How long does this course take?

About 2.5 hours of reading, plus roughly 19 hours across the 4 build projects. Most of that time is the build projects, at your own pace.

Do I need any experience first?

No formal prerequisites — every course is written to be readable from the first lesson, and that lesson is open to read before you sign up, so you can check it's pitched right for you.

How is the certificate issued?

Automatically, the moment you complete every module and project. No review queue to wait on.

Nothing. The whole course, including the certificate, is free with a Course Parse account. There is no subscription and no card to enter.

Back to Courses

AI Consulting

People who can already use AI tools well and want to sell that ability as a business rather than a job

Start the free course Read module 1 free

2.5 hours reading + 19 hours of projects

AI Consulting is an online course on selling and delivering AI advisory work: choosing a niche, running an opportunity audit, scoping engagements, and writing proposals that get signed. It includes four real-world capstones and a certificate on completion.

A practical foundation for developing an AI consulting offer: assess your technical readiness, choose a niche, scope and price work, prepare business documents, find prospects and deliver an opportunity audit. Four projects produce a public presence, a priced offer, a recorded pipeline and a real audit. Registration, contracts and tax requirements depend on your jurisdiction; the course does not guarantee clients or income.

What you'll be able to do

Describe precisely what an AI consultant sells, and price it without guessing
Choose a niche narrow enough that the buyer recognises themselves in one sentence
Run an AI opportunity audit on a real business and produce a report it would pay for
Set up the business properly: entity, contract, invoicing, insurance and records
Launch a named, branded consultancy with a live one-page site
Build a pipeline from a standing start, and hold a discovery call that ends in a proposal
Deliver an engagement without scope creep, and prove its value in numbers a client accepts

Modules in this course

1. What an AI consultant actually sells

Free

The four things businesses pay for, why 'AI expertise' is not one of them, and how to tell which one you are able to sell today.

9 min read

2. Choosing a niche narrow enough to be recognised

How focused positioning helps buyers understand an offer, how to test a niche using your experience, and how to check whether reachable buyers value the problem.

9 min read

3. The technical floor: what you must genuinely be able to build

The four capabilities a paying client will assume you have, what each one really involves, and how to close the gaps before you sell.

10 min read

4. The AI opportunity audit: how to diagnose a business

A repeatable method for walking into an organisation, finding what is worth automating, and leaving with a report that justifies the next engagement.

12 min read

5. Scoping and proposals that get signed

How to turn a conversation into a scoped engagement, the anatomy of a proposal that converts, and the boundaries that prevent an unprofitable project.

9 min read

6. Pricing: rates, fixed fees, value and retainers

The four pricing models, when each is correct, how to set a first number without guessing, and why hourly billing punishes the efficient consultant.

10 min read

7. Setting up the business: entity, contracts, invoicing and insurance

The administrative floor of a consultancy, the contract clauses that matter most, and the small number of decisions worth paying a professional for.

10 min read

8. Name, brand and the one page that does the selling

How to choose a name you will not regret, what a logo actually needs to do, and the single web page that converts better than a full site.

9 min read

9. Finding the first clients from a standing start

The channels that work with no reputation, how to write outreach that is answered, and the numbers to expect so that normal rejection is not mistaken for failure.

10 min read

10. The discovery call: diagnosis, not a pitch

The structure of a call that ends in a proposal, the questions that surface the real problem, and how to handle the four objections that account for most refusals.

9 min read

11. Delivering without scope creep

How to run an engagement so it finishes on time: the kick-off, the weekly note, the change request, and the handover that makes the client independent.

9 min read

12. Proving value: measurement, reporting and case studies

How to establish a baseline before you start, what to measure, and how to turn a finished engagement into the asset that sells the next three.

9 min read

13. Client data, risk and the engagements to refuse

How to handle client information responsibly, the promises never to make, and the work that is not worth taking at any price.

11 min read

14. Growing past yourself: retainers, productisation and the first ninety days

How a project business becomes a stable one, what to productise and what never to, and a realistic plan for the first three months of trading.

9 min read

Capstone · Project 1: launch the business, with a name, a brand and one page

Your consultancy exists in public: a chosen name, a logo, a positioning sentence, and a live one-page site that a stranger can find and act on.

240 min to build

Capstone · Project 2: build the sellable offer and the paperwork behind it

A productised service with a price you calculated, plus the proposal template, contract and data statement that let you accept work the day it is agreed.

240 min to build

Capstone · Project 3: go and get in front of people

A real list of a hundred businesses, thirty contacts actually sent, and at least two conversations held with real prospects, all logged with outcomes.

300 min to build

Capstone · Project 4: deliver a real audit to a real organisation

One AI opportunity audit, performed on an actual business with actual staff, delivered as a written report with numbers, refusals and a recommended next step.

360 min to build

Questions before you start

How long does this course take?: About 2.5 hours of reading, plus roughly 19 hours across the 4 build projects. Most of that time is the build projects, at your own pace.
Do I need any experience first?: No formal prerequisites — every course is written to be readable from the first lesson, and that lesson is open to read before you sign up, so you can check it's pitched right for you.
How is the certificate issued?: Automatically, the moment you complete every module and project. No review queue to wait on.
What does it cost?: Nothing. The whole course, including the certificate, is free with a Course Parse account. There is no subscription and no card to enter.