What should good AI training cover?
Most owners I speak to in Cardiff have already tried AI. They have a ChatGPT login, a Copilot button they rarely press, or a trial that quietly lapsed. What they have not had is someone beside them while they make it do a real job in their own business.
The national numbers point the same way. The Office for National Statistics found that around 35% of UK businesses with ten or more employees used at least one AI technology in June 2026, and 28% of businesses with up to nine staff did. Only 11% of the larger firms said more than half of their workforce had received AI-related training (ONS). Use is spreading faster than the skill to use it well.
Good training closes that gap. As a minimum, it should cover:
- Choosing the right jobs. Start with your week. Repeated tasks that follow the same rules each time, such as replying to enquiries, first drafts of quotes and meeting notes, pay back first.
- Briefing AI with context. Weak output usually comes from a thin brief. You learn to store who you are, who you sell to, your prices and your tone once, then reuse them.
- Building one thing that works. Everyone should leave with a prompt, project or automation running on their own material.
- Using it safely. Simple rules on which tools are approved and which customer data never goes in.
- A plan for afterwards. So the habit survives a busy month.
Our longer guide, AI training for small businesses in Cardiff, goes deeper on each of these.
Which AI training format suits your business?
| Format | Who it suits | How it runs | What you leave with | Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Works: Foundations | Beginners: owners, managers and staff starting out | Open half-day workshop in Cardiff, dates announced in advance | Practice on tasks from your own week and a clear next step | £300 per person |
| Private team session | Teams who share tools, customers and processes | Built around your tools after a discovery call | Shared set-ups, agreed rules and a written AI roadmap | £500 per person, minimum booking |
| One-to-one founder training | Founders whose own inbox, proposals and planning are the bottleneck | On Zoom, with follow-up | Your own AI operating system: context files, connected tools, a first skill and a 30-day practice plan | Scoped on a call |
If you are unsure, start with Foundations. It is the cheapest way in, and sitting with other owners has its own value: you hear what is working in businesses like yours.
Once several people will use AI every day, the private session is the better buy. The hard part becomes consistency: the same approved tools, the same stored instructions and the same rules on customer data.
If you are the bottleneck, I would start with one-to-one. An owner who uses AI well every day sets the habit for everyone else.
How does AI training with us work, step by step?
- Pick a format. Open workshop dates and booking are on the AI workshops page. For a private session or one-to-one training, book a call with me.
- Discovery call for private sessions. We look at the tools you already pay for, the jobs that eat your team's time and what you want working afterwards. The session is built around that.
- The session. Short explanations, then hands-on work on real tasks. You use your own laptop and accounts where possible, so the set-up stays with you.
- Afterwards. Private sessions receive a written AI roadmap. One-to-one founders get follow-up and a 30-day practice plan to keep the habit going.
One-to-one training runs on Zoom, which suits founders who want to build on their own machine with their own files open. If you would like to meet first, you are welcome at our office in Pontcanna by arrangement.
How much does AI training cost in Cardiff?
Our prices are public:
- AI Works: Foundations: £300 per person for an open half-day workshop.
- Private team session: £500 per person, with a minimum booking, shaped around your tools.
- One-to-one founder training: scoped on a call, because the work depends on your business and the tools you use.
For comparison, live instructor-led AI and Copilot courses listed for Cardiff on Reed mostly sit between £300 and £495, and nearly all of them run online (Reed). A general course is fine for learning what a tool does. A practical trainer earns the fee on the part a general course leaves to you: setting AI up on your own work.
Before you book anything, check whether a Welsh support scheme applies to you. There is more on that below.
Who is AI training for, and who is it not for?
It suits:
- Owners of small and mid-sized Cardiff businesses who want AI handling admin, drafting and follow-up.
- Office and operations managers who need the whole team using the same tools in the same way.
- Sales and customer service staff who write the same replies, quotes and summaries every week.
- Founders who want their own assistant set up with their context before rolling AI out to the team.
It suits you less if you need a formal qualification, or deep technical training in building machine learning models. A formal qualification course serves those needs better, and I will tell you so on the call.
How do you choose an AI trainer in Cardiff?
Ask these before you book, with us or anyone else:
- How much of the time is hands-on? Most of it should be. Slides and demos alone leave the hard part to you.
- Will we work on our own tasks? Bring a real enquiry, a real proposal, a real spreadsheet.
- What will be working when we leave? Expect a specific answer. Vague talk of awareness or mindset is a warning sign.
- Is the trainer tied to one vendor? Training should start from the software you already pay for, with nobody selling licences in the room.
- Do they use AI in their own business? Ask what they have automated in their own week.
- What happens afterwards? A written plan or follow-up keeps the session alive past the following Friday.
- Have funding claims been checked? If a provider says a course is funded, confirm it with the scheme yourself.
Why train with Rhodri and Roddy Digital?
I have spent fifteen years in websites and digital marketing. I started in sales, moved into marketing and often ran business development inside those roles, working on brands including Vodafone, Sainsbury's, Airbus and LVMH in earlier jobs. I founded Roddy Digital in 2021 and lead every engagement personally.
We run Roddy Digital as an AI-first agency, so the training teaches the methods we use every day to run our own business and deliver client work. When a team would prefer the automations built for them, our AI and automation service and our AI automation work in Cardiff pick up where the training stops.
Our office is at 11-13 Penhill Rd in Pontcanna. Calls and one-to-one sessions run on Zoom, and you are welcome to meet us at the office by arrangement.
What AI training support is there in Cardiff and South Wales?
Wales has put public money behind AI skills. In January 2026 the Welsh Government announced £2.1 million to help SMEs adopt AI. That includes £600,000 for Business Wales to run an AI awareness and adoption programme, £1 million for AI upskilling through the Flexible Skills Programme, and £500,000 aimed at tourism and events businesses (Welsh Government).
Under the Flexible Skills Programme AI pilot, the Welsh Government contributes 75% of eligible costs until the end of March 2027. Only qualifying courses at Level 2 or above count, and the final decision on eligibility rests with the Welsh Government (Business Wales). Check eligibility with the scheme and with the provider before you count on any funding, us included.
For most owner-run firms in Cardiff, Newport and the Vale of Glamorgan, the real constraint is the owner's own time. A free awareness course is a sensible primer. A practical session then gets AI working on your own jobs.