Which AI tools are covered?
First Steps is not an AI tools course. It uses AI tools, but the real focus is the operational layer: how to co-pilot product work with AI while keeping humans in control. You will learn how to work with LLMs across research, ideation, and prototyping, using AI to accelerate Design Sprint workflows without turning them into black-box automation. ChatGPT is recommended for the core program. We also include optional lessons in Claude and Figma Make, but they are not part of the core path and are not required for certification.
What inspired First Steps?
We launched our first design-driven acceleration bootcamp in 2017. It went on to win multiple awards and capacitate over 5,000 product leaders worldwide. Now the world has changed. AI has disrupted product workflows, and even traditional Design Sprints can feel too slow. With AI, product teams can move faster than ever. A five-day discovery cycle can now feel like an eternity. But speed only works when it moves you toward the right product, for the right people, at the right time. Design Sprints were built to orchestrate that triad. But to stay effective, they need to be brought back into the product development loop. The era of external consultants running big facilitated workshops is giving way to something faster, lighter, and more embedded. We are now in the co-piloting and agentic era, where one designer and one PM can use AI to create a prototype that changes the direction of a company in a couple of hours. That shift changes what teams need to learn. First Steps was created for that new reality: to give teams practical AI workflows they can use tomorrow to accelerate human-centered design inside any product development pipeline.