AI Academy | AI for Professional Services Course Series

AI for Professional Services Course Series

The traditional business model for professional services, built on human expertise and billable hours, is facing an existential threat from artificial intelligence. AI is no longer a simple productivity tool; it’s a “second brain” capable of high-level knowledge work that is disrupting the core economics of the industry. This four-course certificate series is a strategic and tactical guide for firm leaders and practitioners to navigate this disruption, transform their business models, and build a durable competitive advantage in the age of AI.

4 Course Series Duration 4.25 hours
Released August 2025

Course Level Beginner to Intermediate

Certification Professional certificate awarded after exam

Format On-demand videos to learn at your own pace

About This Series

This professional certificate series provides a complete journey from strategic understanding to tactical execution. The series begins by defining the $1.1 trillion “Service-as-Software” disruption and the three core strategic shifts required to adapt—from moving beyond the billable hour to leveraging proprietary data. It then provides a practical, dual-framework system for identifying and prioritizing high-impact AI initiatives using both a bottom-up Use Case Model and a top-down Problem-Based Model. The series culminates in a hands-on capstone where you will learn to select and apply advanced AI technologies to solve real-world challenges, turning your firm’s AI strategy into action.

You'll Learn To

Grasp how the "Service-as-Software" model is disrupting the $1.1 trillion professional services industry.
Navigate the three core strategic shifts: moving beyond the billable hour, redefining value with a new "cognitive division of labor," and building a durable advantage with proprietary data.
Apply two powerful frameworks—the Use Case Model and the Problem-Based Model—to build a data-driven AI roadmap for your firm.
Master a structured process for selecting the right AI technology using the Three Tiers of AI Technology framework.
Gain hands-on experience using advanced reasoning models, deep research tools, and personal AI assistants to solve firm-specific challenges.

Key Questions Addressed

This series provides a comprehensive playbook for professional services leaders asking the most critical questions about the future:

How is AI really going to disrupt my firm's business model, profitability, and core value proposition?
What new pricing models and service offerings must we consider to remain competitive when the billable hour is dead?
We know we need AI, but what is a practical, step-by-step process for identifying the right projects to get started?
How do we build a durable competitive advantage when our rivals have access to the same powerful AI tools?
How do we move from high-level strategic planning to actually using these tools to deliver value to our clients and our firm?

Who It's For

This certificate series is designed for:

Leaders, Partners, and Principals at professional services firms (e.g., consulting, legal, accounting, marketing agencies).
Practitioners and Consultants who want to understand the future of their careers and lead change within their organizations.
Innovation Leaders and Department Heads tasked with operationalizing AI strategy and piloting new technologies.

What You'll Do

Calculate the Total Addressable Market (TAM) for AI's impact on your specific professional services segment.
Develop an "AI-Forward Checklist" to guide your firm's high-level strategy around pricing, service offerings, and data.
Build a comprehensive Use Case Workbook and Problem-Based Workbook to create a prioritized, actionable AI roadmap.
Execute a final, hands-on capstone lab to generate a 30-day action plan and an AI market map for your industry.

Course Syllabus

Course 1: Your AI Opportunity: Understanding the New Professional Services Landscape
This course is a call-to-action for professional services leaders and practitioners who are serious about AI transformation. You will grasp the essential underlying logic of AI disruption within professional services—and understand the AI opportunity this disruption presents.

What You’ll Learn
This course will teach you how to:
- Understand the scope of the professional services market.
- Discover how AI is disrupting the traditional business model of professional services.
- Visualize the total addressable market of AI disruption in professional services.
- Learn how professional services firms can survive and thrive amidst AI disruption.
- Create an AI-forward pledge to commit to proactively evolving your career and company.
Course 2: AI and the Future of the Professional Services Firm: Core Strategies for the AI-Forward Firm
This course is a guide to the core strategic shifts in professional services that AI is causing. You will come away understanding these shifts, and how your company and career need to change in order to navigate them.

What You’ll Learn
This course will teach you how to:
- Understand why AI has killed the billable hours model.
- Learn about the new cognitive division of labor between AI and human experts.
- Explore how proprietary data can give your firm a lasting advantage in the age of AI.
- Develop a list of possible AI transformation strategies to pursue in your firm.
Course 3: Finding Your AI Advantage: A Practical Framework for Professional Services Firms
This course is a step-by-step walkthrough of how to identify use cases for AI and problems that can be solved in a smarter way using AI. You will come away with prioritized use cases and problem statements to which AI technology can be applied.

What You’ll Learn
This course will teach you how to:
- Discover core questions to ask about how to operationalize AI in your firm.
- Apply the Use Case Model to identify top use cases for AI.
- Apply the Problem-Based Model to identify top problems to solve with AI.
- Develop use case and problem-based workbooks to guide your AI transformation.
Course 4: AI Tools and Use Cases: How to Find AI Tools for Your Use Cases
This course teaches you how to select AI technology and draw inspiration from popular AI tools in professional services, so you can achieve results in your own firm. You will come away ready to apply AI to your professional services career and company.

What You’ll Learn
This course will teach you how to:
- Learn a framework for AI technology selection.
- Discover a range of AI tools being used in professional services today.
- Develop hands-on expertise with powerful AI tools for professional services.
Final Exam

About the Instructor

Mike Kaput is a marketing and business AI expert, speaker, and author. In his role as SmarterX’s Chief Content Officer, he uses dozens of powerful AI tools daily to increase productivity and performance across hundreds of use cases. And his actionable talks can teach you and your team how to do the same thing.

Mike’s talks help companies of every size in any industry to capture massive productivity and performance gains using practical AI knowledge, use cases, and tools. They also make AI approachable and accessible for professionals at every level and in every function.

The result is that companies in every industry—including The Financial Times, Vimeo, and Vodafone—have come away from Mike’s talks armed with everything they need to start building a competitive advantage with AI.

Mike Kaput

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Dshanya Reese
Strategic Insurance Marketer

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Sr. Digital Marketing Director

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Yadin Porter de León
Leading Global CXO

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