Lean AI Basics
Available Dates
September 15, 2026 - September 22, 2026: 12:00pm - 2:00pm ET
October 6, 2026 - October 13, 2026: 12:00pm - 2:00pm ET
Location
Coach-Led Online Course
Why you should attend
Learn to get consistently good answers from any AI tool — not just lucky ones. This workshop will equip you with a simple, repeatable prompting framework and hands-on practice, so you leave able to apply it in your own work.
Cost
$499 Regular Price
Are you unsure whether AI tools can actually help with your work — or just add noise? Do you find yourself typing a question into ChatGPT or Gemini and getting an answer that’s generic, unreliable, or not worth trusting?
A hands-on introduction to using AI as a practical thinking partner in lean work. This is a working class where participants practice in each session. We will use breakout rooms in Zoom and split up into pairs during activities. This workshop will utilize two browser-based apps on the LEI lean tech portal — the AI Workshop app and Gemba Coach at https://apps.tech.lean.org/apps
Participants who already have an AI tool at work (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or a company Copilot) can also run some of the exercises there and compare results — the differences between tools are part of what we learn from.
What You’ll Learn
Through interactive sessions, peer discussions, and expert coaching, you will learn:
- What an AI model is, what it is good at, and where it fails
- Five levels of AI proficiency
- How to talk with an AI tool about various lean topics — and judge the quality of its answers
- The five parts of an effective prompt: role, context, method, constraints, output format
- How to build, test, and improve their own prompts, step by step
- How AI can support problem solving, coaching, learning, and data analysis
- How to use AI tools safely — what to share, what to keep confidential
Who Should Attend
Lean practitioners who are new to AI or have only dabbled with it
No prior lean experience is required to fully benefit from this course. A computer with a web browser and access to email. Nothing to install, and no paid AI account is needed — all exercises run in the browser.
Group Discounts
- Register three or more students from your organization and save 12.5% off every registration. This discount will be automatically applied at checkout when you register with your group.
- LEI Co-Learning Partners: Receive 25% off the current price. No group discount can be applied.
Cancellation Policy
To cancel, please call LEI at (617) 871-2900 or email registrar@lean.org.
- 2+ weeks before start date: full refund
- Less than 2 weeks before the start date: $350 fee
- After the start date: no refund
Art Smalley
President at Art of Lean, Inc.
Art is the author of the LEI book Four Types of Problems and workbook Creating Level Pull: a lean production-system improvement guide for production control, operations, and engineering professionals, which received a 2005 Shingo Research Award. He was inducted into the Shingo Prize Academy in 2006. Art learned about lean manufacturing while living, studying, and working in […]
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