Course overview and why AI fluency matters - Microsoft Copilot Tutorial

Hello and welcome. I'm Andrew Bursich, and I have the honor of leading the National Association of Workforce Boards, or NAWB, and I'd like to welcome you to this training experience brought to you by our partners at Microsoft. This training is designed for three groups of individuals. Job seekers, career coaches, and workforce administrators. If you're a job seeker, you're here to build skills, explore new career opportunities, and navigate a rapidly changing technological labor market. If you're a career coach or a workforce administrator, you're here to support those individuals that are going through that search, or some of the businesses that may be hiring them. But across all of these roles, one thing is true. Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of how this work gets done. At NAWB, our members, which are comprised of local and state workforce boards across the country, work to connect people to opportunity and help employers meet evolving labor needs. Microsoft shares this commitment. Together, we believe AI should be practical, accessible, and useful. That's the focus of this training series. Here, you'll learn how AI, and specifically Microsoft Copilot, can be used responsibly and effectively in real-world settings. This isn't about hype or technical jargon. It's about practical application. You don't need to be an AI expert to get started. You just need to take this first step. And I truly hope that this training becomes a launch pad for you to continue exploring how AI can help improve not just your work, but really your everyday life. So, thank you for your time today, and let's get started. Welcome, everyone. We're so glad you're here. I'm Alex, and I'm joined by my colleague, Bear. Today, we're exploring generative AI, one of the most powerful tools shaping career development. AI is changing how people search for jobs, build networks, and showcase their skills. As career coaches, you're in a unique position to guide clients through this shift. When used thoughtfully, AI can help you personalize coaching, save time, and empower clients to take ownership of their careers. So, this session is all about practical strategies, how to integrate AI into your work in ways that enhance your expertise and strengthen client outcomes. Let's dive in. Let's review how today is structured. First, we'll start with some shared foundations. We'll look at what generative AI is, how it works at a high level, and what it means to use it responsibly in a career coaching context. Next, we'll focus on how Copilot can support your coaching practice. This is where we look at real, everyday workflows, preparation, documentation, and follow-up, and how Copilot can help with that work without replacing your judgment or expertise. And finally, we'll shift to how Copilot can support clients directly. We'll explore what guided, thoughtful use looks like for career exploration, applications, and skill building. So clients are building confidence and capability while maintaining ownership of their decisions. By the end, you should have a clear sense of where Copilot fits and where it doesn't, and how to start using it in ways that actually support the work that you already do.