How to Convince Your Boss the Smartest AI Investment Is You

Author(s): Towards AI Editorial Team

Originally published on Towards AI.

Make your case to upskill — and help your company stay ahead.

Everyone’s being told to “do something with AI.”

Most teams are still waiting for consultants, approvals, or someone who knows how.

If your team needs AI capability, hiring isn’t the fastest route.

Training you is.

We show you how. Towards AI trains professionals to become that someone. You’ll learn to automate workflows, build internal copilots, and ship real projects — fast.

If cost is what’s holding you back from starting with our courses, we’ve made it easier to say yes.

First, students get 50% off (just message us at louis@towardsai.net).

Second, if you’re working, this email will help you make the case to your employer to pay for it.

Right now, AI isn’t replacing people — it’s amplifying the ones who know how to use it. And leadership is already paying attention:

• 79% of business leaders say adopting AI is critical to staying competitive.
• 92% of companies plan to increase their AI budgets this year.
• 74% of investors are urging businesses to invest in both AI and workforce skills, not one or the other.

The signal is clear: AI is a priority, and so are people who know how to use it.

Now’s your chance to make the case that the right person to invest in… is you.

Know Your Goals? Choose Your Path

If multiple courses sound interesting to you, check out our bundle offers here!

Why Towards AI Courses?

When you’re asking your manager to invest in training, it needs to be more than interesting — it needs to be applicable, fast, and valuable to the team.

Here’s what makes our courses different:

If your manager asks, “Why this company?”, here’s what you can say:

“Towards AI has taught AI to over 500,000 people since 2019 — including developers, analysts, and execs at top tech companies. The same team behind these courses also works with enterprise clients who pay $50,000+ to implement AI systems. So I’m not just learning theory — I’m learning the exact tools and workflows companies are using in production.”

You could also add:

“What stood out to me is how practical and applied it is. It’s not a bunch of fluff. The course is built for people like me to actually build things, automate work, and use AI at a level that moves business forward.”

And if they want to hear what the industry says:

“The most comprehensive textbook to date on building LLM apps.” — Jerry Liu, LlamaIndex

“An indispensable guide — demystifies complex concepts and makes them actionable.” — Shashank Kalanithi, Data Engineer at Meta

“A resource I’ll return to again and again, no matter how fast the AI landscape shifts.” — Tina Huang, Lonely Octopus

“An incredible survey of all the real-world problems one encounters when trying to productionize an LLM” — Nick Singh, DataLemur

And if you’re wondering what you actually get out of this, here’s what makes the training worth your time (and your manager’s budget):

✅ You’ll solve real problems your team actually faces

Whether you’re buried in repetitive reporting, handling too many support tickets, or constantly chasing down data, this training shows you how to use AI to streamline those workflows. Not in theory. In code. In production.

✅ You’ll learn from people building these systems inside companies

The instructors aren’t just teachers — they’re the same people companies hire to automate operations, build copilots, and deploy GenAI tools. You get to borrow their playbooks and apply them to your own work.

✅ You’ll build things you can show your manager

Instead of vague certificates, you’ll walk away with working prototypes — chatbots, automations, copilots — things you can plug into team processes or pitch as internal projects. That makes your case for reimbursement a lot easier.

✅ You’ll get help as you build

When you hit a blocker, you’re not alone. The private Discord gives you direct access to engineers, product leads, and instructors solving similar problems. It’s a space for feedback, ideas, and answers when you’re stuck.

✅ You’ll stay sharp without burning out

The course is self-paced, so you can move around your work schedule. And you keep access to updates as the tools change — no need to relearn things six months from now.

🧠 Bottom line: If you want to move faster at work, automate smarter, and make a visible impact with AI, this training gives you the tools, guidance, and support to make that happen.

🎯 How to Make the Business Case: A Proven Playbook

You’re not just asking to take a course — you’re proposing a high-ROI investment in the capability your team needs.

Here’s how to make it clear, compelling, and easy to say yes to:

Step 1: Link learning to team or company goals

What pressing challenges or priorities does this help solve?

Frame it in terms of speed, efficiency, innovation, or competitive edge.

“This course will help me automate [X process], freeing up [Y hours] per week.”

