Early bird ends Tuesday. Only 12 places left. Ends in:

Half-day intensive · November 10
A half-day intensive from the Harvard Data Science Initiative

AI Agents. The half‑day intensive.

The most immersive way to learn AI agents in half a day. Two live faculty sessions, and a case personalized to your own organization and role.

  • Tuesday, November 10 · 9am–12:35pm ET · $595 $495 early bird
  • Two live sessions with Dirk Hofmann, Harvard Data Science Review author
  • Certificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Initiative
Start your registration

Tuesday, Nov 10. 9:00 to 12:35pm ET.

9:00Live with Dirk Hofmann
9:30Self-paced. Your case, with Paski, your AI tutor
11:30Live debrief and showcase
Half a dayTwo live sessions, both recorded, with two self-paced hours between them.
Live facultyTwo live sessions with Dirk Hofmann, opening and closing the morning
Your AI tutorPaski personalizes the case, the practice and the feedback to you
CertificateCertificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Initiative
How the morning runs

Learn with faculty. Put it to work on your own case.

Two live sessions with Dirk Hofmann. Between them, two hours inside a case built from your organization, where you decide, defend and get challenged.

  • Mon, Nov 9 · by 5pm ETPrework, about 30 minutes.A few questions about your week and your context, and a briefing from DirkAI on the dynamics you will work through. Your answers are pulled into the simulation.
  • 9:00 · LiveDirk Hofmann opens.The agents now on sale, the dynamics that decide whether they help or hurt, and what you will settle before noon.
  • 9:30 · Self-pacedWork the dynamics in your context, at your own pace.Paski, your AI tutor, walks you through the decisions. Your boss, or a stakeholder in your company, pushes back, and you defend your decisions. You write a one-page position on agents for your organization.
  • 11:30 · LiveDebrief and showcase with Dirk and André.Three or four participants' cases, opened up in front of the room. How they thought, where they were caught out. Then your questions.

Cannot make a live session? Both are recorded, and your case stays open afterward.

Your AI tutor

One framework. Your way through it.

Paski is the AI tutor built for Harvard Data Science Review courses. Your prework answers give it the shape of your week and your context, and it pulls them into the simulation. Then it stays beside you for the two hours: walking you through each decision, playing the boss or stakeholder who pushes back, and giving feedback on the position you write. Dirk sets the frame. Paski personalizes it. The decisions stay yours.

  1. 01
    Your contextPrework questions on your week and your organization, pulled into the simulation
  2. 02
    BriefingDirkAI on the dynamics, the evening before
  3. 03
    Decide, then defendYour boss or a stakeholder pushes back. You hold your position, or change it
  4. 04
    Your positionOne page on agents for your organization, with Paski's feedback
What you will practice

The dynamics that decide whether agents help or hurt.

Each one plays out in your case. Dirk opens on them, Paski works them through with you, and the debrief shows how the room handled them.

Autonomy01

What may an agent do alone?

Four settings, from never to act alone. Every product ships them under a different name. Where you set each one, and what each one risks.

Accountability02

Who answers when it gets it wrong?

An agent acts in someone's name, under someone's logins. Whose, who can switch it off, and what the log has to show.

Reassignment03

Which work moves to people?

What the agent takes, what it hands back, and who now reads the log instead of doing the job.

Why a morning is enough

Only what you need to know. Nothing you do not.

A three-week course teaches everyone the same thing. This teaches you what agents mean for your role, in your organization, with faculty in the room.

01

Live faculty, twice.

Dirk Hofmann, Harvard Data Science Review author, opens and closes the morning in person. Not a recording of a lecture.

02

Your context, built in.

Your prework answers shape the simulation before you log on. No time spent on someone else's company.

03

A room of peers.

Leaders working through the same decisions at the same time. The showcase opens three or four of their cases, and the conversation continues afterward.

Certificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Initiative
What you take back

A Certificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Initiative.

Issued on completion of the morning and your one-page position. Shareable on LinkedIn.

Past participants in Harvard Data Science Review courses include leaders from Nike, Apple, PwC, AWS and Google.

Who leads it

Dirk Hofmann, live. DirkAI and Paski beside you.

Dirk Hofmann

Dirk Hofmann

Harvard Data Science Review author · DAIN Studios

Author of the A.G.E.N.T framework, published in the Harvard Data Science Review. He opens the morning and leads the debrief with André Grobler.

DirkAI, faculty avatar of Dirk Hofmann

DirkAI

Dirk's faculty avatar

Briefs you the evening before on the dynamics, and sets the scene for your case on the morning. Trained to teach the way Dirk does.

Paski, your AI tutor

Paski

Your AI tutor

Personalizes the case, the practice and the feedback to you. Walks you through each decision, plays the colleague who pushes back and the board you defend to, and reviews your one page.

Before you register

Five questions people ask first.

Is half a day really enough to be worth a certificate?

The morning is two live sessions with a Harvard Data Science Review author and two hours inside a simulation built from your own context, where you decide, get pushed back on by your boss or a stakeholder, and write a position you can stand behind. It is built to cover in one morning what a lecture course spreads over weeks, because none of it is about someone else's company.

What if I cannot make one of the live sessions?

Both live sessions are recorded and your case stays open afterward. The morning is best live, and still complete if you miss a session.

Do I need to be technical?

No. This is for leaders and managers deciding what agents may do in their organization. No coding, no setup. If you can describe your role and your organization, your case can be written.

What exactly do I receive?

A Certificate of Completion from Harvard Data Science Initiative, your one-page position on agents for your organization, recordings of both live sessions, and your case to return to afterward.

What if my plans change?

Full refund up to 24 hours before the live morning. Email enrollments@hdsrcourses.org.

Half a day. Two live faculty sessions. A certificate in AI agents.

Start your registration

Tuesday, November 10, 9am–12:35pm ET. Registration closes Monday, November 9, 5pm ET, when prework is due.

Start my registration