Curated Course

The Ultimate FREE Generative AI Course for Professionals

A 50-day non-technical roadmap for professionals and operators to master Generative AI at work — using only free, hand-verified resources. Day-by-day topics, time, priority, and curated links.

Go from AI-curious to AI-fluent at work — no coding, 100% free, every link hand-verified. Built for operators, managers and ambitious professionals (not engineers). Follow it as a 50-day plan, or jump to any topic.

What's inside: curated YouTube tutorials, official docs, free courses, glossaries and newsletters — organized by day, time needed, and priority. 50 topics · 50-day plan · ~180 hand-checked free links.

Free capstone course: Generative AI for Beginners — Microsoft (21 free lessons, no signup)

The 50-Day Roadmap

TopicDayTimePriorityResources
What Is AI, ML & Generative AI?11 hr🔴 High▶️ AI, ML & GenAI Explained — IBM · 🎓 Elements of AI (Free) — U. Helsinki · 📄 What Is Generative AI? — IBM · 🎓 GenAI for Beginners — Microsoft
How LLMs Actually Work (No Math)22 hr🔴 High▶️ How LLMs Work — IBM · ▶️ Why So Many Foundation Models? — IBM · 📄 What Are LLMs? — IBM
The AI Tool Landscape (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)31 hr🔴 High▶️ Which AI Is Worth It? — YouTube · 📄 ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini — MindStudio · 📄 Which AI for Which Job — Tom's Guide · 📄 Claude for Beginners — Ruben Hassid
What AI Can & Can't Do (+ Hallucinations)41 hr🔴 High▶️ Why LLMs Hallucinate — IBM · 📄 What Are AI Hallucinations? — IBM · 📄 Why AIs Make Things Up — The Conversation · 📄 Why Chatbots Hallucinate — CNBC
AI Terminology A–Z for Professionals52 hr🟠 Medium📕 GenAI Glossary — Google Cloud · 📕 GenAI Glossary — MIT Sloan · 📄 A–Z of AI Terms — Charity Digital · 📕 Glossary of AI — Wikipedia
The AI Boom: History & Timeline61 hr🟢 Low▶️ GenAI for Everyone (Andrew Ng) — YouTube · 📄 History of AI: Turing to ChatGPT — TECHi · 📄 A Brief History of AI — Planview · 🎧 Hard Fork — Apple Podcasts
AI Ethics, Bias & Responsible Use72 hr🔴 High📄 What Is AI Ethics? — IBM · 📄 What Is AI Bias? — IBM · 📄 5 Principles of AI Ethics — Prolific
Prompt Engineering Fundamentals82 hr🔴 High▶️ Prompt Engineering Basics — IBM · 🎓 Interactive Prompt Tutorial — Anthropic · 📰 One Useful Thing — Ethan Mollick
Prompt Frameworks (Role · Context · Task · Format)92 hr🔴 High▶️ The Perfect Prompt Formula — Jeff Su · 📄 RTF Framework — Fabio Vivas · 📄 Prompt Examples — DAIR · 🎓 Beginner's Guide — Learn Prompting
Few-Shot & Chain-of-Thought Prompting102 hr🔴 High▶️ Chain-of-Thought Explained — YouTube · 📄 Few-Shot Prompting — DAIR · 📄 Chain-of-Thought — DAIR · 📄 What Is Few-Shot? — IBM
System Prompts & Custom Instructions111 hr🟠 Medium🎓 Customizing ChatGPT — OpenAI Academy · 📄 Custom Instructions — OpenAI · 📄 Custom Instructions Help — OpenAI
Fixing Bad Outputs (Common Mistakes)121 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Prompt Engineering Secrets — IBM · 📄 5 Common Mistakes — Act · 📄 Mistakes & Fixes — God of Prompt · 📄 Prompt Best Practices — OpenAI
Prompt Libraries & Reusable Templates131 hr🟠 Medium📄 Prompt Library — Anthropic · 📄 Templates & Variables — Anthropic · 📕 Gemini Workspace Prompt Guide — Google
Iterating & Refining for Better Answers141 hr🟠 Medium📰 A Guide to Prompting AI — Mollick · 📰 Two Paths to Prompting — Mollick · 📄 Refining Prompts — NewMR
Advanced Prompting (Meta-Prompting & Chaining)152 hr🟠 Medium📄 Meta Prompting — DAIR · 📄 Prompt Chaining — DAIR · 📄 What Is Meta Prompting? — IBM · 🎓 ChatGPT Prompt Engineering — DeepLearning.AI
