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APEX™ CORE CERTIFICATION PATHWAY · JANUARY 2027 COHORT
Know AI.
Use AI.
Prove AI.
A live online cohort, facilitated on Zoom, that moves experienced professionals from informed understanding to independent application and a real AI integration in their organization. Every tier is earned through assessed work, not attendance.
THE PROGRAM AT A GLANCE
One cohort. Three tiers.
Evidence at every step.
FORMAT
Live online via Zoom, facilitated cohort
SCHEDULE
27 core sessions over 14 weeks, Saturday, January 9 to Saturday, April 10, 2027, plus four Featured Sessions
WEEKLY RHYTHM
Saturdays 9–11 AM ET, plus one weekday session 6–7:30 PM ET, alternating Tuesday and Thursday
INSTRUCTION
24–30 hours, plus a 6–8 week applied project in Tier 3
ENTRY POINT
Everyone begins at Tier 1. No technical background required.
CREDENTIALS
Three stackable CPD-accredited credentials: Aware, Practitioner, Integrator
HOW THE COHORT MEETS
Two sessions a week.
Built around the work.
Each week opens with a Saturday morning session from 9 to 11 AM Eastern, followed by one weekday evening session from 6 to 7:30 PM Eastern. The weekday session alternates between Tuesday and Thursday.
Tiers build on each other. Learners enter at Tier 1 and advance by meeting the standard for each tier, then continue with the same cohort. The January 2027 cohort covers Tiers 1 to 3. Tiers 4 and 5 of the APEX Framework, Leader and Steward, are not part of this cohort.
Four Featured Sessions with guest experts are added on weekday evenings through the cohort, included with enrollment.
Can’t make a session? Let us know in advance and you can watch the replay and still earn credit for the module.
THE CURRICULUM · TIERS 1 TO 3
Earned, tier by tier.
Assessed, not attended.
TIER 1 · WEEKS 1–3
Aware.
Foundational AI literacy: what AI is, how it works, and what it can and cannot do. No prior knowledge or technology prerequisites.
To earn the credential: assessed applied work and a short Knowledge Check. Meets the standard, earns the Aware credential.
MODULE 1
What AI actually is (and isn’t)
A clear, accurate picture of how AI works and where it goes wrong.
Why “AI said so” is never a reason to act.
MODULE 2
Recognizing AI in the wild
Spot the AI already running in the tools you use every day.
You use more AI before lunch than you think.
MODULE 3
The ethics you already have
Four questions to put to any AI system before you trust it.
You don’t need a new moral code for AI. You need the one you already have.
MODULE 4
What AI changes, and what it doesn’t
A personal framework for what to hand to AI and what to keep.
Some tasks get better with AI. Some quietly get worse.
MODULE 5
Talking about AI in plain language
Explain AI accurately to any audience, from the boardroom to the dinner table.
If you can’t explain it simply, your team won’t trust it.
MODULE 6
Your AI learning journey
Pull Tier 1 together and earn the Aware credential.
A letter to your future self, opened at the end of Tier 2.
TIER 2 · WEEKS 4–6
Practitioner.
Independent, intentional AI use: choosing the right tool, prompting well, checking outputs, and building AI into real workflows.
To earn the credential: a practical assessment on real tasks, plus a Problem Statement that becomes your Tier 3 project.
MODULE 1
Choosing the right tool
Match the right AI tool to real tasks from your own work.
The best tool is rarely the one everyone is talking about.
MODULE 2
The art of the prompt
Prompts that get usable results on work you actually need done.
Most bad AI output starts with a vague request.
MODULE 3
Trusting but verifying
A steady habit for catching errors, bias, and misfit before they cost you.
AI is confident. That is not the same as correct.
MODULE 4
AI in your actual life
Build AI into a real workflow and show what it changed.
Where AI saves the most time, and the one step it should never touch.
MODULE 5
Drawing the line
Your own AI ethics principles, tested against a real decision.
Knowing when not to use AI is a skill.
ASSESSMENT
The Task Challenge
Show independent, intentional AI use and earn the Practitioner credential.
Real tasks. Your tools. Your judgment.
TIER 3 · WEEKS 7–14
Integrator.
Designing and leading AI adoption for others. Each learner delivers a Minimum Viable Integration (MVI): a scoped, real project completed within the 8-week tier.
To earn the credential: a completed, documented integration with real users, presented at the MVI Showcase.
MODULE 1
From problem to project
Turn a real problem into an AI project you can finish in eight weeks.
Big AI ambitions stall. Minimum viable ones ship.
MODULE 2
Bringing people with you
Plan for resistance so adoption is shared, not imposed.
The hardest part of AI adoption is never the technology.
MODULE 3
Building it so others can use it
An AI workflow someone else can run without you.
If it only works when you’re in the room, it doesn’t work.
MODULE 4
Honest accounting
Measure what changed, and name the risks and who could be left out.
The most credible impact report includes what didn’t work.
MODULE 5
Sharing what you built
Present a finished integration to a real audience at the MVI Showcase.
April 10: you present real results, not a plan.
STUDIO
MVI studio sessions
Weekly working sessions keep every project moving, with facilitator and peer review.
Nobody builds alone.
