AI at Work: Empowering SME Leaders to Innovate
Date: Thursday 21st May 2026
Time: 9am – 12.30pm
Location: Milton Keynes
Artificial intelligence is advancing at an extraordinary pace, but many small and medium-sized organisations are unsure what it really means for their business. Leaders see the headlines and the hype, yet translating that into practical, safe, and cost‑effective action is far from straightforward.
This focused, practical session—designed specifically for SME leaders—follows on from our recent AI webinar. It will help you understand how emerging AI tools can streamline operations, enhance analysis, and support stronger decision‑making across your business.
Why attend:
In the first practical session, strategy consultant and former technology General Manager Jools Abrahams will outline what is happening in AI today, why the current wave of capability differs from previous technology shifts, and what SME leaders can do to stay informed and competitive. His talk will focus on real‑world examples of how AI can support operational productivity, analysis and decision‑making, alongside a simple framework for experimenting with AI in a disciplined and cost‑effective way. The aim is not to promote specific tools, but to help business leaders understand how AI can fit into, and strengthen, their organisational capability.
Delegates will then hear from James Harriman, Founder of verAIfied, a platform that helps organisations efficiently align with established AI frameworks. He will provide insight into the AI compliance requirements facing businesses trading within the EU, including a review of the EU AI Act’s assessment criteria to help organisations demonstrate responsible AI use.
Finally, Dr Ioana Stoica, Senior Marketing Lecturer at the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½, will explore AI as a transformative tool for SME marketing. She will introduce accessible free and paid tools, practical platforms for content generation and marketing automation, and guidance on effective prompt engineering to help businesses achieve the best results.
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Start time: 9.30am End time: 10am (30 mins) |
Activity: Arrival, refreshments and networking |
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Start time: 10am End time: 10.10am (10 mins) |
Item 1| Welcome and a brief event overview
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Start time: 10.10am End time: 11.10am (60 mins) |
Item 2 | Helping SMEs cut through AI noise and take meaningful first steps
Guest Speaker: Jools Abrahams, Founder - Stratimize A focused practical session, following on from the AI at Work webinar, designed for small and medium-sized business leaders who want to understand how emerging AI tools can streamline operations, and strengthen decision-making. The talk will focus on practical examples of how AI can be used for operational productivity, analysis and decision-making, together with a simple framework for experimenting with AI in a disciplined and cost-effective way. The aim is not to promote tools, but to help business leaders understand how they can adopt AI in their business in a safe way to maximise productivity. |
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Start time: 11.10am End time: 11.25am (15 min) |
Item 3 | AI Usage and Awareness
Guest Speaker: James Harriman, Founder - verAIfied This session will explore the UK public's perspective on what AI means to them, why leaders need to be transparent and what impact the EU AI Act will have on UK companies. As the EU AI Act comes into full force, EU-based organisations will need to assess their UK partners and how they are using AI in order to be compliant with the act. We will walk through how the act assesses AI systems in terms of risk, what is required of a modern organisation to be compliant and how to streamline this process. |
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Start time: 11.25am End time: 11.40am (15 min) |
Break |
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Start time: 11.40am End time: 12.15pm (35 min) |
Item 4 | Creating Growth Through Transformation – Welcome to your Growth Strategy In this foundational session, participants will explore what AI is and how it is transforming SME marketing. The session will focus on the capabilities of free versus paid tools, with an emphasis on accessible platforms such as ChatGPT and Canva. Through guided exercises, learners will gain an understanding of AI’s role in content generation, marketing automation, and prompt engineering. Participants will create AI-assisted marketing copy (including social media posts, email snippets, and advertisements) and refine prompts to enhance engagement and performance. Key Learning Objectives:
Interactive Activities:
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Start time: 12.15am End time: 12.25pm (10 mins) |
Item 5 | Q&A Session Opportunity for delegates to ask questions. |
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Start time: 12.25pm End time: 12.30pm (5 mins) |
Item 6 | Closing Remarks & Next Steps
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Guest Speaker Session (10.10am-11.10am): Jools Abrahams, Founder - Stratimize
Jools is an an experienced business strategist, engineer and former General Manager with a long track record of helping companies cut through noise, focus on what matters, and move forward with confidence. She founded Stratimize to offer something different and valuable: practical, senior-level support for businesses that need to refocus their strategy, sharpen their market position, or deliver effective change.
Stratimize offers something different: clear, practical support for businesses that want to refocus their strategy, refine their operations or navigate changing markets. Drawing on the Founder's deep experience of leadership in engineering and technology companies, they specialise in helping companies in technical sectors realign their strategy so they can move forward with confidence.
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Guest Speaker Session (11.10am-11.25am): James Harriman, verAIfied
verAIfied are the UK market leader for AI auditing & reporting that focuses on the human element and impact of AI usage. Specialising in applied AI ethics, their goal is to give assurances to the UK public in how they consume products and services that involve AI. They achieve this by giving companies the means to show that they are using AI responsibly and ethically via a self-audited accreditation mark that links to a transparency report. The accreditation mark shows that an organisation is aligning themselves with established and emerging AI frameworks such as:
- ISO42001
- EU AI Act
- UK Gov AI Framework
This benefits the organisation as it shows current & potential partners/customers in the EU (who are required by law to adhere to the EU AI Act) that their frameworks align and can trade without further barriers, as well as providing assurances to the general public that AI is being used responsibly.
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Guest Speaker Session (11.40am-12.15pm): Dr Ioana Stoica, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½
Ioana is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing and an advocate for a hands-on approach to marketing. As an expert marketing consultant and a researcher, she is interested in new forms of branding, participatory approaches, brand co-creation and place branding. Ioanna has worked with numerous SMEs to help develop and communicate their brands to local, national and international audiences.
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