AI for Writing & Editing162 hr🔴 High📄 AI for Professionals — Jeff Su · 📰 Using AI Right Now — Mollick · 📕 Gemini Workspace Prompt Guide — Google
AI for Research & Summarization172 hr🔴 High▶️ Learn 80% of NotebookLM — Jeff Su · ▶️ Perplexity for Beginners — YouTube · 📄 NotebookLM Guide — Jeff Su · 📰 Four Singularities for Research — Mollick
AI for Data & Spreadsheets (Excel/Sheets)182 hr🔴 High▶️ ChatGPT Builds Excel Formulas — YouTube · ▶️ Gemini in Google Sheets — YouTube · 📄 ChatGPT for Excel & Sheets — OpenAI · 📄 Best AI Tools for Excel — HubSpot
AI for Presentations & Slides191 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Build Slides with Gamma — YouTube · 📄 Copilot in PowerPoint — Microsoft · 📄 Create with Copilot — Microsoft · 📕 AI Presentation Guide — HubSpot
AI for Meetings & Note-Taking201 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Free AI Notetaker (Fathom) — YouTube · ▶️ Fathom Full Tutorial — YouTube · 📄 Otter Quick Start — Otter.ai · 📄 Copilot in Teams Meetings — Microsoft
AI for Brainstorming & Decisions211 hr🟠 Medium▶️ AI Brainstorming Strategy — YouTube · ▶️ Custom GPTs for Decisions — YouTube · 📄 Brainstorming with ChatGPT — OpenAI
AI for Learning & Knowledge (NotebookLM)221 hr🟢 Low▶️ NotebookLM Full Tutorial — YouTube · 📄 Get Started with NotebookLM — Google · 📄 Audio Overviews — Google · 📄 Master Any Subject — Google
Build Your Personal AI Productivity Stack232 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Simple Productivity System — Jeff Su · ▶️ Second Brain with AI — Tiago Forte · 🎓 OpenAI Academy (Free) — OpenAI
ChatGPT Deep Dive (GPTs, Projects)242 hr🔴 High▶️ ChatGPT Projects Deep Dive — YouTube · ▶️ Custom GPTs & Projects Guide — YouTube · 📄 Creating & Editing GPTs — OpenAI · 🎓 Using Custom GPTs — OpenAI Academy
Claude Deep Dive (Projects, Artifacts)252 hr🔴 High▶️ Full Claude Projects Guide — YouTube · 📄 Create & Manage Projects — Anthropic · 📄 What Are Artifacts — Anthropic · 📄 Build AI Apps, No Code — Anthropic
Google Gemini & NotebookLM262 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Gemini Beginners Guide 2026 — YouTube · 📄 8 Tips for NotebookLM — Google · 🎓 Quickstart: Gemini & NotebookLM — Google · 📄 Master Google Gemini — Jeff Su
AI Image Generation (Midjourney, DALL·E)272 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Midjourney in 12 Minutes — YouTube · ▶️ Learn DALL·E in 20 Minutes — YouTube · 📄 Getting Started Guide — Midjourney · 🎓 DALL·E for Beginners — CognitiveClass
AI for Video & Audio282 hr🟠 Medium▶️ HeyGen Beginner Tutorial — YouTube · ▶️ Master ElevenLabs in 23 Min — YouTube · 📄 Free AI Video Generators — HeyGen · 📄 How to Use ElevenLabs — Fahim AI
AI-Powered Search (Perplexity)291 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Perplexity Step-by-Step — YouTube · 📄 Getting Started — Perplexity · 📄 Complete Guide — Jeff Su · 🎓 How-To Guide — Learn Prompting
Choosing the Right AI Tool301 hr🟠 Medium📄 ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini — Towards AI · 📄 Which AI for Which Job — Kay Rottmann · 📄 Plans, Limits & Models — Morph · 📄 Enterprise Comparison — IntuitionLabs
Build Your Own Assistant (Custom GPTs & Claude Projects)312 hr🔴 High▶️ Custom GPTs in 5 Minutes — YouTube · 📄 Create a Custom GPT — Zapier · 📄 Introducing GPTs — OpenAI · 📄 Custom GPTs Guide — MIT Sloan
No-Code AI Automation (n8n, Make, Zapier)323 hr🔴 High▶️ n8n for Beginners (Free) — YouTube · 📄 No-Code Automation Guide — Zapier · 📄 Get Started with Make — Make · ▶️ n8n Official Channel — YouTube
