I taught AI, but AI didn’t write this: A workshop reflection

I occupy a peculiar space in the workforce: I’m an Elder Millennial. This means I’m old enough to remember landlines, but young enough to scroll TikTok, understand why “67” was a trend, and adapt to the ever-growing glossary of slang younger generations are creating. Being ”seasoned” (yes, I am that old) in this industry doesn't mean I’m stuck in my ways—it means I embody the ability to adapt to change, especially in an innovative space like Red Hat.

As AI is an ongoing priority in our company strategy, I had the opportunity to facilitate an AI workshop for my broader team. This was the same team that created MINE, a home-grown internal marketing gen AI tool that accesses internal marketing documents and analytical data. Because the team has extensive experience with AI, the pressure was on me to match the team’s “main character energy.” Despite my understandable self-doubt, it was an easy “yes” for me initially, but then the worries began. How would I lead this group of my peers? How would I stay organized—not just for myself, but for others? Most importantly, how would I incorporate AI into my preparation for this workshop? I was a novice facilitator, never having led any efforts like this before. But since I’m a bit of a dreamer, I wanted it to be successful, fun, and insightful. 

Getting an assist from AI

I began by reflecting on how AI could be a copilot in my preparation work, especially while balancing multiple priorities. I will admit that I still had that tiny resistance to AI and had only used it in a casual way ahead of this workshop. Ultimately, the success of the workshop would be determined by my preparation, so when I thought about the consistent Slack pings, busy inbox, and heads-down work that filled up my schedule, using AI to keep me organized didn’t seem like a bad idea. 

I prioritized organization above all else, so I carved out time to create a timeline deliverable table. After staring at a blank Google doc for what seemed like forever, I prompted AI to generate a table for a workshop with deliverables and columns. The tool surprised me by producing a deliverable chart in less than 20 seconds. While I still needed to edit and tailor the output, it provided the fundamental framework for my organizational success. The deliverables table allowed me to provide timelines for communications, deadlines, reminders, and all workflows in order to stay on track. 

I was on a roll following this. I used AI not only to help me plan but to create feedback forms related to my workshop. I also used it to make structural updates to a document that participants would be using. One thing that ended up being a huge hit during the AI workshop was a welcome video tailored specifically for my team. The video, which included music, voiceovers, and images, made the team chuckle, boosting engagement and adding a layer of humor to the 4.5-hour commitment they signed up for—and I created it entirely using AI.

You can't argue with results

Reflecting on my journey from landlines to using AI at work, I concluded that being open to change helped me succeed in something I had never done before. There’s room for improvement around the workshop itself. But overall, by embracing AI as a copilot, I made the workshop flow better and helped ensure its success and an overall feeling of organization for my peers and me. I combined my existing skillset, enthusiasm, and writing skills with AI’s organizational powers to deliver a successful workshop and team enrichment—all in alignment with Red Hat's internal AI strategy.

(And just a final note: While AI didn’t write the text of this article, I did ask it to propose some headlines, including the one we used.)