrails, participation and upskilling.

Course outline

Module 1 What makes an AI agent
  • Agent building blocks: language model, instructions, knowledge, tools and memory
  • How agents differ from chatbots, macros and classic workflow automation
  • Levels of autonomy: from suggestion-making assistants to agents that act independently
  • Realistically judging which tasks suit agents and which do not
Module 2 Platform overview: Copilot Studio, GPTs and Claude
  • Microsoft Copilot Studio: agents grounded in company data and connected to Microsoft 365
  • Custom GPTs: configuring instructions, knowledge files and actions
  • Claude with projects, knowledge bases and tool access via the Model Context Protocol
  • Selection criteria: data access, integrations, administration and licensing
Module 3 Designing and building agent workflows
  • Breaking tasks into steps and defining hand-offs between agent and human
  • Writing system instructions, examples and knowledge sources for consistent output
  • Connecting tools: search, documents, email, spreadsheets and business applications
  • Building a prototype agent for a real process from your own area
Module 4 Human-in-the-loop, quality and error handling
  • Setting approval steps, escalation rules and thresholds for human review
  • Test cases, evaluation criteria and spot checks for quality assurance
  • Common failure modes: wrong tool choice, endless loops and fabricated facts
  • Using structured user feedback to improve the agent over time
Module 5 Governance, security and roll-out
  • Roles and responsibilities across business units, IT, data protection and works council
  • Least-privilege permissions, logging and protection against prompt injection
  • Positioning under the EU AI Act and GDPR: transparency, documentation and data flows
  • From pilot agent to production: operation, maintenance and measuring success
Module 6 Practice lab: Leadership & Management
  • Condensing decision papers
  • Strategy sparring
  • Preparing one-to-ones
  • Leadership communication
  • Assessing AI potential
  • More effective meetings
Module 7 Data protection, quality & transfer to daily work
  • Introducing AI systems capable of monitoring employee behaviour or performance is subject to co-determination by works or staff councils where these exist, and employee data requires particular protection under the GDPR. The EU AI Act also requires organisations to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff and to scrutinise high-risk applications, for example in HR.
  • Ground rules for safe AI use in your team
  • Checking results: facts, sources, tests and the four-eyes principle
  • Personal action plan for the next 30 days
  • Open questions, outlook and resources for further learning

Practical scenarios from your field

Condensing decision papers

Lengthy reports, business cases and analyses are distilled into key messages, assumptions, risks and open questions so you can form a sound judgement faster and ask targeted follow-up questions.

Strategy sparring

AI acts as a critical sounding board for strategic options, runs through scenarios, formulates counter-arguments and helps surface assumptions and blind spots in plans. The decision remains yours.

Preparing one-to-ones

Guides for feedback, objective-setting or conflict conversations are structured, wording is refined and possible reactions are rehearsed – without entering personal details into unapproved tools.

Leadership communication

Announcements, speeches, change messages and answers to tough questions are drafted for the audience and adjusted in tone, clarity and length for staff, boards or customers.

Assessing AI potential

Together with the team, processes are systematically screened for AI suitability, prioritised by benefit and effort and translated into concrete pilot projects. Success criteria are defined up front.

More effective meetings

Agendas, pre-reads and minutes are prepared with AI, making meetings shorter and more decision-focused while actions are tracked clearly. Recurring formats can gradually be standardised as well.

Prerequisites

You should already use an AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude on a regular basis. No programming skills are required. Leadership or management responsibility, or preparation for such a role; no technical background required.

Technical requirements

You will need a laptop with an up-to-date browser. Ideally you have access to at least one agent platform such as Copilot Studio, ChatGPT with GPTs or Claude; practice accounts can be provided if needed.

Data protection & compliance

Introducing AI systems capable of monitoring employee behaviour or performance is subject to co-determination by works or staff councils where these exist, and employee data requires particular protection under the GDPR. The EU AI Act also requires organisations to ensure adequate AI literacy among staff and to scrutinise high-risk applications, for example in HR.

Dates & locations

For every location we suggest a date roughly four weeks ahead. Your preferred date is always possible.

  • Munich Fri, 11 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Salzburg Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Berlin Tue, 15 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Augsburg Wed, 16 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Hanover Fri, 11 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Bremen Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Stuttgart Tue, 15 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Kaiserslautern Wed, 16 December 2026 6 hrs Request
  • Online Mon, 14 December 2026 6 hrs Request

Frequently asked questions

Do I need programming skills to build AI agents?

No. The platforms used on the course rely on visual interfaces, plain-language instructions and ready-made connectors. You learn to specify agents precisely from a business perspective, connect tools and test workflows. Where deeper technical integration would be needed, you will know which requirements to put to your IT team.

Which platform will we use during the course?

The course is vendor-neutral and uses Microsoft Copilot Studio, custom GPTs and Claude as examples. You build your prototype on the platform that is available or planned in your organisation. The principles of workflow design, control and governance you learn carry over to other agent solutions as well.

How do I stop an agent from acting without control?

Through deliberate design: agents receive only the minimum permissions they need, critical actions such as sending, booking or deleting require human approval, and every step is logged. In addition, you define test cases and escalation rules. These are exactly the control mechanisms you develop for your own use case during the course.

Why should leaders use AI hands-on themselves?

Only those who have tried AI tools themselves can judge benefits, limits and effort realistically, steer investment sensibly and support their teams credibly. The course therefore combines practical exercises on your own leadership tasks with strategic questions about organisational adoption.

What about works councils and employee representatives?

Where AI systems can be used to monitor employee behaviour or performance, employee representatives usually have co-determination rights. Early involvement, transparent objectives and a framework agreement on AI use have proven effective. In the course we discuss typical provisions and steps towards a trust-based rollout.

How much does “AI Agents for Leaders” cost?

The course costs a flat €949 plus VAT per participant – whether online or on-site. This includes 6 hours of live training with a trainer, course materials, a lab environment and a certificate of attendance.

Can I suggest my own date?

Yes. For every location we suggest a date roughly four weeks ahead. In the request form you can always describe your preferred date or period in free text – we check availability and get back to you within one working day.

Is the course online or on-site?

Both are possible: live online in a virtual classroom or on-site in Munich, Salzburg, Berlin, Augsburg, Hanover, Bremen, Stuttgart and Kaiserslautern. We can also run the course exclusively for your team.

Can the course be tailored to our team?

Yes. Tailor-made courses cost approx. €4,500 more, depending on the topic and by arrangement. We agree content, examples and exercises with you in advance.

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