Connect AI to Your Tools (APIs, No Code)332 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Learn Zapier in 7 Min — YouTube · ▶️ n8n First Workflow — YouTube · 📄 AI by Zapier Guide — Zapier · 📄 Zapier MCP Guide — Zapier
AI Chatbots for Your Business342 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Free AI Chatbot (No Code) — YouTube · 📄 Create a Chatbot No-Code — Voiceflow · 📄 Build a Chatbot No Code — Lindy · 📄 Best No-Code Builders — SiteGPT
RAG Explained Simply (Chat With Your Docs)352 hr🟠 Medium▶️ RAG Explained — IBM · 📄 What Is RAG — IBM · 📄 What Is RAG — IBM Research · 📄 RAG Explained — Built In
Vibe Coding: Build Apps With AI362 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Vibe Coding Full Tutorial — YouTube · 📄 What Is Vibe Coding — Google Cloud · 📄 Vibe Coding for Non-Coders — monday.com · 🎓 Vibe Code — Google AI Studio
AI Agents Explained (& How to Use Them)372 hr🔴 High▶️ What Are AI Agents — IBM · 📄 2026 Guide to AI Agents — IBM · 📄 How to Build an Agent — IBM · 📄 Build AI Agents — n8n
AI for Marketing & Content382 hr🔴 High🎓 AI for Marketers — HubSpot Academy · 📄 AI in Content Marketing — HubSpot · 📕 1000+ AI Prompts — HubSpot · 📕 GenAI for Content — HubSpot
AI for Sales & Customer Support392 hr🟠 Medium▶️ AI in Service & Sales — YouTube · 📄 AI in Customer Service — HubSpot · 📄 AI Customer Service — Zapier · 📄 Service Automation — HubSpot
AI for Operations & Workflows402 hr🟠 Medium▶️ n8n Full Course (6 hrs) — YouTube · 📄 AI Workflow Automation — n8n · 🎓 Workflow Automation Tutorial — n8n Docs · 📄 n8n for Low-Tech Companies — TDS
AI for Finance & Analysis412 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Analyze Excel With ChatGPT — YouTube · ▶️ Recreate an Excel Model — YouTube · 📄 ChatGPT for Excel — DataCamp · 📄 GPT-4o in Finance — Finance Alliance
Build an AI Strategy for Your Team422 hr🔴 High▶️ The Near Future of AI — Andrew Ng · 📄 Match AI Strategy to Reality — HBR · 🎓 GenAI for Beginners — Microsoft
Measuring AI ROI & Productivity431 hr🟠 Medium📄 Three Approaches to AI ROI — MIT Sloan · 📰 The Cybernetic Teammate — Mollick · 🎧 Measuring AI Productivity — Lenny's Podcast · 📄 Measure AI Upskilling ROI — Udemy
AI Governance, Security & Data Privacy442 hr🔴 High▶️ GenAI Governance — IBM · 📄 AI Risk Management Framework — NIST · 📕 AI RMF 1.0 (PDF) — NIST · 📄 Data Privacy & AI — IBM
AI Skills That Make You Indispensable451 hr🔴 High▶️ Essential AI Skills for 2026 — YouTube · 📄 Skills Outlook — WEF Future of Jobs · 📰 Management as AI Superpower — Mollick · 📄 The New Skills Triad — WEF
Becoming an AI-First Professional461 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Most Useful AI Tools 2026 — YouTube · 📄 Integrate AI into Workflows — Upskillist · 📄 How to Use AI at Work — Udemy
Staying Current (Newsletters, Podcasts, People)471 hr🟠 Medium📰 One Useful Thing — Ethan Mollick · 📰 Lenny's Newsletter & Podcast — Lenny · 🎧 The Neuron: AI Explained — Apple Podcasts · 🎧 No Priors — YouTube
The Future of Work With AI & Agents482 hr🟠 Medium▶️ Pyramid of Work & Automation — a16z · 📄 Rise of Agentic Coworkers — a16z · 📄 2026 Work Trend Index — Microsoft
AI for Entrepreneurs & Solopreneurs492 hr🟠 Medium▶️ 1-Person Business with Claude — YouTube · ▶️ One-Person Business A–Z — YouTube · ▶️ Build a Solo Business Using AI — YouTube · 📄 26 AI Tools for Small Business — HubSpot
Your 30-Day AI Action Plan (Capstone)502 hr🔴 High📄 Becoming AI-Capable in 30 Days — Adventures in CRE · 📰 Making AI Work — Mollick · 🎓 Elements of AI — Free Certificate

Legend: 🔴 High · 🟠 Medium · 🟢 Low · ▶️ Video · 📄 Article · 🎓 Course · 📕 Book / PDF · 🎧 Podcast · 📰 Newsletter


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