Design Thinking and AI: TCC Workshop

As part of our continuation of our TCC Professional Series, we welcome you to join us for one or both of our new DESIGN THINKING workshops, facilitated by Riaz Ahmed (Founder of Sailboat Innovation Academy).

Workshop 1: Testing and Validating Business Ideas with Design Thinking and AI

This workshop shows people how to find out whether a business idea is worth pursuing before they spend time or money on it.

Who it's for:

• Aspiring entrepreneurs with an idea they haven't launched
• Side-hustlers and early-stage founders
• Small business owners considering a new product or service
• Newcomers and jobseekers exploring self-employment

No business plan or design background is needed.

What participants will do:

• Turn an idea into a clear statement of who it serves and what problem it solves
• Find the riskiest assumptions behind the idea
• Plan a quick, low-cost test with real customers
• Use AI tools to speed up research, generate customer questions and summarize feedback, while keeping real conversations at the centre of everything they do.
  

What they leave with: A one-page validation plan for their own idea and a certificate of completion.

Workshop 2: Solving Complex Business Challenges with Design Thinking
This workshop teaches working professionals the design thinking process and how to apply it to the messy, complex and multi-stakeholder problems they face at work.

Who it's for:

• Managers, team leaders and project managers
• Professionals in operations, product, HR, marketing and customer service
• Nonprofit and public sector staff
• Small business owners and leaders who manage teams

No design background is needed. Participants are encouraged to bring a real challenge from their workplace.

What participants will do:

• Walk through the five stages of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test
• Reframe a complex challenge so the real problem is clear
• Generate and narrow ideas as a group
• Sketch a simple prototype and plan how to test it with their team or customers

What they leave with: A practical framework to use with their own teams and a certificate of completion.

Br. Riaz Ahmed has spent 10 years helping organizations solve problems with design thinking and innovation methods. These workshops bring that practical, hands-on experience to community members who want to test business ideas or tackle complex challenges at work.