.png)
Five learning units and a closing session
Your curriculum
Work through the six GOVERN stages. Each unit adds to your own working playbook. Open a unit to explore the learning and applied work.
Week 1 · Tuesday and Wednesday Setting the governance agenda Principles, an initial AI inventory and a stakeholder map.
G · Ground in value
What you learn
Establish why and how AI should be governed in your organisation. Start with its purpose, the value it aims to create and who could be affected, and evolving systemic challenges, business risks and opportunities.
Apply it to your organisation
Map the AI already in use, the people and systems it affects, and what you do not yet know. Include stakeholders with no commercial relationship to your organisation.
The work you take backSection 1: objectives, governance principles, stakeholders and unknowns.
Week 1 · Thursday and Friday Risk, return, and regulation A risk approach and a business case for governing AI responsibly.
O · Orient to outcomes and trade-offs
What you learn
Assess opportunities, risks and obligations. Examine competing interests, knock-on effects and consequences that may appear over years.
Apply it to your organisation
Work through a real trade-off, identify who bears the cost, and make the case for action. Identify where specialist legal advice is needed.
The work you take backSection 2: obligations, risk and opportunity, trade-offs, the business case and the scope of your governance.
Week 2 · Tuesday and Wednesday Ownership and oversight Named risk owners, decision rights and escalation routes.
V · Vest accountability
What you learn
Decide who can approve, challenge, pause or stop AI. Distinguish meaningful human oversight from oversight that exists only on paper.
Apply it to your organisation
Assign owners and decision rights in your context. Set escalation thresholds and what must be explainable. Consider any system that acts with delegated autonomy.
The work you take backSection 3: risk owners, decision rights, oversight, delegated autonomy and explainability.
Week 2 · Thursday and Friday From guardrails to proof Operating controls, effectiveness indicators and one impact assessment.
E · Embed in operations + R · Review evidence
What you learn
Build controls into existing processes, then ask whether they work. Examine pilot discipline, suppliers, incentives and the evidence behind decisions.
Apply it to your organisation
Test the riskiest assumption before further investment. Consider model capability, cost and resource use. Apply an impact assessment to one real system and record the remaining gaps.
The work you take backSections 4 and 5: guardrails, controls, enabling conditions, effectiveness indicators and an impact assessment.
Week 3 · Tuesday and Wednesday Leading through change A sequenced roadmap and the case for organisational support.
N · Navigate change
What you learn
Decide which actions to prioritise and how to navigate the path ahead. Establish how to revisit decisions as information, technology, evidence and expectations change.
Apply it to your organisation
Build a plan that evolves as you learn. Set priorities, owners, success measures and review triggers. Engage the people whose support you need, including a board or functional leadership team.
The work you take backSection 6: implementation priorities, a roadmap, review triggers and the leadership narrative.
Week 3 · Thursday Showcase and synthesis Bring the six sections together into a leadership summary.
Closing live session · All six GOVERN stages
What you learn
Connect the stages and reflect on how to lead the work within your sphere of influence.
Apply it to your organisation
Assemble your leadership summary from the work developed across the programme. Up to three volunteers present their playbooks, with faculty synthesis.
The work you take backA summary to take to your leadership team, assembled from the six playbook sections.
Why CISL
The CISL perspective, in practice
Consider who benefits and whose interests are affected, how cost and resource use influence procurement, and when decisions need to change. The work connects today's AI choices with long-term competitiveness and resilience.
The applied work
Inside your playbook
You develop one working document with Paski, your AI tutor. It brings together your organisational context, six GOVERN sections, an implementation roadmap and a summary for your leadership team.
This excerpt shows the kind of decision you work through. Your own playbook uses the context you share.
See the full playbook structure
Your organisational context shapes the appropriate governance approach.
- Ground in value
- Orient to outcomes and trade-offs
- Vest accountability
- Embed in operations
- Review evidence
- Navigate change
Your leadership summary draws on the work developed across these six sections.
Example · test before further investment
AI-drafted marketing emails
- Riskiest assumption
- Generated copy will not include unapproved discount claims.
- A test before further investment
- Human review of 20 generated emails before auto-send.
- Go / no-go trigger
- Zero unapproved claims in the sample.
Illustrative excerpt from the working playbook. Not a complete assessment or a universal approval standard.
Learning experience and time commitment
How the 2.5 weeks work
Before the first session: start with your context.Share your role, sector and governance challenge with Paski, your AI tutor. Self-paced onboarding, personalised reading and an audio briefing prepare you for the programme.
Live teaching and the work between sessions
Scheduled teaching
Live sessions with faculty
Tuesdays & Thursdays. Six sessions across the programme, lasting 60 to 90 minutes each.
All live sessions are recorded.
Work you schedule
Personalised learning and application
AI tutorials and audio briefings connect the ideas to your context. You do the critical thinking, while Paski supports you to develop each playbook section.
Learn alongside a cross-sector cohort, with a community space between sessions.
See a typical two-day learning unit
- Day 1: faculty teaching and personalisation
- A live session, followed by personalised reading and a one-to-one AI tutorial connecting the ideas to your organisation.
- Day 2: application
- No live session. An audio briefing, reference material and AI-supported work help you develop the next playbook section.
- Across the programme
- Five learning units follow this rhythm. A sixth live session closes the programme with synthesis and volunteer learner showcases.
Live sessions with faculty
Cambridge, academia and industry.
Fee and application
What is included
£1,895 £1,545
Current fee · until Thursday 15 October
- Six live faculty sessions and recordings
- Personalised readings, AI tutorials and audio briefings
- AI-supported playbook work, a roadmap and a leadership summary
- A cross-sector cohort and community space
Participants receive a Certificate of Completion issued by CISL.
Apply now Book a call with an enrolment adviserQuestions before applying
Why CISL and why now?
AI adoption is already reshaping organisations and sectors but its future is not yet determined. Without leadership, clear accountability and adaptive governance, there is a real risk that AI deepens systemic risks, cost and impact. The decisions leaders make today will determine what our future looks like. CISL brings three decades of experience working with business leaders and organisations to address complex, fast-moving systemic challenges into long-term, value-driven solutions for society and economies.
Is this the right level for me?
You should understand the basics of AI and have responsibility or influence over how it is adopted or used. This may be in operations, finance, HR, procurement, technology or risk. No technical expertise or sustainability role is required.
Can I work on one part of my organisation?
Yes. Your context can be one sector, your function or the wider organisation. The context profile helps establish how much governance depth is appropriate. You also consider effects beyond the immediate boundaries of your work.
When does the current rate end?
The current fee is £1,545; the standard fee is £1,895. The cohort starts on 20 October.
What if a live session clashes with work?
Recordings are included. Confirm the cohort’s attendance and completion requirements with the enrolment adviser before relying on recordings instead of live attendance. Book a call
Is this a compliance qualification?
No. This is a leadership programme, not legal advice, technical training or regulatory certification. Your playbook is a working governance proposal for review and implementation within your organisation.