“I’ll be able to build a prototype that helps us evaluate GenAI internally — without external vendor costs.”

Step 2: Show the return on investment

Most of our courses cost less than two hours of an AI consultant’s time.

In return, your manager gains ongoing in-house capability that scales across projects.

“For under $300, we get skills that typically cost $5K+ via outside support.”

“Instead of waiting weeks for help, we’ll have internal expertise ready to deploy.”

Step 3: Make the next step easy

Use the ready-to-send email templates below to frame the value, request budget approval, and highlight the benefit to your team.

Bonus tip: Offer to document your learnings, demo results, or share insights with others — it signals leadership and multiplies value.

🧠 Remember: Framing this as a business enabler, not a personal development ask, is what turns a maybe into a yes.

📬 Email Templates by Role

Pick the version that fits your role and course, personalize it, and forward it to your manager.

👩‍💼 Aspiring AI Builder (Beginner-Friendly)

Course: Python for GenAI — $149

You’ll bring: The ability to build simple AI tools and automations from scratch, even without a coding background.

Template:

Hi [Manager’s Name],

I’d like to request support to take a short course called Python for GenAI from Towards AI. It’s designed for beginners and focuses on learning Python specifically to build AI tools — something I’m eager to start applying in our work.

I’ll come away with the skills to prototype simple AI-powered tools, automate repetitive tasks, and explore ways to speed up workflows using tools like OpenAI. It’s very hands-on, and by the end I’ll be able to build usable solutions — not just understand the concepts.

I think this could help us explore faster ways to [mention project or process area, e.g. generate reports, summarize documents, support customer queries, etc.], and I’m happy to share back anything I build.

The course is $149 — could we apply that to our learning budget?

Thanks,

[Your Name]

👨‍💼 Developer / Tech Lead

Course: Beginner to Advanced LLM Development — $349

You’ll bring: In-house capability to build, evaluate, and deploy LLM features that move the business forward.

Template:

Hi [Manager’s Name],

I’d like to take a course on LLM development from Towards AI that would help us move faster and more confidently on AI-driven features — without needing to rely on outside vendors or contractors.

It’s focused on real-world application: building with LLMs, evaluating outputs, and deploying features that integrate with our existing tools. With this training, I’d be able to contribute more directly to [mention product/team goal], and help us explore what’s feasible internally before we invest externally.

I see this as a way to reduce experimentation time and build the kind of internal capability we’ll need as more teams start looking at AI use cases. The course is $349, and I’d be happy to share outcomes or do a short internal walkthrough afterward.

Would this be something we could cover under our learning or team development budget?

Thanks,

[Your Name]

👩‍💼 Business Professional / Product / Ops

Course: 10-Hour LLM Primer — $199

You’ll bring: Smarter workflows, better research, automated reports, and AI fluency.

Template:

Hi [Manager’s Name],

I came across a focused GenAI course that teaches non-technical professionals how to apply AI to real workflows — content, research, analysis, and automation.

The course is just 10 hours long and costs $199. I believe it could help me [reduce reporting time by X%, automate repetitive tasks, or improve turnaround for client deliverables].

Would you be open to using PD budget to cover this? I’ll bring back concrete use cases for our team.

Best,

[Your Name]

🧑‍🏫 Strategy, Leadership, Consulting

Course: AI for Business Professionals — $399

You’ll bring: Strategic clarity, risk assessment, and high-leverage AI use cases.

Template:

Hi [Manager’s Name],

I’d like to take a short course from Towards AI on how AI is reshaping strategy, operations, and talent. It focuses on GenAI’s impact at the business level — helping leaders make smart, risk-aware decisions.

It’s $399 and would give me stronger footing in conversations around vendor tools, internal AI planning, and org-wide transformation.

May I use PD budget for this? I’ll condense key learnings and apply them to our current strategic planning work.

Thanks,

[Your Name]

You’ve got the business case. You’ve got the course. You’ve even got the email.

Now it’s just one step: send it.

Whether you want to build tools, lead strategy, or simply work smarter with AI, this is how it starts. Not by waiting for someone else to figure it out, but by showing you’re ready to lead.

Choose your course. Make the ask. And take the lead.

Check out all our offerings here

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Published via Towards AI