Week 0

Prework.

Install confirmed, vocabulary in place, before Week 1 starts.

Works.

Why this course exists at all

Every business already has three layers. Most only build one.

Tools and data at the bottom, people and judgment at the top, and an operating layer in between that almost nobody builds. This course builds the middle.

Cold open

Same tool, same task. The difference was what each one was handed first.

Carl gets told to go figure it out and builds his answer on a two-year-stale file. Don gets a map of three labelled folders and finishes the same task right.

It's not a tool problem. It's not a motivation problem.

Codex doesn't know your business, and your team doesn't know Codex. This course closes both gaps, one person's context at a time.

You're not getting a personal Jarvis. You're getting a PhD intern that's never worked a day in its life.

Genuinely capable. Completely new to your business. It won't read your mind, and the rest of this pre-read is about the weird part.

The vocabulary arc

Five terms, in order. Each one builds on the last.

Message and system prompt, tokens, context window, tools, agent. Recognise them when they come up in Week 1, that's the whole bar this week.

The Three Hats

Three roles sit around any install. This course trains the third.

Visionary sees where it should go, Implementer builds the architecture, Operator runs it day to day. You're being trained to run it, not build it.

Levels 1 to 4

Four levels of how people actually use AI. This course installs the fourth.

Chatbot, one long thread, static files that go stale, then dynamic context that stays current as you work. Level 4 is the target.

The four-link chain, a preview

Short sessions only work if something persists between them.

Persistence needs a findable home. That needs a consistent structure. That needs routing that reaches it. Week 1 unpacks this properly, you just need to know it's coming.

Install checklist

Confirm before Week 1

Codex installed and signed in.
SharePoint access confirmed and authed, the brain lives there.
Role connectors authed: Xero for Rob and Steve, Databuild read-only reference for James, Revit and Autodesk stack references for Susan and Michael.
Working folder created, text editor open and known.
Rob's rule: We read from Jack and Databuild once the read-only exports land. We never write into either.

Self-check

Ready for Week 1 when

Open a fresh chat and ask Codex to read a file you just dropped in your folder. If it can, you're installed correctly.
Without looking back at this deck, define message, system prompt, token, context window, tool, and agent in your own words.

Works publishes a free personal AI-OS pack, same mental model, before this course starts.

A legitimate on-ramp if you want to explore early. Nobody who's already run it is behind.

Before Week 1

This week's work

Rob & Steve: get the Xero connector authed and tested.
James: confirm the Databuild read-only reference is accessible.
Susan & Michael: confirm the Revit and Autodesk stack references are accessible.
Everyone: Codex installed and signed in, SharePoint access confirmed, the vocabulary arc read before Week 1.

Exit criteria

You're done when

Codex is installed, signed in, and can read a file from your SharePoint-linked folder.
Your role's connector, Xero, the Databuild reference, or the Revit and Autodesk references, is authed and confirmed.
You can define message, system prompt, token, context window, tool, and agent in your own words.