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Maryland SBDC · AI Co-Working team

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AI class catalog

Applied AI classes for small-business owners, from the Maryland SBDC AI Co-Working team.

The series

Applied AI for Small Business

Each class runs about 90 minutes and is built around live demos and hands-on practice with invented example businesses, never real clients.

Introduction to AI for Small Business
A practical first look at where AI helps in day-to-day work: drafting communications, organizing ideas, researching a market and starting a business plan. AI is a support tool, not a replacement for the owner’s judgment. Participants leave knowing where to begin, what to give the tool, and why to review every result.
For: Owners new to AI or looking for a practical starting point.
Write Better Prompts for Business
AI is more useful with the right instructions. Participants practice giving a tool the context, details, constraints and format it needs, turning vague requests into usable prompts for marketing, customer communications, planning and research. No jargon: a repeatable method for better first drafts.
For: Owners who have tried AI and want more reliable results.
AI Market Research for Small Business
How AI can organize market questions, summarize customer feedback, identify competitors and sharpen a picture of the ideal customer, and how to tell a useful starting point from a verified fact, including when to check primary sources before acting.
For: Owners refining an idea, a marketing plan or a growth decision.
Developing a Business Plan with AI
Build a business plan section by section with AI as the aid: market research, customer definition, business-model questions, marketing language and financial-planning prep. The owner supplies the facts, makes the decisions and reviews the final plan.
For: Planning-stage entrepreneurs and owners updating a plan.

For instructors

Build your own class

The two working documents every class in the series is built from.

Class spec template
Audience, timing, objectives, demos, exercises, handout and prompt pack: the brief to fill in before building a class.
AI tools fact sheet (Sept 2026)
Which tools a small-business owner will meet, what they cost, what to call them, and what not to say. Prices and model names change fast: re-check before you teach.