Foundations of AI and GenAI

• Track: Foundations for everyone
• Duration: 2 days
• Format: Interactive workshop, delivered onsite, virtual or hybrid
• Language: English
• Group size: 15–30 participants
• Certification: CFTE Certificate of Completion
• Materials: Digital workbook · Prompt library · Session recordings

• Professionals building AI understanding — No technical background needed
• Managers evaluating AI use cases — Judge where AI is worth applying
• Teams in AI-enabled workflows — Work with the tools already in place

• Explain clearly how AI and Generative AI models produce the outputs they do
• Distinguish confidently between predictive AI, GenAI, automation, and autonomous agents
• Evaluate AI outputs critically for value, bias, and overall reliability
• Apply responsible-adoption thinking when working in regulated, high-stakes contexts

01 — AI and GenAI Fundamentals

• Build fluency in the core AI concepts and terminology used across the organisation
• Understand how machines learn patterns from data at a level useful for real decisions
• Get a clear, non-technical picture of what generative models actually do under the hood

02 — Model Training and Data

• See how data is collected, cleaned and prepared before a model ever sees it
• Understand training, testing and validation well enough to ask informed questions
• Recognise why data quality drives outcomes more than almost any other factor

03 — Outputs and Limitations

• Understand how outputs are generated and why the same prompt can produce different results
• Learn to recognise hallucinations, bias and reliability issues before they cause harm
• Develop judgement for when an output can be trusted and when it needs verification

04 — Governance Basics

• Get familiar with responsible AI principles as they apply to everyday decisions
• Understand the role of governance and human oversight in AI-enabled processes
• Take away practical guardrails your team can apply immediately

05 — Applied Exercise

• Work through a real-world scenario drawn from your own sector
• Tackle it collaboratively in small groups to test the ideas in practice
• Close with a facilitator-led debrief that surfaces the key lessons

06 — Assessment and Certificate

• Complete a short assessment that checks understanding of the core material
• Receive a CFTE Certificate of Completion recognising the work done
• Take away a post-workshop report summarising outcomes for the organisation

• Live, interactive sessions — Interactive workshop, delivered onsite, virtual or hybrid
• Applied exercises — Hands-on tasks built around real workplace scenarios
• Course materials — Digital workbook, prompt library, session recordings
• Recordings and lifetime access — Rewatch any session after the workshop ends
• Peer discussion and support — Cohort of 15–30 participants working through the material together
• Certification — CFTE Certificate of Completion

Who delivers this workshop?
Sessions are led by CFTE faculty with direct, applied experience of AI in financial services, supported by facilitators for exercises and group work.

Can this be delivered in-house for our organisation?
Yes. This programme is regularly run as a private cohort, with examples tailored to your organisation’s context.

What is the typical cohort size?
Cohorts are sized to keep discussion and applied work genuinely interactive; see the group size above for this programme.

Is content tailored to financial services specifically?
Yes, throughout. Examples and terminology are drawn from financial-services contexts rather than generic use cases.

Do participants receive any form of completion record?
Yes, participants receive a CFTE completion record as detailed in the programme information above.