On site, if the team can get in one room. Remote, if they cannot. Either way the day has to end with a decision, and the format should be chosen for that.
Should an AI workshop be on site or remote?
How the formats compare:
- On site. The work goes on the wall on paper, people walk around, and the quiet ones talk. Best for the one-day applied workshop and the two-day version with maps. Included anywhere in the Twin Cities.
- Remote. A shared board on screen, cameras on, shorter blocks. Best for AI 101, for teams spread across states, and for a follow-up session after an on-site day.
- Mixed. Most of the team in a room, a few people on a screen. The hardest format to run well. The people on the screen end up watching.
The sizes are $1,500 for a half day, $3,500 for a day, and $6,500 for two days with workflow maps and a plan.
Why does on site work better for the full day?
Because the hard part of the day is getting people to say where their hours go. In a room, with their own work printed on the wall, people point at things and say "that one, every Tuesday." On a video call, the same people wait to be called on.
What happens in a one-day AI workshop walks through the day, and most of it is people standing at a wall.
When is remote the right call?
- The team is spread out. Flying everyone in costs more than the workshop.
- It is the AI 101 half day. Teaching the tools on people's own screens works fine remote.
- It is a follow-up. After an on-site day, a remote check-in a month later is enough to see what got done.
How do I make a remote workshop work?
- Split it into shorter blocks across two days instead of one long day on camera.
- Cameras on, one person per screen, no conference room full of people on one laptop.
- Send the intake survey early so the work is already on the board when the session starts.
- Pick one decision-maker who is present the whole time.
What should I not do?
Do not run the full applied workshop as an all-day video call. People drift by early afternoon, and the ranking in the last hour is the part that matters. And do not do the mixed format unless you have to.
Sizes and prices are on the workshop page, and what an AI workshop costs has what is included. Tell me where your people are on the start form, and I will suggest the format.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.