Session Overview
You’ve learned the basics of prompting and explored where AI can fit into your workflow — now it’s time to go deeper. One of the biggest challenges with AI is moving from “interesting outputs” to meaningful results you can actually use in your business. In this 102-level session, we’ll continue our journey as AI Explorers by:
- Showing how context engineering makes AI outputs more relevant, accurate, and aligned with your brand.
- Tailoring AI outputs with context-driven responses using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG).
- Building a simple Custom GPT that demonstrates how to combine AI’s strengths with your business context.
- Practicing how to stay the human in the loop by refining AI outputs and spotting where judgment still matters.
- Applying all of these skills to a realistic case study to better understand what AI can and can’t solve on its own.
This session is designed for small business owners, managers, and professionals who have experimented with AI tools and basic prompting, and who are ready to integrate AI more strategically into their operations. You’ll leave with practical experience in customization, tools for bridging AI and human expertise, and clear next steps for bringing AI into your own business with confidence.
By the end of this session, you will:
- Learn a framework for using AI to solve real business problems.
- Understand how context engineering and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) helps you steer LLMs toward results that sound more like your business and less like a generic answer.
- Understand how lets AI “look things up” rather than making guesses.
- Learn how to build and test a simple Custom GPT.
- Practice being the “human in the loop” by refining AI outputs and deciding what should be trusted, improved, or discarded.
NOTE: This is a 102-level session. To get the most out of it, you should already:
- Have experimented with at least one AI tool (like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot), even if just for personal use.
- Understand the basics of prompting — how to give AI an action, context, and output request, and how to refine those prompts toward better results.
- Be familiar with the idea that AI isn’t always accurate, and that while AI is a tool, your judgment and expertise remains essential (“human in the loop”).
- Have a general sense of your business goals or pain points where AI could help.
- (Optional, but helpful) Bring a simple setup document you created in AI 101, such as a brand voice guide, customer persona, or FAQ list
Not ready quite yet? Join us for our AI 101 session: Is it the Real World, or is it AI? An Entrepreneur’s “101” Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
Registration for Fall 2025
Location: Online, Live virtual session via Zoom. Course link will be sent out shortly before the first session.
Session date & time: October 15, 2025 | 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm CST
Fee: WEDC and the Mainstreet Bounceback Program are covering the $99 cost of this webinar for operating, for-profit businesses under 500 employees. These businesses should register here:
Businesses <500 employees, Register Here for Fall 2025
Fee: We have a limited number of seats available for nonprofits, pre-venture (not yet started) businesses, and those participants from a company of over 500 employees thanks to the generosity of UW-Madison SBDC’s supporters. These organizations should use the link below to register.
Cancellation Policy: Due to program costs and space limitations for these programs, participants are expected to cancel their registration at least 24 hours ahead of the program. Cancellations that occur less than 24 hours prior to the start of the program will be considered no-shows and may be removed from future programming and/or charged a course fee.
Disability Statement: Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact the UW-Madison SBDC office at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu to request accommodations.
Presenter
Heather Ferguson
Heather Ferguson is a dedicated learning and development professional with a proven track record of empowering entrepreneurs and busy professionals to transition into new roles, develop critical skills, and navigate complex topics with confidence. She excels at creating engaging and actionable learning experiences tailored to meet diverse learner needs. As Program Manager at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Small Business Development Center (SBDC), Heather works to design, deliver, and refine educational programs that address the evolving needs of adult learners.
Heather became an “AI Explorer” in spring 2023, seeking to develop a foundational understanding of game-changing artificial intelligence technology to help resource-strapped entrepreneurs work more efficiently. Focused on approachable, practical uses of the tools, she has since presented more than 15 AI 101 sessions for entrepreneurs and SBDC colleagues locally, statewide and nationally. She also received ASBDC AI U Certification, a program supported by Google.org for SBDC consultants, and has been part of the national ASBDC AI Interest Group to help set the course for SBDC AI consultant training.
Heather also received an inaugural national ASBDC 40 Under 40 award in 2022, and was nominated for Wisconsin SBDC State Star in 2021 and 2024. She has a B.A. in English and Journalism from Northern Illinois University and an M.S.Ed. in Higher Education from Western Illinois University.
The Wisconsin SBDC Network is a proud part of the Office of Business & Entrepreneurship within the Universities of Wisconsin.
It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Contact us at sbdc@bus.wisc.edu or call (608) 263-2221.