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AI Economics Hub
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AI Economics Foundations

A free, self-paced course in how AI cost, value and investment decisions fit together. Six modules, practical exercises with the tools on this site, and an assessed certificate you can add to LinkedIn.

8 to 10 hoursNo account neededVendor-neutral

The modules

Take them in order. Each has a short argument, three or four readings from this site, one exercise with a live tool and five practice questions.

  1. 1Why AI economics is differentWhy AI cost is easy to see and AI value is hard to prove, and the chain that connects a token to a business outcome.About 75 minutes
  2. 2What AI really costsThe full cost of an AI capability across seven layers, why the model invoice is the smallest visible part, and how to price inference and test self-hosting.About 90 minutes
  3. 3Allocating and reporting AI costWho pays for shared AI capacity, including the hours it sits idle, which buying levers to pull in which order, and how to carry AI charges in FOCUS today.About 75 minutes
  4. 4Measuring AI valueHow to turn a change in work into a defensible value claim: baseline, quality floor, net, convert and book, and how strong the evidence is.About 90 minutes
  5. 5Building the business caseWhat finance needs before it accepts an AI case: a measured baseline, a conversion mechanism, a full cost denominator, the finance tests and stress-tested assumptions.About 90 minutes
  6. 6Governing the portfolioHow to end every review in scale, hold, redesign or stop, match the proof to the money, write stop rules before spending, and share ownership across roles.About 75 minutes
  7. Capstone and examApply the course to a case with your own numbers, write the investment memo for your role, and sit the final exam.2 to 3 hours

How the certificate works

  • Final exam: 30 scenario questions drawn at random, 45 minutes, pass mark 75%.
  • Capstone:a case with figures unique to you. Run it through the site's tools and the Lab, submit your figures, and write a short investment memo for your role.
  • Certificate: an image to download, a verification link that anyone can check, and a button that adds it to the Licences and certifications section of your LinkedIn profile.
  • Valid for 2 years, because AI prices and practice move quickly. Renewal is a short refresher on what has changed.

This is an assessed certificate of achievement from AI Economics Hub. It is not an accredited or proctored professional certification, and it does not teach or favour any vendor's products.

One course, four lenses

Everyone takes the same six modules. At the capstone you choose the lens that matches your work, and write the memo your role would actually produce.

Finance

CFOs, finance business partners, FP&A and investment committee members.

Capstone: An investment memo with finance treatment, payback, scenarios and stop criteria.

Focus: Modules 2 and 5 · The cost denominator · NPV, payback and accounting treatment

Technology leadership

CIOs, CAIOs, CTOs, platform and architecture leaders.

Capstone: A portfolio decision across three initiatives, with the operating model to run it.

Focus: Modules 4 and 6 · Workload identity and instrumentation · Scale, hold, redesign or stop

FinOps and TBM

FinOps leaders and practitioners, TBM and ITFM practitioners.

Capstone: A cost allocation and cost per outcome analysis for a shared AI platform.

Focus: Modules 2 and 3 · Allocation and idle capacity · Unit cost to cost per outcome

Advisor

Consultants, partners and transformation advisors working with clients.

Capstone: A client recommendation pack: diagnosis, decision and next 90 days.

Focus: Modules 1 and 6 · The CFO's questions · Evidence and the next commitment