Technology Enabled Continuous Improvement (TECI)

Introduction

The programme cuts through hype to give grounded view of how AI, automation and related technologies are evolving, what they can realistically support, and where caution is needed. Rather than aiming to make participants technical specialists, it is designed to help improvement professionals become more informed, more capable in conversation, and better equipped to spot practical opportunities for application in their own organisations.

Alongside the technology itself, the course explores the implications for CI practice: how AI can support problem solving and process improvement, how Lean and Six Sigma thinking can strengthen AI adoption, and what safeguards are needed to manage quality, risk and accountability.

Participants will be able to: 

• Explain the development and practical role of automation, AI and agent-based tools in a Continuous Improvement context
• Understand, at a practical level, how large language models work, where they are useful and where their limitations matter
• Recognise the main risks associated with AI use, including hallucination, weak process knowledge, confidentiality concerns, skill erosion and over-trust
• Identify where AI can support Continuous Improvement activity and where human judgement remains essential
• Explore how AI can create opportunities across improvement activity, including within structured approaches such as DMAIC
• Apply CI thinking to AI adoption, helping organisations avoid technology-first implementation mistakes
• Understand how established CI concepts and tools such as Hoshin Kanri, Jidoka and Measurement Systems Analysis can support more effective AI deployment
• Evaluate practical opportunities for technology-enabled improvement within your business environment

Why choose this programme? 

• Designed specifically for Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence professionals
• Focused on practical business application rather than technical complexity
• Helps build confidence in discussing and exploring automation and agent-based tools
• Balances opportunity with appropriate caution around risk, governance and quality
• Connects emerging technologies with established improvement approaches and methodologies
• The programme can be taken as a stand alone module or as part of the Business Black Belt Programme. It is worth 8 CPD points. 

Delivery Information / Options 

The one day programme us available as a virtual classroom session and offered in company (on site or virtual), tailored to your needs.  

Course Overview 

Technology landscape and context: the main strands of technology-enabled improvement are introduced.

Understanding AI in practical terms: the session explains the power and the limitations of the technology.

From LLMs to agents: how AI use is changing, from prompting and question-answering to more capable agent-based systems.

AI for Continuous Improvement: what AI means for the CI practitioner and where risks need to be actively managed.

Opportunities across improvement activity: where AI can support CI work, including opportunity areas across structured improvement methods such as DMAIC.

Continuous Improvement for AI adoption: the common causes of AI adoption failure and how CI methods can help address them.

Safeguards, governance and quality: practical quality concepts such as human-in-the-loop review, stop authority, source grounding, exception-based review and root-cause-led correction.

Application to your own organisation: helping delegates reflect on where the opportunities are in their own business, team or improvement environment, and sensible next steps.