Most businesses now understand that AI matters.
The harder part is getting people across the business to keep learning, use it safely, share what works and turn good ideas into practical improvements.
The AI Champions Academy develops a small internal team who keep AI moving inside your business. They learn what matters, help colleagues, identify useful opportunities and bring practical AI knowledge back into the organisation.
Training starts the change. Champions keep it moving.
Three-month initial commitment. Then continue monthly
for as long as the Academy is delivering value.
Why we created the
AI Champions Academy
Jim Simpson explains why training alone rarely creates lasting AI adoption and
how the Academy helps businesses keep learning, improving and moving forward as AI changes.
What is the AI Champions Academy?
The AI Champions Academy is Ziptech's ongoing AI adoption programme for established SMEs. It develops a small internal team of AI Champions who stay current, help colleagues, identify opportunities and turn AI learning into practical business improvements.
Three-month initial commitment. Then continue monthly
for as long as the Academy is delivering value.
What your business gets
-
Keep AI moving
Your Champions continue learning and applying AI after initial training has finished.
-
Stay current
AI is changing constantly. Your Champions keep up with what matters without everyone in the business having to do so.
-
Build capability inside your business
Champions become credible internal role models who colleagues can turn to for practical help.
-
Create practical improvements
Turn learning into less administration, time saved, better work, increased capacity, improved processes and useful AI and automation opportunities.
How the Academy works
Every Champion has access to four hours of Academy time each month.
Two hours of structured learning
Two one-hour core sessions covering practical
AI skills, useful developments, implementation and
automation.
Up to two hours of AI Studio
Two optional one-hour sessions where Champions can bring real tasks, problems, questions, blockers or opportunities and work through them with a Ziptech specialist.
Quarterly leadership review
Every three months we review participation, practical wins, opportunities, blockers and priorities with your senior sponsor and Champions.
Academy app
Champions can access sessions, recordings, resources and programme information in one place. Company administrators can also add, remove or substitute Champions as the organisation changes.
Who should be an AI Champion?
They do not need to be technical. Good Champions are usually people who:
You provide the people who understand your business. We provide the specialist AI expertise, structure and support.
Benefit from a wider team working with AI every day
Ziptech works across AI training, consulting, automation, development and technology. Our team is continually testing tools, working with businesses and solving real AI implementation problems.
The Academy brings the useful lessons and practical experience from that work to your Champions.
They benefit from the knowledge of a specialist team without your business having to build that capability itself.
Three-month initial commitment. Then continue monthly
for as long as the Academy is delivering value.
What Academy clients are achieving
TO FOLLOW
Choose the right Academy for your business
Every shared Academy package includes the same core programme. You simply choose how widely you want Champions represented across your organisation.
| Early | Adoption | Business Live | Private Academy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Up to 3 | Up to 6 | Up to 12 | Bespoke |
| Monthly Fee | £1,495 + VAT | £1,995 + VAT | £2,995 + VAT | Bespoke |
| Best For: | The minimum practical way to get started | Stronger cross-business adoption | Wider participation across the organisation | A dedicated Academy for one organisation |
| Structure AI learning | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| AI & automation guidance | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| AI Studio support | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Use-case guidance | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Quarterly leadership review | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Monthly Academy time |
4 hours 2 hours structured learning +2 hours optional AI Studio |
4 hours 2 hours structured learning +2 hours optional AI Studio |
4 hours 2 hours structured learning +2 hours optional AI Studio |
Agreed with you |
| Applying what you learn | Champions can spend as much additional time applying AI as creates value | Champions can spend as much additional time applying AI as creates value | Champions can spend as much additional time applying AI as creates value | Agreed with you |
| Academy format | Shared cohorts | Shared cohorts | Shared cohorts | Dedicated private Academy |
| Choose Entry | Choose Adoption | Choose Business Live | Talk to us |
Start without committing to a year
The initial commitment is three months. That gives enough time to onboard your Champions, experience the Academy, start applying what they learn and reach the first quarterly leadership review.
After that, the Academy continues monthly until cancelled.
Three-month initial commitment. Then continue monthly
for as long as the Academy is delivering value.
What happens after you join?
Choose your package
Select the Academy level that suits your business and complete the online sign-up.
Add your company and Champion details
Tell us who will be joining.
Get access to the Academy app
Your company and Champions receive access to the programme.
Complete onboarding
Each new Champion attends a one-hour onboarding session.
Start the Academy
Your Champions join the normal Academy rhythm and your quarterly leadership reviews are scheduled.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The Academy works best where leadership genuinely wants AI adoption to happen, is prepared to nominate suitable Champions and will give them enough time and support to participate and apply what they learn. If your leadership team is still unclear about where AI fits or what the business should prioritise, the AI Leadership Academy may be the better first step.
Each Champion has two hours of core learning each month plus up to two optional AI Studio hours. AI adoption does require some protected time. If nobody has time to learn, experiment and apply AI, meaningful adoption is unlikely to happen.
You probably should give the wider workforce foundation training. Training helps people start using AI. The Champions Academy develops the internal capability that keeps learning, application and adoption moving afterwards.
No. The best Champions are often non-technical people who understand the business, are curious about AI and naturally think about improving how work gets done.
The Academy is not tied to one AI product. Two of the main frontier AI models we use and explore are ChatGPT and Claude. We also cover Microsoft 365 Copilot, the wider Microsoft AI environment, relevant development and automation tools and other useful platforms as they emerge. AI changes quickly, so the Academy continually evolves to focus on the tools and capabilities that are most useful to businesses.
No. There is a three-month initial commitment. After that, the Academy continues monthly until cancelled.
Ready to turn AI into a working habit?
Choose the Academy package that gives you the right level of Champion coverage across your business.
Hear from our clients
“We've been using Ziptech for many years. Previous IT firms were really hard work but Ziptech have always been responsive and supportive."
Chris Sale
CEO, Prism Executive Recruitment
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Jay Soneji
Finance Director, The Brahm Property Group
“I don’t see Ziptech as a supplier of ours anymore, I see them as a business partner first of all. We have a dedicated technician who knows my business very well, he’s almost part of the team."
Yan Simpson
IT Manager, Just Ask Partners
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Rashid Chinchanwala
Finance Director, Media Powerhouse
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Practice Manager, Bickerdike Allen Partners
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Greg Bettis
Business Consultant, Hunters
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Ercan Demiralay
Partner, Wellers Accountants
"With staff in all corners of the developing world, accessibility and reliability are key items on my agenda and I was pleased that Ziptech also focused heavily on those areas. With their advice, we were able to build a very realistic and practical improvement plan for the first year."
Steve Monger
Finance Director, IMC Worldwide
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