AI training from a former school principal.
I spent eight years as a school principal getting skeptical, overloaded staff to adopt new tools. Later I used AI to run marketing and training solo across five business units and a nonprofit. Understanding Your AI teaches Michigan teams to actually use ChatGPT, Copilot, and Gemini, then checks back 30 days later to prove it.
No prep needed. Bring your real questions.
“Working with Tim felt like adding three new team members, without the payroll.” Mallory Soulliere, Marketing Director, FED Design/Builders
Why isn't your team using AI yet?
Most teams already have access to capable AI tools. What stops them is simpler: people don't know where to start, worry about doing it wrong with company data, or tried it once, got something useless, and quit.
Roughly half of U.S. employees use AI at work once a year or not at all, and only about 3 in 10 use it daily or a few times a week.
Source: Gallup quarterly workforce survey of 23,717 employed U.S. adults, February 2026.Every one of those reasons is a teaching problem. Teaching is the job I did before I ever opened ChatGPT.
What does a school principal know about AI adoption?
How to get a building full of busy, skeptical adults to change how they work, and how to tell whether the change actually happened. A principal can't order people to be enthusiastic. You start where people are, practice on their real work, follow up, and measure. Understanding Your AI runs AI training the same way.
Start where people are.
Before the workshop, a five-minute survey shows who already uses AI, for what, and what's holding everyone else back. The session is built around those answers.
Practice on real work.
Your team brings the emails, reports, SOPs, and proposals they actually write. Nobody leaves with a generic prompt list.
Follow up.
Training that nobody revisits fades fast, so every team workshop includes a 30-day check-in.
Measure it.
The 30-day adoption report shows you exactly what changed, in numbers.
How do you know the training worked?
You get a 30-day adoption report. Thirty days after the workshop, your team retakes the same short survey, and I meet with you for 30 minutes to walk through the results: how many people use AI weekly compared with before, how many kinds of tasks they use it for, the top uses, the top blockers, and a recommended next step for anyone still stuck.
Surveys are anonymous by default, and results are reported by team or role. Individual follow-up happens only for people who ask for it.
Where do most teams start?
With a workshop. If the 30-day report shows your team needs more, ongoing strategy is the next step.
Start Smart Workshop
Teams up to 5. A hands-on session built on your team's real work.
- Plain-language basics and safety rules
- Live practice on your own devices
- Team prompts and playbooks
- The baseline survey
- The 30-day adoption report and results meeting
Team Rollout
Departments and whole companies
- The same approach for larger groups
- Scheduled around shifts and departments
- Baseline survey and 30-day report
1-to-1 Coaching
One person, one plan
- A plan for their role
- Live practice and prompt reviews
- Good for the owner who wants to learn first
AI Strategy Partner · from $2,500 per month
For teams ready for more after the workshop: bi-weekly strategy sessions, monthly team training as new tools roll out, an AI roadmap, vendor evaluation, governance, and a quarterly business review. 3-month minimum. Plus, at $4,000 per month, adds direct access by email, text, or phone, priority scheduling, and ad hoc reviews. See AI Strategy Partner →
Speaking · from $1,499
Keynotes, panels, and hands-on conference workshops for associations, chambers, and events of 20 to 200-plus people. See speaking →
How does a workshop work?
Before
Everyone takes a five-minute baseline survey, and I spend 20 minutes with the owner picking the three to five tasks that matter most.
The session
On-site anywhere in Michigan or live online. Your team practices on its own work using whichever tool you already pay for, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or Google Gemini, and everyone leaves with prompts and a short playbook for their role.
Day 30
The team retakes the survey, you get the adoption report, and we decide together whether anything else is needed.
What will your team practice?
Every workshop is built around the work your people already do. Common starting points:
SOP drafts, QA report narratives, maintenance documentation, safety checklists, and training materials, all reviewed by the people who know the process.
Content briefs, social calendars, email drafts, and reporting, written in your brand's voice.
Variance explanations, month-end narratives, board summaries, and vendor communication.
Scope drafts, RFP requirement summaries, bid comparisons, and proposal narratives.
Follow-up emails, call summaries, CRM notes, and answers to the questions customers ask every week.
