Course overview
AI-driven change seldom arrives on a manager's desk as a well-defined transformation project. More often, when a new tool is introduced, tasks move between people, expectations evolve, some work vanishes and other becomes more important. The manager then has to make clear to the team what this means to the team while continuing to deliver the work. It is this part that the course focuses on.
Through the four live sessions, you will work through a real change, either one affecting your own team or a supplied case. You will map what is actually changing, decide where human judgment still matters and prepare for the conversations that follow. Most importantly, you will practice those conversations. You will practice role-change conversations through live role-play, responding to reactions you did not plan for, receiving direct feedback and trying the conversation again. You will also work through resistance, uncertainty, performance expectations and the difficult space between what leadership wants and what the team is ready for.
AI can help you organize information, map tasks and draft communications. It cannot remove your responsibility as a manager to make sound decisions and have credible conversations with the people affected by them.
This is not AI strategy, technology adoption or governance training.
It is practical management training for the person who has to lead a team while the work itself is changing.
What you can do after this course
- Understand what is actually changing: Break the impact down, role by role instead of treating “AI transformation” as one broad change.
- Practice difficult conversations before having them for real: Work through employee reactions in a safe environment, receive feedback and try a different approach.
- Recognize resistance more accurately: Learn to distinguish genuine objection, uncertainty, overload, disengagement and simple non-compliance.
- Set fair expectations during transition: Decide when standards should remain fixed, when they need adjustment and how to explain those decisions clearly.
- Know what should stay human: Build a defensible view of where human judgment still matters in your team and how to explain that position to senior leaders.
What the course covers
Session dates and times reflect the timezone you choose when booking.
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Session 1 Understanding What Is Changing 4:00 PM UTC, 2 hr +
- Role Impact: Break down how AI or automation changes tasks without assuming the whole role is being replaced.
- Routine vs Judgment: Identify which parts of the work carry routine load and which still depend on human judgment.
- Change Horizon: Separate what is changing now, what may change later and what remains uncertain
- Human Judgment: Identify where human judgment still matters within the team’s work.
- Manager Communication: Communicate honestly when you do not yet have every answer.
Live Activity: Use the Team Change Map from your Delegate Toolkit to map a change affecting your own team or a supplied case. The trainer will challenge your assumptions and help you separate confirmed change, likely change and uncertainty.
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Session 2 Having the Conversation 4:00 PM UTC, 2 hr +
- Explaining Change: Communicate clearly when someone’s role or workflow is changing.
- Balanced Communication: Avoid both false reassurance and unnecessary alarm.
- Limited Control: Explain change credibly when the final decision is not yours.
- Employee Reactions: Respond to anger, silence, anxiety, bargaining or apparent agreement.
- Manager Credibility: Stay credible even when you have concerns of your own.
Live Activity: Use the Role-Change Conversation Planner from your Delegate Toolkit to prepare for the conversation. You will then have the conversation live, respond to the reaction you receive, get direct feedback and revisit key moments using a different approach.
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Session 3 Resistance, Buy-In & Fair Expectations 4:00 PM UTC, 2 hr +
- Diagnosing Resistance: Distinguish resistance from disengagement, overload or legitimate objection.
- Reading Adoption: Recognize that quiet agreement does not always mean genuine adoption.
- Resistance as Information: Use resistance to understand where the change may need attention.
- Performance Standards: Decide when an existing standard should remain unchanged.
- Temporary Adjustment: Recognize when a short-term adjustment may be appropriate.
- Consistency: Explain performance expectations clearly and consistently across the team.
Live Activity: Use the Resistance Diagnostic and Fair Expectations Guide from your Delegate Toolkit to work through realistic management situations involving stalled adoption, mixed performance and employee resistance. Diagnose what is happening, decide how you would respond and compare your reasoning with the trainer.
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Session 4 Leading the Change in Practice 4:00 PM UTC, 2 hr +
- Communication Sequencing: Plan the order in which change should be communicated across the team.
- Individual vs Team Discussion: Decide what belongs in a one-to-one and what should be discussed collectively.
- Mixed Reactions: Manage different responses to the same change across a team.
- Escalation: Recognize when an issue should be escalated and to whom.
- Human Judgment: Make the case for where human judgment should remain.
- Ongoing Adjustment: Refine the management approach as the change unfolds.
Live Activity: Use the Team Change Action Plan and supporting resources from your Delegate Toolkit to bring together the work from the previous sessions into a practical plan for your own team or the supplied case. Work through the hardest parts with the trainer, test your decisions and refine the plan before completing it.
Who this course is for
- Team leads and line managers with direct reports
- Heads of department and functional directors
- Managers responsible for implementing changes to how work is done
- Agency, consultancy and professional-services leaders managing client-facing teams
- Founders and small-business owners managing employees through changes in roles and workflows
What you'll take away
- Perpetual access to all session recordings
- Training slide deck in PDF format
- Certificate of Completion with a unique verifiable certificate ID
- Verifiable LinkedIn Skills Badge
- Team Change Map
- Stays-Human Decision Framework
- Role-Change Conversation Planner
- Resistance Diagnostic
- Fair Expectations Guide
- Team Communication Sequencer
What you'll need to take part
- Laptop or desktop computer with working webcam and microphone
- Latest Zoom application installed and tested
- Reliable internet connection
- A change to work with through the course: either a real change affecting your team, current or anticipated, or a supplied case. Both routes are used in full throughout the course.
- Willingness to participate in live conversation practice and receive direct feedback
- No technical AI knowledge required
- No previous change-management training required.
How the course is taught
The UpskAill Training Standard
Our cohorts follow a live, practice-first approach designed to build genuine capability, not passive knowledge:
- Live & Interactive: Every session is live and instructor-led, no pre-recorded videos. You engage directly with an expert and your peers in real time.
- Learn by Doing: Roughly two-thirds of every cohort is hands-on. You apply concepts to real scenarios, often your own work, and leave each session with something practical, not just notes.
- Judgement Over Checklists: We teach you to think, not just follow steps. In a fast-moving AI landscape, durable judgement matters more than any single tactic that may be outdated next quarter.
- Capped Cohorts: Every cohort is limited to 15 seats, so you get genuine personal attention, peer learning, and space to work through your own questions.
- Resources You Keep: You leave with session recordings, practical toolkits, and templates you can use long after the cohort ends.
- Credentials You Can Prove: Every participant earns a Certificate of Completion and a LinkedIn badge, each carrying a unique ID that can be independently verified on the UpskAill website.
Who teaches it
Hana Zacay
For 13+ years, I've guided CEOs, founders, and executive teams through growth, transformation, M&A, and AI-driven change.
Hana is a strategic HR and organizational development leader with 13+ years of experience partnering with CEOs, executives, and people leaders across technology, aerospace, and global organizations.
Through LEADERIS Consulting, she helps organizations and leaders strengthen leadership capabilities, manager effectiveness, communication, feedback, psychological safety, and team dynamics.
Her work combines hands-on HR and organizational development experience with behavioral science, executive coaching, and practical learning experiences. Her focus is on helping leaders turn knowledge into practice, build stronger leadership habits, and navigate the people challenges that come with growth and change.
Credibility highlights
- 13+ years in HR and organizational development, leading programs for 150+ managers globally.
- Built leadership and manager-development programs for organizations from 100 to 10,000+ employees.
- Guided CEOs and executive teams through growth, M&A, and organizational change.
- Creator of RiseBud, an AI platform where managers practice real workplace conversations.