Digital transformation is not achieved simply by introducing new technologies. It happens when people have the confidence, skills and judgment to use digital and AI tools effectively — and can translate those capabilities into better ways of working.

Digital and AI Skills for Organizational Development is a practical online programme that connects individual digital capability with organizational improvement. Participants strengthen their digital fluency, AI literacy and human capabilities for the digital workplace, and immediately apply them to their own tasks, workflows and organizational challenges.

The programme goes beyond learning how to use AI. It brings together digital tools, data, communication, collaboration, workflow improvement and attention management as an integrated set of capabilities for working effectively in an increasingly digital environment. Participants learn to identify where technology can simplify work, improve information flows, strengthen collaboration, reduce repetitive tasks and support better organizational performance.

Throughout the programme, one question connects all seven modules: How can I use this in my own work — and what does it reveal about how my organization could work differently?

Digital skills are the means. Organizational development is the purpose.

    The programme is organized around seven interconnected learning areas:

• Working in a digitally transformed workplace — Understand how digitisation, digitalisation and AI-enabled work are reshaping organizations, roles, collaboration, organizational learning and service delivery.
• Working effectively with AI — Develop strong prompting and verification practices, custom chatbots and explore structured collaboration, delegation, AI-supported workflows and emerging agents. Learn what can be delegated, what needs to be verified and what should remain human.
• Communication, meetings and information — Use digital and AI tools to improve professional communication, meeting documentation, translation and localisation, and the management of information across virtual and hybrid teams.
• Collaboration, workflows and projects — Map processes, identify bottlenecks and handoff problems, clarify responsibilities and develop realistic plans. Assess where conventional digital tools, automation, AI or agentic approaches can improve workflows.
• Managing data and working with spreadsheets — Build reliable tracking systems, improve data quality and version control, use spreadsheets more effectively and work with AI to generate formulas, troubleshoot problems and support analysis while maintaining human validation.
• From information to insight — Structure qualitative information, identify themes and patterns, compare findings and transform evidence into clear insights for different stakeholders.
• Attention, overload and designing digital work — Understand context switching, continuous partial attention, deep and shallow work, the attention economy, and the risks of over-reliance on AI, including deskilling, reduced critical thinking and cognitive dependency. Develop digital and AI practices that reduce cognitive load while preserving human judgment, attention, learning and professional capabilities.

The course is designed around participants' real work. Rather than learning digital tools through isolated technology exercises, participants apply methods and tools directly to tasks, workflows and challenges from their own professional context.

The learning experience combines seven self-paced modules, practical exercises and knowledge checks with a weekly 90-minute live session for discussion, problem-solving and peer learning. Reflective assignments help you apply each week's learning to your own work, while ITCILO experts provide feedback, coaching and guidance throughout the programme.

A central feature of the programme is your Organizational Innovation Challenge. During the seven weeks, you will progressively examine a real workplace challenge or opportunity and develop a practical idea for improving how work is done. This could involve a fragmented workflow, repetitive administrative work, information or data-quality problems, collaboration across teams, digital overload or an opportunity for responsible AI-supported redesign.

You should expect to dedicate approximately 7.5 hours per week to the programme.

AI can now draft, analyse, summarise, compare and organize information and increasingly support multi-step work. But organizations still face fragmented workflows, information overload, uneven data practices, repetitive tasks and difficult collaboration environments.

The challenge is therefore no longer simply to learn new tools. Professionals need to know which tools to use, when to use them, what to delegate, what to verify and what should remain human. They also need to understand how digital and AI-enabled approaches can improve the wider systems and processes in which they work.

This programme will help you:

• build practical confidence with digital and AI tools;
• apply new capabilities immediately to your own work;
• improve how you communicate, collaborate, manage information and work with data;
• identify opportunities to simplify workflows and reduce repetitive work;
• use AI responsibly, with appropriate verification, confidentiality and human oversight;
• strengthen human capabilities such as judgment, attention, communication and adaptability; and
• develop the perspective to contribute to digital transformation and organizational innovation beyond your individual role.

By the end of the programme, you will have a stronger digital toolkit, greater confidence working with AI and data, and a clearer understanding of where practical changes could improve how work gets done in your organization.

This programme is designed for professionals in public institutions, employers’ and workers’ organizations, international organizations, development agencies, NGOs and other mission-driven organizations who want to strengthen organizational effectiveness through better digital and AI-enabled ways of working.

It is particularly relevant for programme and project professionals; administrative and operational staff; staff in coordination and support functions; managers and team leaders; human resources and learning professionals; knowledge management and organizational development specialists; and staff involved in digitalization, process improvement or organizational change.

No advanced technical or AI expertise is required.

This is more than an AI course. It starts with your real work and organizational context and treats digital tools, AI, data, communication, collaboration, workflow methods and human capabilities as part of one integrated capability set.

The programme connects individual learning with organizational development. Participants do not only learn to work more effectively themselves: they learn to recognize, test and communicate opportunities for better ways of working that can potentially be shared and scaled across teams, units and organizational processes.

AI is approached responsibly throughout the programme, with particular attention to verification, confidentiality, human oversight and clear boundaries for delegation.