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Hello, hello! 👋🏻
The holidays are coming. You'll have some downtime. I put this list of FREE AI courses together for my students.
I've tested dozens of them. These 10 are the ones that actually matter for marketers, ranked from "I've never touched AI" to "I want to build things."
🟢 Beginner: Get Your Foundation
1. Google AI Essentials
Time: 2-3 hours | Best for: Complete beginners
The perfect starting point. Covers how generative AI actually works and practical applications for content creation, brainstorming, and automation. No tech jargon. Earnable badge for LinkedIn.
2. OpenAI Academy: ChatGPT at Work
Time: 5-8 hours | Best for: Daily ChatGPT users
Includes "Market Research with ChatGPT"—specifically designed for competitor analysis and customer insights. Video lessons run 2-20 minutes, so you can squeeze them between meetings.
3. Anthropic's AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations
Time: 3-4 hours | Best for: Claude users, ethical AI understanding
Launched May 2025. Teaches how to collaborate with AI tools effectively—plus covers limitations and ethical use. LinkedIn-shareable certification.
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🟡 Intermediate: Apply to Real Work
4. Google's Generative AI Leader
Time: 1hr each | Best for: Marketing Managers leading AI adoption
This one's for marketers who need to go beyond chatbots. On-demand courses take you from Gen AI overview to organizational transformation. Hands-on exercises with Gemini Advanced, NotebookLM, and Google AI Studio. Perfect for building your "AI fluency".
5. Microsoft's Prompts for Microsoft 365 Suite
Time: 2-3 hours | Best for: Copilot users
How to draft marketing emails, analyze campaign data, and create customer segments in minutes. Practical and immediately applicable.
6. Using Google Workspace with Gemini
Time: 8-10 hours (8 courses) | Best for: Google Workspace users
Covers Gemini across Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Each course is 20-27 minutes. Build dashboards, personalized email campaigns, and data-driven presentations.
7. OpenAI Academy: Custom GPT’s
Time: 1 hour | Best for: Growth marketers, strategists
Hands-on project: build your first GPT to handle repeatable work. You leave with work done, not just theory.
🔴 Advanced: Build & Scale
8. Anthropic's Claude Code
Time: 4 hours | Best for: Marketing technologists
Build custom AI tools—content generators, chatbots, automation workflows. Bridges no-code and technical implementation.
9. OpenAI's Building Agents Track
Time: 3-5 hours | Best for: Automation-obsessed marketers
This is where AI gets exciting. Learn to build AI agents that can execute multi-step workflows autonomously, think automated competitor monitoring, content pipelines, or lead qualification systems that run while you sleep. The future of marketing automation starts here.
10. Microsoft's Transform Your Business with AI
Time: 3 hours | Best for: Marketing leaders
Strategy-focused: AI governance, measuring ROI, scaling adoption across teams. Built for senior execs who need to lead AI transformation.
Pick ONE course. Block 2 hours this week. Complete it over your holiday break.
Gif by stefanieshank on Giphy
That's it. One course. Two hours. A smarter you.
Most marketers will bookmark this and do nothing. Don't be one of them.
Cheers,
Alec
P.S. Need a course for the AI skeptic in your life. Try this.
