Optics Valley Presents: AI for Small Business Workshop

A truly hands-on experience for leaders who are ready for AI. Are you a small business owner looking to harness the power of artificial intelligence but don’t know where to start? Join us on August 20th for a transformative 4-hour workshop, presented by Brain Bridge Labs in partnership with PCC’s Southern Arizona Technology & Entrepreneurship Center (SATEC), designed specifically for entrepreneurs and business operators who want practical, actionable AI strategies and not just theory.

**Please bring your laptop and power cord with you to this event. This is an interactive workshop.**

Agenda:

• Welcome & Warm-Up – Connect with fellow leaders while getting an overview of the workshop agenda. We’ll start with a creative AI activity.
• AI 101 – Gain clarity on what AI actually is (and isn’t) and discover how businesses your size are using it to automate processes, accelerate growth, and gain market advantage.
• Growth Foundations – Explore evolving business models in the AI era and understand how artificial intelligence is reshaping traditional paths to scaling your business.
• Your Toolkit – Get an introduction to the AI tools you’ll use throughout the workshop like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and more. We’ll show how each one fits into your workflow and where they shine.
• Make It Real: AI Powered Market Research – Put your AI tools to work and identify market signals, analyze competition, and understand customer needs. You’ll get hands-on training and create your own market analysis tailored to your industry, market and products.
• Break – Time to reset and recharge before diving into the next session.
• Make It Real: Customer Intelligence – Learn to build effective customer interview scripts, practice real interviews, and use AI to analyze responses for actionable product and messaging insights.
• Make It Real: A Press Release For Planning – Use AI to draft the future. You’ll create a future press release and FAQs that reverse-engineer your strategy toward the outcome you want. If it sounds good on paper, you’re building the right thing.
• Make It Real: Create Your Marketing Assets – Turn your research into customer-ready assets. We’ll use AI to generate high-conversion brochures, landing pages, or explainer videos so you can stop rewriting the same email and start closing more business.
• The Future of Work – We’ll discuss how AI is changing the landscape for small businesses and reflect on what you can implement immediately after the workshop.

Meet Your Facilitators:

Aaron Eden, AI & Automation Expert An AI expert who makes AI practical, clear, and effective. With 30+ years in tech, he9s built automation and AI systems that have helped Fortune 500s move faster and startups scale smarter. His work streamlines operations, removes bottlenecks, and delivers measurable, lasting impact.	Josh Brown, Process Strategist A solutions-driven innovator who engineers strategic technology to unlock hidden potential and accelerate progress. With over a decade of experience as a systems architect, he builds tailored solutions, refines workflows, and integrates automations to drive efficiency with change management first.

Optics Valley is the optics industry cluster for Arizona. The mission of Optics Valley is to catalyze, convene, and connect optics, photonics, astronomy, and supporting business interests throughout Arizona. Optics Valley is a committee of the Arizona Technology Council. www.opticsvalleyaz.org.

Brain Bridge Labs.AI focuses on using artificial intelligence to transform medium to large organizations by developing AI solutions that save time and streamline processes for their customers. They aim to help businesses unlock the potential of their documentation, tribal knowledge, and other knowledge resources. They achieve this by creating AI-powered chatbots and integrating them with relevant data to act as subject matter experts, capable of handling various tasks and challenges. 

The workshop will be held in the Azurite Room (M390) on the third floor of the Advanced Manufacturing Building at Pima’s Downtown Campus. Please use 1255 N. 10th Avenue as the address for your map app. This will direct you to the west parking lot of the campus, right by the building (the M Building). Here is a map of the Downtown Campus to help guide everyone. The elevator is located to the left on the first floor in the Welding lobby. When you exit the elevator on the third floor, turn right and the Azurite Room will be the room to the left across the deck.