Generative AI for Business: Turning Curiosity into Competitive Edge

Presenters: J Norness, Sloane Bayley, Murray Irvine.

Overview
Are you a business owner, manager, or professional curious about how AI can support your business in today’s rapidly evolving landscape? This interactive 4-hour workshop is designed to take you from curiosity to confidence. Through practical, hands-on learning, you'll explore how generative AI can streamline operations, enhance productivity, improve decision-making, and reduce costs.
You’ll gain a solid understanding of how AI works, how to use it safely and ethically, and where it can make a real impact in your business -no technical background required. By the end of the session, you’ll be equipped with the tools and insights to start using AI where it matters most.

What You’ll Learn
• The fundamentals of how generative AI works
• Privacy, security, and ethical considerations in using AI
• How to write better prompts to get quality results from AI tools
• Where AI can add value across business functions
• Practical use cases in marketing, HR, admin, finance, and innovation
• How to evaluate and choose AI tools fit for purpose
• Introduction to automation tools, AI knowledge hubs, and chatbots

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
✅ Draft an AI policy and ethical guidelines for their business
✅ Identify business processes where AI can save time or reduce costs
✅ Confidently use AI tools for everyday tasks in marketing, finance, and admin
✅ Create clear, effective prompts that improve AI outputs
✅ Apply a framework to evaluate and select AI tools
✅ Recognise the limitations and ethical risks of AI systems
✅ Develop a practical roadmap for adopting AI in their business
✅ Support their teams to upskill and shift focus from repetitive tasks to higher-value work

Participants will need to bring a laptop with them to the course.

Bio: Kenneth (J) Norness Jr
Founder, ENDEVO | Fractional CMO & AI Strategy Consultant
Chief Marketing & AI Officer, Vortex Leisure & Spa World

J operates at the confluence where brand and business strategy meet marketing stacks, product design, operations, and AI innovation. With 25+ years of hands-on experience across industries and continents, he helps businesses harness the power of marketing and emerging tech, especially generative AI, to drive real commercial outcomes.

Originally from the US, J has proudly called Nelson home for over two decades. He’s built and scaled businesses across seafood, giftware, and tech, including eight years in the Bering Sea as an automation engineer (yes, really). His current consulting practice, ENDEVO, focuses on helping SMEs build marketing systems and AI capabilities that scale, without the fluff.

He’s also the long-time Chief Marketing and AI Officer at Vortex Leisure, which owns Spa World, Australasia’s most awarded spa retailer. Under his leadership, Vortex has grown into a 19-country operation, with strong brand equity, robust digital infrastructure, and a market-leading customer experience.

At the core of J’s work is a simple idea: technology should serve people, not replace them. He’s passionate about helping teams work smarter, think creatively, and stay human in an AI-driven world.

When he’s not buried in a funnel or an AI prototype, you’ll find him somewhere on a mountain bike trail, preferably with mud on his shins and a big grin on his face.

 

Cost Support

The Marketing Foundations Course is registered with the Regional Business Partnership Network (RBPN) and participants may therefore qualify for support for this programme.
For more information, please contact Sandra Crone sandra.crone@nelsontasman.nz prior to Tuesday 26 August.

To attend/be eligible for co-funding the customer must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Has less than 50 full time employees
• Have an NZBN
• Must be the business owner or person in a key management role, i.e senior managers, in the business.
• Must register on the RBP Platform and have a discovery meeting with the region’s Growth Advisor.

 

Standard cancellation policy applies to paid events/workshops/courses (unless otherwise stated on event listing). Cancellations must be received 7 working days prior to the event. Cancellations after this time and ‘no shows’ on the day will be charged the full invoice amount. Substitutions are permitted if you can no longer attend.