WEBINAR 1: Is AI a Bubble or an Opportunity?
A 1 hour executive briefing and a preview of the Executive Education course.
AI is dominating leadership conversations. Some claim it will redefine every industry. Others dismiss it as hype that won’t survive the next cycle.
Most executives sit in the middle, expected to make decisions without clear frameworks, shared language, or confidence in what’s real.
This webinar is the first in a short webinar series designed to give leaders a practical, evidence-based introduction to AI strategy and a preview of the thinking, tools, and frameworks used in our official Executive Education course.
This is not a sales demo.
It’s a high-signal executive briefing.
Why Attend?
In the Executive Education classroom, we consistently see the same challenge. Leaders are being asked to approve AI investments before they’ve had the chance to build foundational AI literacy.
This webinar is designed to close that gap.
You’ll gain:
A clearer mental model of modern AI
A framework for separating hype from value
A way to talk about AI confidently with boards, teams, and vendors
What You’ll Learn in 60 Minutes
Is AI Actually Different This Time?
We start with context, without the jargon:
How AI evolved from symbolic systems to generative and agentic models
What’s genuinely new versus what’s being repackaged
Why expectations have escalated so quickly
How AI Really Works (At an Executive Level)
You’ll gain a practical understanding of:
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Prompt engineering and its limits
Where AI performs well, where it fails, and why
Separating Hype from Reality
We’ll explore:
Where AI is delivering measurable ROI today
How to spot “AI washing” in products and proposals
Why so many AI pilots fail to scale
A Framework for Smarter AI Decisions
You’ll be introduced to a structured approach for evaluating:
Whether an AI initiative makes sense for your organisation
The risks of moving too early versus waiting too long
What leaders should do now: invest, experiment, or pause
What You’ll Walk Away With
By the end of the webinar, you’ll be able to:
Explain AI concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders
Evaluate your organisation’s AI readiness at a high level
Identify realistic AI opportunities with business impact
Avoid common and costly early mistakes
You’ll also be introduced to the AI Opportunity Canvas, a practical tool used throughout the Executive Education course to structure AI discussions and decisions.
Who Should Attend
C-suite and senior executives
Board members and non-executive directors
Strategy, transformation, and innovation leaders
Anyone responsible for approving, funding, or overseeing AI initiatives
No coding required
Speakers
This session brings together:
UCL CSRI academics who have researched AI long before it became a boardroom trend
Industry leaders deploying AI in real organisations today
This mirrors the faculty mix in the Executive Education course - combining academic precision with practical experience.
[Speaker names and credentials to be announced]
The Executive Education Course [Link to website]
This webinar is the first in a broader collaboration with Acuity Data, designed to support leaders who want to move beyond experimentation and build credible, responsible AI strategies.
For those who want to go deeper, this session connects directly to our Executive Education course, where participants apply these frameworks hands-on to their own organisations with expert guidance.
The webinar gives you the foundations.
The course helps you implement them.