## Why AI skill is now a business skill
Five years ago AI was something for the IT department. Now it decides whether a quote is ready in ten minutes or two hours, whether an employee answers a customer email themselves or spends half a day searching, and whether your company works faster than the competitor still doing it by hand.
The tools themselves do not make the difference. Anyone can open ChatGPT or Claude. The difference lies in knowing which task you do and do not hand to an AI model, how to write a good instruction and how to check the output before you use it. That is a skill, and like Excel or email, you do not pick it up on your own.
So the question is not whether employees need to learn to work with AI, but how to bring that knowledge in house fastest. There are roughly three routes.
The three formats at a glance
Before we compare them, a quick word on what each format involves.
A group workshop is a session where a trainer teaches a group of employees at once, usually half a day or a full day. Think of a team of five to fifteen people learning to work with the same tools together.
An online course is pre-recorded material you work through at your own pace: videos, texts and exercises. You can start whenever you want and rewatch as often as needed.
A 1-on-1 training is a personal session where a trainer works with a single participant, fully tailored to their work, level and questions.
Group workshop: getting on the same page
A group workshop is strong when you want to bring a whole team along at once. Everyone hears the same story, learns the same way of working and can talk it through afterwards. That avoids the situation where one half of the office embraces AI and the other half stays behind.
What you get is a shared foundation and a common starting point. That is exactly why a workshop is the logical choice for larger groups: in a single day you lift an entire team to the same level.
The downside is that a workshop aims at the average. The trainer cannot tailor the material to each participant's specific role. A bookkeeper, a salesperson and an office manager sit in the same room while their AI use cases differ completely. The fast participants wait, the slower ones drop off. And one day is short: without follow-up the knowledge fades.
Strong for: teams that need to start at the same time, want a shared way of working and whose use cases are fairly similar.
Online course: cheap and flexible
An online course is the cheapest and most flexible option. You buy access, and everyone in your company can start whenever it suits them. For building basic knowledge (what is a language model, how do you write a prompt, which tools exist) it works fine.
The flexibility is also its weakness. There is nobody to correct you, nobody to answer your question and nobody to check whether you actually apply it. In practice, a large share of purchased online courses is never finished. Without guidance and without a deadline, learning stays non-committal.
On top of that the material is general by definition. A course knows nothing about your CRM, your customers or your workflow. You translate the general lessons to your own work yourself, and that translation is exactly where most people get stuck.
Strong for: individuals who learn independently, a tight budget and a need for basic knowledge rather than tailored application.
1-on-1 training: tailored to your work
In 1-on-1 training all attention goes to one participant. The trainer looks at your work, your tools and your questions, and builds the session around them. You do not practise with an invented example but with a task you will actually do tomorrow.
That makes this format the fastest route from "I have heard about it" to "I use it daily". There is no group to wait for, no average to adapt to, and you ask exactly the questions that matter to you. For an entrepreneur or a key person who genuinely needs to become skilled, that delivers the most value per hour.
The honest downside: it is per person. If you want to train twenty people at once, 1-on-1 is not the logical or most cost-effective format for that. In that case a group workshop gets you there faster and cheaper, possibly followed by a single 1-on-1 session for the people who want to go further.
Strong for: entrepreneurs, freelancers and key people who want skill that connects directly to their own work.
The three formats compared
| Aspect | Group workshop | Online course | 1-on-1 training |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fit to your work | Limited | None | Full |
| Guidance | During the session | None | Personal |
| Pace | The group's | Your own | Your own |
| Cost per person | Low with a large group | Lowest | Higher |
| Best at group size | 5 to 15 | 1 or more | 1 |
| Chance you apply it | Average | Low | High |
Which format fits which situation?
Are you a solo entrepreneur or freelancer? Then 1-on-1 training is almost always the best choice. You have no group, your situation is specific and you want to become productive as fast as possible. An online course can serve as a cheap supplement for the basics, but the application to your own work you only get 1-on-1.
Do you have a team of about five people? Here it is more nuanced. If everyone needs to learn the same way of working, a group workshop is efficient and affordable. If the roles differ a lot and you have a few key people who need to go deep, a combination works best: a workshop for the basics, 1-on-1 for the people who need to go further.
Are you a larger company? Then a group workshop (or a series of workshops per department) makes sense to cover the breadth. Reserve 1-on-1 trainings for the people who will take AI furthest in their role: management, the drivers, the people who will later explain it to colleagues. That way you do not pay for depth not everyone needs.
The common thread: the larger the group, the sooner a workshop is the right choice. The more specific and important the individual participant, the more 1-on-1 delivers.
What does AI training cost?
Prices vary widely, so here are the orders of magnitude as an indication. Classroom group trainings often sit between 300 and 800 euros per person per day. Online courses and e-learnings range from free to around 50 euros per month. These are indications to orient yourself, not fixed amounts. The actual price depends on the provider, the length and the depth.
Our own 1-on-1 AI training has fixed prices ex VAT:
- Basic, €349 for those taking their first steps
- Advanced, €449 for those already using AI who want to go further
- Specialist, €579 for those who want depth, including topics like running AI locally
Each training lasts 3 hours via Microsoft Teams, the materials are built around your own session, and you get a 30-minute follow-up call at a time you choose. If you want ongoing guidance rather than a single session, there is 1-on-1 AI coaching for €399 per month ex VAT (annual subscription, first month is a trial month). For teams we run group courses on request, tailored to your situation.
How do you judge the quality of a trainer?
The AI training market is full of people who were doing something else last year. So watch for a few things before you book.
Ask how long and how intensively the trainer works with AI themselves. Someone who uses it daily in practice teaches you different things than someone who assembled a course from blogs. Also ask for concrete examples: which tasks has the trainer automated themselves, and where did it go wrong? Honesty about the limits of AI says more than a story where everything is possible. Check too whether the training connects to your work rather than being a standard story, and watch the follow-up, because learning without practice fades.
At AI Agent, Tarik Eraslan gives the trainings. He is an AI implementation coach and AI trainer, previously worked at IMC Trading and has worked with AI daily in practice since 2022.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a group workshop and 1-on-1 training? A group workshop trains several people at once with the same material, good for a shared foundation. A 1-on-1 training focuses on one participant and is tailored to their work and level. Group is cheaper per person, 1-on-1 delivers more tailoring and application.
When is 1-on-1 training not the best choice? When you need to train a large group at once. For a team of ten or more people who need the same basics, a group workshop is faster and cheaper per person. 1-on-1 is then at most a supplement for a few key people.
What does an AI training cost? Group trainings often sit between 300 and 800 euros per person per day, online courses between free and around 50 euros per month (indications). Our 1-on-1 training costs €349, €449 or €579 ex VAT for 3 hours, depending on the level.
Do my employees need prior knowledge? No. Both group workshops and 1-on-1 trainings cater to every level, from people who have never written a prompt to advanced users. With 1-on-1 you match the starting point to the participant, so nobody gets bored or drops off.
Can I combine an online course and 1-on-1? Yes, and that often works well. Use an online course for the basics and a 1-on-1 session to translate that knowledge to your own work. That keeps costs low while still giving you guidance where it counts.
Choose deliberately, not on price alone
The cheapest training is not the best if nobody finishes it, and the most expensive is not either if it does not connect to your work. Decide first who needs training and how specific their situation is, then the format follows naturally.
Already know you want to get started personally? See our 1-on-1 AI training or plan a no-obligation call, and we will think along about what fits your situation.
