Are You AI Ready?

Are You AI Ready is a 6-week programme designed to help you build confidence in understanding what AI is and how it can help you. Participants will embark on a beginner-friendly Cisco Networking Academy course, connect with AI experts from industry and academia, and have the opportunity to compete for exciting prizes.

Week 1 (03/02/25-09/02/25) Course Material: Module 1 (Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Models) 

     Webinar Topic: Welcome to Are You AI Ready 

     Webinar Speaker: Pete Rai, Principal Engineer, Cisco 

     Webinar Date: 05/02/25 at 17:00-18:00 GMT

     Webinar Recording:   https://cisco.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/cisco/recording/playback/a38af79dc610103daf9fdaa2738eb4b9 (password: mTXmadM5)

Week 2 (10/02/25-16/02/25) Course Material: Module 2 (Computer Vision) and Module 3 (Machine Translation) 

    Webinar Topic: AI in Academia 

    Webinar Speaker: Mike Richards, Senior Academic at the Open University 

     Webinar Date: 12/02/25 at 17:00-18:00 GMT

    Webinar Recording: https://cisco.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/cisco/recording/playback/e85acf47cb90103dbbb74aa56eb1cdce (password: 2tHDsG95)

Week 3 (17/02/25-23/02/25) Course Topic: Module 4 (Chatbots Overview)

     Webinar Topic: How Cisco Engineers Use GenAI 

     Webinar Speaker: Austin Bayley, Software Engineer, Cisco 

     Webinar Date: 19/02/25 at 17:00-18:00 GMT

     Webinar Recording: https://cisco.webex.com/recordingservice/sites/cisco/recording/playback/0430a734d111103d94fe763ed99cab2d (password: pUeEAWc8)

Week 4 (24/02/25-02/03/25) Course Topic: Module 5 (Chatbots Utilisation) 

      Webinar Topic: AI and Cisco Webex 

     Webinar Speaker: Zaheer Merali, Principal Software Engineer, Cisco Webex 

     Webinar Date: 26/02/25 at 17:00-18:00 GMT

     Webinar Recording: https://cisco.webex.com/cisco/ldr.php?RCID=f5aea9cc5934784ebb2c925a2f3ff23c (Password: Nzh2YMQy)

Week 5 (03/03/25-09/03/25) Course Topic: Module 5 (Key Terminology) and Project 

     Webinar Topic: AI and Cybersecurity  

     Webinar Speaker: Fred Mpala, CISO 

     Webinar Date: 05/03/25 at 17:00-18:00 GMT

     Webinar Recording: https://cisco.webex.com/cisco/ldr.php?RCID=e02ddfc3a3de12be19f1a4d7295ad580 (Password: 25hJUavW )

Week 6 (10/03/25-16/03/25) Course Topic: Project Work & Presentations

Please note that the webinars will be held on Webex. The webinars will be recorded, however you are encouraged to attend live as you will have the opportunity to ask the speakers' questions and engage in live session activities as well as competing for prizes.

Weekly Competition

Each week, there will be a short quiz at the end of the webinar. The quiz will be based off the topics covered in the Introduction to AI course for that week. Participants must answer the questions as quickly as possible and get as many correct as possible. The winner will receive Cisco merch, delivered to their home or school/college/university address.

Project-Based Competition

At the end of Are You AI Ready, participants will have the opportunity to enter a project-based competition. Participants will receive a project brief and have 2 weeks to prepare a presentation related to the brief. Successful participants will progress to the next stage; a live presentation in front of four judges. The judges will chose their winner based on six criteria: feasibility, scalability, inclusivity, relevance, impact, and presentation skills. The winner will receive additional Cisco merch and a visit to their school/college/university from Cisco, where volunteers will lead an AI-themed activity. Enrol in the programme for additional information closer to the time (March).