University of Mary Washington’s Continuing & Professional Studies Department is excited to announce the 2026 Business Acumen Series – a series of one-day seminars aimed at building leadership and business skills in the Fredericksburg region.
The Business Acumen Series (BAS) will combine university knowledge and the practical application of innovative tools to drive your organization’s mission and deliver results.
AI is a transformative tool that continues to disrupt nearly every market and space. The 2026 Business Acumen Series will focus on ways you can use AI to enhance your business or organizational practices to optimize workflow without losing the human-centered components of your work.
Applied AI for Executives is Part II of the AI series. Applied AI for Executives is an advanced, hands-on workshop designed for business leaders who are ready to move from understanding AI to actively deploying it in real organizational workflows.
Building on foundational AI concepts, this session focuses on agentic AI, systems that can plan, act, and collaborate across tasks, as well as practical tools for designing and managing AI-enabled work processes. Participants will explore emerging platforms such as Claude Cowork, experiment with vibe-coding to rapidly prototype custom workflow tools, and examine real-world use cases for AI-assisted decision-making, communication, and project management.
In addition to technical demonstrations, the workshop emphasizes the human and organizational dimensions of AI adoption. Leaders will engage in guided discussions on how to train teams, set appropriate usage norms, manage risk and accountability, and cultivate an internal culture of responsible and effective AI use.
By the end of the session, participants will leave with:
- A concrete understanding of agentic AI and its strategic implications
- Hands-on experience building simple AI-powered workflows
- Frameworks for supporting, governing, and scaling AI use within their organizations
This seminar is designed for executives, managers, and innovation leaders who want to move beyond experimentation and begin treating AI as a core operational capability.
Speaker: P. Anand Rao, PhD., Director of the Center for AI and the Liberal Arts, University of Mary Washington
Learn more & register >> 2026 Business Acumen Series: Applied AI for Executives – Open Enrollment
