What is this course about?
Public sector AI training has constraints private programs do not: civil service classifications, union consultation, and a security baseline that must precede any tool access. This course builds a role-based program on those constraints, prioritizes internal capacity over contractor dependence, and measures capability rather than course completion.
Who is this course for?
- Agency training and workforce development leads
- Human capital officers
- Union representatives participating in consultation
- Program managers sponsoring AI adoption
What do I need before starting?
- Responsibility for workforce development in a public agency
- No technical background required
What will I be able to do afterwards?
- Define baseline AI literacy for every employee
- Build role-based tracks for analysts, caseworkers, IT, and leadership
- Sequence security training ahead of any tool access
- Handle union consultation and civil service implications properly
- Measure capability rather than course completion
What does each module cover?
What baseline should every employee have?
40 minThe minimum literacy that applies regardless of role, including what not to put in a prompt.
Objectives
- Define the universal baseline
- Include the data handling rules everyone needs
- Keep the baseline short enough to be mandatory
Topics
Activity. Draft the baseline curriculum and time it against a realistic mandatory training slot.
Why does security training come first?
40 minThe sequencing rule — nobody gets tool access before the data handling training.
Objectives
- Sequence security training ahead of access
- Cover the agency-specific data handling rules
- Enforce the sequence technically rather than by policy
Topics
Activity. Design the access gate that enforces training completion before tool access.
What do analysts and caseworkers each need?
50 minRole-based tracks built from what each role actually does, not from seniority.
Objectives
- Build tracks from real role workflows
- Differentiate by task rather than grade
- Keep each track within available training time
Topics
Activity. Build one role track derived from a real day's work in that role.
What does leadership need to know?
40 minA leadership track covering governance obligations, not tool usage.
Objectives
- Define leadership-specific content
- Cover governance and accountability obligations
- Make the leadership track mandatory
Topics
Activity. Design the leadership track and its governance component.
How do you handle union consultation?
45 minConsultation obligations and how to run them so the program improves rather than stalls.
Objectives
- Identify consultation obligations
- Engage representatives early and substantively
- Address job security concerns directly
Topics
Activity. Prepare the consultation package and rehearse the hardest questions.
How do you build internal capacity?
45 minDeveloping agency trainers rather than recurring contractor spend.
Objectives
- Design a train-the-trainer model
- Select and develop internal trainers
- Plan the transition off contractor delivery
Topics
Activity. Design the internal trainer development path with a transition timeline.
How do you measure capability, not completion?
40 minAssessment that shows whether staff can do the work, which completion rates never do.
Objectives
- Design capability-based assessment
- Collect work products rather than quiz scores
- Report honestly to leadership
Topics
Activity. Design the capability assessment for one role track.
Building the agency training plan
50 minThe workshop module: a complete plan with tracks, sequencing, and consultation.
Objectives
- Assemble the complete training plan
- Sequence delivery across the agency
- Build the capability measurement in
Topics
Activity. Assemble the plan and check it against real training time availability.
What is the capstone project?
Agency AI workforce development plan
Produce a complete training plan: universal baseline with security sequencing enforced technically, role-based tracks derived from real workflows, a mandatory leadership track, a completed union consultation package, an internal trainer path, and capability-based measurement.
Deliverable: A training plan with a consultation package and capability assessments ready to deliver.
How are learners assessed?
- Access gate demonstrated blocking a user who has not completed security training
- Role tracks reviewed by staff actually in those roles
- Capability assessment tested — does it distinguish competent from not?
What ships with the course?
Facilitator guide
Session-by-session running order, discussion prompts, and the questions that reliably derail a room.
Learner workbook
Exercises, checklists, and the templates each module's activity produces.
Hands-on lab environment
A sandboxed ibl.ai deployment so exercises run against real agents, not screenshots.
Assessment bank
Scenario questions and rubric criteria mapped to each stated learning outcome.
Source bibliography
Every primary regulation and standard cited on this page, linked and dated.
Which AI agents does this course use?
The hands-on modules run against agents already deployable on the ibl.ai platform for government.
Where does the course material come from?
Every module is grounded in primary sources — the regulation, standard, or research itself, not a summary of it. Each was resolved at authoring time.
- AI Guide for Government
GSA Centers of Excellence
Federal guidance on workforce preparation for AI.
- Artificial Intelligence
CISA
Security training content underpinning the Module 2 baseline.
- AI Risk Management Framework
NIST
Governance content for the leadership track.
- Government Accountability Office
GAO
Federal workforce capability assessment methodology.
Delivery notes
Binding guidance for anyone preparing and delivering this course.
- Module 5 must treat job security concerns as legitimate. Public sector workforces have specific and reasonable anxieties about automation, and a program that dismisses them will not survive consultation.
- The technical access gate in Module 2 matters more than the policy. Policy-only sequencing gets bypassed and the training that prevents data spillage is exactly the training that must not be skipped.
- Civil service and union rules vary by jurisdiction. Localize Module 5 substantially rather than teaching a generic consultation process.
- Module 6's contractor transition is the fiscal argument that gets the program funded. Make the cost comparison explicit.
- Coordinate with GOV-6 — the leadership track's governance content should come from the governance program rather than being written twice.
Why run AI training on a platform you own?
You own the course, not a licence to it
Course content, learner data, and the platform run inside your perimeter — you own all the code and the data.
Model-agnostic delivery
Run the course's AI components on any LLM — Claude, GPT, Llama, Gemini, Command — and switch anytime.
No per-seat training licences
Usage-based or self-hosted, so cost tracks actual use rather than headcount.
Deploy anywhere
Cloud, private VPC, on-premise, or fully air-gapped — including for cohorts that cannot use public AI tools.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Upskilling the Public Workforce on AI course cover?
Public sector AI training has constraints private programs do not: civil service classifications, union consultation, and a security baseline that must precede any tool access. This course builds a role-based program on those constraints, prioritizes internal capacity over contractor dependence, and measures capability rather than course completion. It runs 5 hours across 8 modules across 8 modules, at foundational level, and closes with a capstone: Agency AI workforce development plan.
Who should take Upskilling the Public Workforce on AI?
It is written for Agency training and workforce development leads, Human capital officers, Union representatives participating in consultation, Program managers sponsoring AI adoption. Prerequisites: Responsibility for workforce development in a public agency; No technical background required.
Can we run this course on our own infrastructure?
Yes. ibl.ai is model-agnostic and deploy-anywhere — cloud, private VPC, on-premise, or fully air-gapped — and you own all the code and the data. Cohort data, submissions, and any material learners upload stay inside your perimeter, which matters for government teams that cannot send work to a public AI tool.
How do we get access to Upskilling the Public Workforce on AI?
Request access and we will set it up for your cohort — hosted by ibl.ai, or running against your own deployment. Tell us the group size and timing you need, and whether it should run inside your own perimeter.
How much does AI training for government cost on ibl.ai?
There is no per-seat pricing — you pay for usage or self-host and pay only for the infrastructure, so a 5,000-person rollout does not cost 5,000 licences. 1.6M+ users across 400+ organizations run the platform this way, including NVIDIA, MIT, and Syracuse University.