In 2023 there were a handful of people offering AI training. In 2026 it feels like everyone with a LinkedIn account is an "AI expert". Some are excellent, and some are reading last year's ChatGPT tips off a slide.
If you're responsible for getting your team skilled up (HR, L&D, a team lead, a founder), here's how to tell the difference before you sign anything. I run AI workshops myself, so take my bias into account, but these are the questions I'd ask if I were buying.
1. "Do you use AI to do real work every day?"
Not "teach AI". Use it. The tools change monthly. Trainers who use AI daily for their own work notice the changes, the new features and the new failure modes. Trainers who only teach it are always a few months behind.
Good sign: they can tell you, unprompted, what they built or automated with AI last week.
2. "Will my team work on their own tasks?"
This is the single biggest predictor of whether training sticks. People don't change how they work because they watched a demo. They change because they tried AI on their email, their report or their planning, it worked, and they want to do it again.
Red flag: "We'll use a set of example exercises."
3. "How much of the session is hands-on?"
Ask for a rough agenda. If more than half the time is someone presenting, it's a lecture with a workshop label.
4. "Which tools will you cover, and can you adapt to ours?"
If your company runs on Microsoft 365, a session that only covers ChatGPT may leave people unable to use what they actually have. A good trainer asks which tools are approved before designing the session.
5. "How do you handle the sceptics and the anxious?"
Every team has them: the person who thinks AI is overhyped, and the one quietly worried about their job. Their concerns are often valid. A good trainer makes room for both, and doesn't steamroll them with enthusiasm.
Good sign: they talk about psychological safety, permission and team norms, not just features.
6. "Do you cover the risks?"
Hallucinations, confidential data, personal data, copyright, bias. Under Article 4 of the EU AI Act, organisations using AI are expected to support their staff's AI literacy, and that includes understanding the risks, not only the shortcuts.
7. "What will people leave with?"
Concrete answers sound like: a prompt kit for their role, a one-page do's and don'ts, a 7-day practice plan, a working AI agent. Vague answers sound like "inspiration" and "awareness".
8. "What happens after the session?"
One workshop creates momentum, and momentum fades in about two weeks if nothing follows. Ask about follow-up sessions, practice challenges, champions, or at least resources people can come back to.
9. "Can I speak to a past client?"
Any trainer worth hiring has at least one happy client who'll take a 10-minute call. Ask what changed in that team a month later, not just how the day felt.
A quick scorecard
Daily AI use: 🟢 Shows you real things they built. 🔴 "I keep up with the news."
Own tasks: 🟢 Pre-session survey of your work. 🔴 Generic exercises.
Hands-on: 🟢 50%+ practice. 🔴 Mostly slides.
Tools: 🟢 Adapts to your stack. 🔴 One tool for everyone.
Sceptics: 🟢 Talks about safety and norms. 🔴 "Everyone loves it!"
Risks: 🟢 Built into the session. 🔴 Not mentioned.
Takeaways: 🟢 Concrete artefacts. 🔴 "Inspiration."
Follow-up: 🟢 Plan for weeks 2–6. 🔴 One and done.
References: 🟢 Happy to connect you. 🔴 Hesitates.
Where I fit
I'm a founder in AI. I'm building Gigi, an AI companion for women's gut health, hands-on and as a non-engineer, so I use AI for real work every single day. Before that I spent 15 years leading communications across Europe, which turns out to be exactly the skill you need to get people to actually change how they work.
My workshops are in English, hands-on, built on your team's real tasks, and nobody leaves with a black box they don't understand.
👉 See team workshop formats or book a free call. Bring this list and grill me.
FAQ
What qualifications should an AI trainer have?
There's no standard certification for AI trainers. Look for evidence of hands-on AI use in real work, experience facilitating adult learning, and references from teams similar to yours.
Should we choose an AI trainer or an AI consultant?
A trainer builds your team's skills so they can use AI themselves. A consultant typically designs or builds solutions for you. If your goal is adoption and independence, start with training.
Online or in-person AI training?
Both work. In-person creates more energy and peer learning, and online makes it easier to include distributed teams. For hands-on sessions online, keep groups smaller and use breakout rooms.