FEATURED SESSIONS · INCLUDED WITH ENROLLMENT
Four bonus sessions.
On what’s happening now.
Alongside the core curriculum, the cohort gets four Featured Sessions with guest experts on current topics: live builds, new tools, and the questions leaders are facing right now. Weekday evenings, 6–7:30 PM ET. Speakers are announced as the cohort runs.
Build your AI clone
A hands-on session on creating an AI version of your own expertise. Your knowledge, working when you’re not.
AI in the headlines
A featured guest on the AI developments that matter right now. What the news means for your work this quarter.
Leading in the AI moment
A featured leader on putting AI to work inside a real organization. Straight talk from someone doing it.
VALUE $1,500+ · INCLUDED FREE WITH ENROLLMENT
The full curriculum: what you see here is the outline. Accepted learners receive the complete session-by-session guide, activities, and assessment briefs with their invitation.
HOW APEX ASSESSES
The assessment is the work.
Learners show what they can do with AI in their own context, and every artifact is scored on the same four-level rubric. Meets on every criterion earns the tier. Work scored Developing receives facilitator feedback and a chance to revise.
From Tier 3, every assessment includes an Equity and Risk Review: who benefits, who could be excluded or harmed, and what is being done about it.
1Beginning
Starting out. The work does not yet meet the standard.
2Developing
Close, with facilitator feedback and a chance to revise.
3 · THRESHOLDMeets
The standard. Meets on every criterion earns the tier.
4Exceeds
Beyond the standard, with evidence to show it.
WHO THIS COHORT IS FOR
One standard.
Three reasons to act.
01
Corporate decision makers
Your people know the business. APEX gives you a shared assessment scale and documented evidence of your team’s AI capability.
02
Business owners
Apply AI to real tasks, evaluate the results, and build evidence of what works through the Task Challenge and integration documentation.
03
Experienced professionals
Continuing professional development that builds on the experience you already have and ends in documented integration work.
WHO LEADS THE COHORT
Lori Holt.
Creator of APEX.
CO-FOUNDER, ALECAM · ENTERPRISE OPERATOR · AI WORKFORCE STRATEGIST
Nearly three decades translating strategy into operating performance across Fortune 15, private-equity, nonprofit, and entrepreneurial organizations. Her work now sits at the intersection of AI capability, governance, workforce transformation, and operating execution.
Creator, APEX™3x Chief Operating OfficerLean Six Sigma Master Black Belt
ACCREDITATION
CPD accredited.
Recognized for your development.
APEX is accredited by The CPD Standards Office under Novelle & Associates, CPD Provider 51009, for 2026 to 2030.
Each tier you complete earns a CPD-accredited credential: Aware, Practitioner and Integrator.
JOINING THE JANUARY 2027 COHORT
By application.
Read personally.
Admission is by application and review, and every application is read personally.
Request a January 2027 cohort invitation →Request an invitation
Request a January 2027 cohort invitation, as an individual or on behalf of a team.
Application review
Your application is reviewed for fit.
Confirm your place
Once accepted, confirm your place and choose to pay in full or in three payments. All sales are final. Tuition is non-refundable. If you withdraw at any point, the full tuition is due immediately, including any remaining payments.
Get oriented
Receive your confirmation, the full session-by-session guide, and Week 1 orientation details.
TUITION
Provided with your invitation, covering all three tiers
PAYMENT
In full, or in three payments
GROUPS OF MORE THAN 10
Organizations registering more than 10 learners receive a group rate
ENROLLMENT TIMETABLE
Shared with your January 2027 cohort invitation
REFUNDS AND WITHDRAWAL
All sales are final. Tuition is non-refundable. If you withdraw at any point, the full tuition is due immediately, including any remaining payments.
QUESTIONS
Before you apply.
The short answers.
Can I get a refund?
No. All sales are final. Tuition is non-refundable. If you withdraw at any point, the full tuition is due immediately, including any remaining payments. Because admission is by application, you will know the dates, schedule and tuition before you pay anything.
What if I miss a session?
Let us know in advance and you can watch the replay and still earn credit for the module.
How much time does it take each week?
About three and a half hours of live sessions: Saturdays 9–11 AM ET, plus one weekday evening 6–7:30 PM ET, alternating Tuesday and Thursday. Four Featured Sessions are added on weekday evenings across the cohort. In Tier 3, plan extra time for your applied project, a real integration you complete over 6–8 weeks.
What do I need to take part?
APEX is fully online. Every session runs live on Zoom, so you need a computer with Zoom and a reliable internet connection.
What is the credential recognized for?
Each tier you complete earns a CPD-accredited credential: Aware, Practitioner and Integrator. APEX is accredited by The CPD Standards Office under Novelle & Associates, CPD Provider 51009, for 2026 to 2030.
What comes after Integrator?
The January 2027 cohort covers Tiers 1 to 3. Tiers 4 and 5 of the APEX Framework, Leader and Steward, are not part of this cohort.
REQUEST A JANUARY 2027 COHORT INVITATION
Start with
the work you want to do.
Tell us about yourself, or about the team you want to develop. Every application is reviewed before an invitation is extended.
THE PROOF IS IN THE WORK.
Questions first: hello@alecamai.com