Practical AI for Process Improvement Specialists teaches process improvement change agents and teams ways to use AI as a tool to improve processes and eliminate waste. This course explores AI as a solution space using a Lean approach to process improvement in order to create measurable results beyond what is possible using only one approach or the other.

You’ll learn to distinguish between AI solutions that improve processes versus those that simply automate broken workflows. Integrating common desktop tools (e.g. 365 Copilot) with structured process improvement methodology to plan an engagement, map the process, analyze the top problems to solve, and use the cycle of continuous improvement to ideate and implement solutions. You’ll be able to identify the right problems to solve, apply AI where it adds value, and avoid the trap of “doing the wrong thing, faster.

Participants leave the workshop able to craft and test high-impact AI user stories, prompts, and effective process improvement hypotheses. 

• The Practical AI for Process Improvement Specialists workshop is targeted to:

• Individuals and teams with some prior experience improving processes, who wish to optimize their practice by adding the practical use of AI to their existing toolkit.

• The learning objectives of this workshop include:

• Craft and test effective prompts for AI experimentation using common desktop AI tools (e.g. 365 Copilot), and user stories for advanced AI experiments requiring programmed / coded solutions.
• Apply AI techniques to enhance Lean tools and methods for streamlining processes
• Use advanced root-cause analysis focus AI solutions on causes of business problems, instead of only addressing symptoms.
• Distinguish between process issues that require process redesign versus problems that AI can legitimately solve. Use the Plan-Do-Check-Adjust cycle to conduct experiments to quickly learn and improve both process- and AI-based solutions.

• Topics covered include:

Process Improvement Foundations

• Understanding AI’s role in process improvement
• Review of Lean principles applied to knowledge work to create flow and continuous improvement.
• Understanding current AI capabilities: what AI currently can and cannot do 

Planning of an Improvement Project 

• Using AI to analyze current and target situations
• AI-assisted problem statement development and refinement

Mapping of an Improvement Project

• AI-powered process data collection and analysis

Analysis of an Improvement Project

• Deep dive into advanced root cause analysis using target diagrams and interrelationship mapping
• AI-driven data analysis to identify and prioritize root causes
• Pattern recognition and correlation analysis using AI tools
• Analysis framework: "Is this something AI should fix vs. a process issue?"
• What are the tasks that AI is best equipped to perform? What types of tasks should AI not perform, and why?

Ideating and iterating an Improvement Project

• AI-generated solution identification and prioritization
• Using AI to plan, test and implement process improvements
• Crafting AI prompts for Copilot and user stories for advanced programmed/coded AI experimentation; crafting process hypotheses (A3’s)
• AI-assisted experimentation and rapid prototyping

Continuous improvement

• Continuous improvement and visual management leveraging AI tools
• Proactively leading the people side of both Lean and AI implementation