Job postings, onboarding materials, policy drafts, and short training modules.
Grant drafts, donor communication, newsletters, and program descriptions in your own voice.
Meeting summaries with action items, SOPs, executive summaries, and board materials.
Mallory Soulliere's team at FED Design/Builders started with marketing, then brought the same approach into accounting and estimating.
What do clients say?
Both of these clients started out intimidated. Here's where they ended up.
“Working with Tim felt like adding three new team members, without the payroll.”
Mallory Soulliere, Marketing Director, FED Design/Builders
I've been working with Tim as my "AI Mentor" for over four months, and the experience has been incredibly valuable. Marketing was new to my role, and at first I was intimidated by all the AI tools. Tim has a gift for taking complex, technical concepts and breaking them down into clear, easy-to-understand explanations. He tailors his recommendations to my specific needs and skill level, which has made the process not only productive but also fun, for me and for our audience. Thanks to Tim's guidance, our company's social media presence has expanded exponentially.
I lead a marketing team that manages six different businesses, and while we knew AI could be valuable, we were initially intimidated and unsure of how to begin. When we connected with Tim, he provided practical training on how to use AI effectively, safely, and efficiently. Since then, it has felt like we've added the capacity of three additional team members.
Beyond marketing, Tim has also worked with our accounting and estimating departments, helping streamline reporting, save time, and create stronger alignment across the company. We are incredibly grateful that we chose to learn how to use AI the right way, and even more thankful that we had Tim to guide us through the process.
Who teaches the workshops?
I'm Tim Bish. I spent eight years as a school principal and system administrator, where the job was getting busy people to adopt new tools and actually use them. Later, as the in-house marketing lead at Vantage Plastics, I used AI to run marketing and training solo across five business units and a nonprofit, and qualified RFQs grew from 30 to 152 over 24 months.
I also build the AI systems I teach, including the pipeline behind my own daily video channel. When you book Understanding Your AI, I'm the one teaching.
Want to keep up with AI without the hype?
Two short videos a day on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, sorting what matters for Michigan businesses from what's just noise. Every number is sourced before it goes on camera.
Watch on YouTubeQuestions, answered
Straight answers to what Michigan owners ask before the first call. More questions answered →
Understanding Your AI provides hands-on AI training and consulting for Michigan businesses, taught by Tim Bish, a former school principal and system administrator. Team workshops start at $999 and include a 30-day adoption report. Ongoing AI leadership is available through AI Strategy Partner, starting at $2,500 per month.
Many AI trainings end when the session does. Understanding Your AI starts with a baseline survey and ends with a 30-day adoption report that shows the owner who is using AI, for what, and who still needs help. The trainer's background is running a school, where getting reluctant adults to adopt new tools was the job.
Start where they are, practice on their real work, follow up, and measure. Skeptics often come around once AI saves them time on a task they already dislike. Their objections are also useful, because they're usually what the rest of the team is quietly thinking.
It can be, with the right account settings and a few clear rules. Every Understanding Your AI workshop covers what to keep out of AI tools, which account types protect company data, and simple rules your team can follow. AI Strategy Partner clients get written governance and data privacy guidelines.
Usually the one you already pay for. Many businesses already have Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, which may include Copilot or Gemini features. Workshops are taught on the tools your team actually has.
Understanding Your AI workshops start at $999 for teams up to five. One-to-one coaching is $199 for two hours. Team rollouts and speaking start at $1,499. AI Strategy Partner starts at $2,500 per month with a 3-month minimum.
Yes. Understanding Your AI is based in Saginaw and runs workshops on-site anywhere in Michigan or live online. Travel for on-site sessions is settled on the scoping call, before anything is booked.
Most small and mid-sized businesses don't, at least not first. They need a team that uses AI well and someone to call when decisions come up. Start with a workshop. If the adoption report shows you need ongoing leadership, AI Strategy Partner covers it.
Tell me about your team.
Share your team size, the tools you have, and what's getting in the way. I'll follow up with a recommendation and a quote.
Prefer to skip the form?
Book a 20-Minute CallNo prep needed. Bring your real questions. I reply within one business day.
Or send a message and I'll follow up with a recommendation:
Your info stays private. I typically respond within one business day.
