AI Strategy: Leveraging Automation

This course can be applied toward the UBC Micro-certificate in AI Powered Automation and Personalization and the UBC Certificate in Artificial Intelligence in Digital Media.

This course combines implementation strategy and critical thinking skills for immediate application in your current work.

Harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) automation to streamline workflows, enhance content creation and drive strategic decision-making. Through hands-on activities, real-world case studies and expert insights, explore how to design and implement automation tools, techniques and strategies in business and creative processes. Gain a deeper understanding of AI automation’s impact on productivity, decision-making, return on investment (ROI) and the ability to scale. Take a close look at how AI can both aid and impede creativity and consider its legal and ethical implications.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

• Understand the automation spectrum, including workflows, automation and AI agents
• Develop and optimize automation workflows using no-code tools tailored for media applications
• Integrate AI tools into creative processes for content generation, storytelling and data visualization
• Strategize the implementation of AI-powered solutions to scale creative operations
• Assess the ethical implications and creative impact of automation
• Present automation and AI strategies effectively to stakeholders and clients

Technical and coding skills are not required. This course uses practical “no-code” platforms to help students build solid AI tool logic and practical skills for implementation. Platform and tool selection varies and is regularly updated to align with current industry trends, and has included Zapier, HeyGen, DALL-E, ElevenLabs, Midjourney, Google AI Studio, Make and Copilot, among others.

Course outline

Week 1: Foundations of automation and AI

In this module, you’ll learn the key principles of automation and how to strategically harness automation using accessible, no-code tools, to streamline operations, enhance creativity and drive efficiency across modern workflows without needing technical expertise.

Week 2: Strategic implementation of automation

This module explores the strategic use of automation to optimize workflows and improve efficiency in creative industries, equipping you with technical knowledge and practical skills to analyze processes, integrate data and implement effective automation solutions.

Week 3: Leveraging AI automation in creative processes

This module explores the difference between AI augmentation and AI-driven automation in creative processes, and how AI-powered automation is transforming creative work by enhancing content production, personalization and distribution—enabling scalable, data-driven creativity while keeping strategic control in human hands.

Week 4: The creative implications of AI automation in digital media

This module examines how Agentic AI is reshaping automation by enabling systems to operate with greater autonomy and intelligence. You’ll gain insight into its transformative potential across industries, the ethical considerations it raises and the strategic factors involved in its successful implementation.

How am I assessed?

You will be assessed on successfully completing weekly activities, including exercises, quizzes, applied case study projects (based on real-life scenarios) and your contributions to discussion posts. These activities are marked using a proficiency scale, and your instructor provides you informal feedback during live online sessions.

While you are not assessed on your attendance of the live online sessions, we encourage you to attend so you can learn and interact with your instructor and other participants. All sessions are recorded in case you miss one.

This course operates on a pass/fail basis. You must achieve an overall grade of 70% or greater to pass and be eligible to earn the UBC Micro-certificate in AI Powered Automation and Personalization.

Expected effort

Expect to spend five to seven hours per week completing all learning activities, including attending the live online sessions.

Technology requirements

To take this course, you need access to:

• an email account
• a computer, laptop or tablet
• the latest version of a web browser (or previous major version release)
• a reliable internet connection
• a video camera and microphone

Course format

This 100% online program is instructor supported with weekly online classes. Outside of class, you can access online materials on your own time. Each week, review readings and videos, and apply your knowledge in exercises and case studies. Contribute to an online discussion board and connect with other students. One business day before the course start date, we’ll email you step-by-step instructions for accessing your course.