Personal Productivity in an AI-Enabled Workplace helps you accomplish more in less time by combining proven productivity principles with today’s most practical AI tools. At its core, this is a productivity course—not a technical AI program. It is designed for executives and professionals who want to work smarter, lead more effectively, and use AI as a powerful everyday assistant. No coding or technical background is required.

Building on the principles in Bob Pozen’s best-selling book, Extreme Productivity, the course will help you improve efficiency without sacrificing—and potentially enhancing—your quality of life. You will strengthen the leadership and communication skills needed to manage your career, organize complex projects, and support your team with greater clarity and speed. Along the way, you will learn practical AI techniques that you can apply immediately.

Faculty guide you through hands-on exercises in efficient reading and writing, complemented by live demonstrations of how AI can summarize, analyze, and transform information. A dedicated session on generative AI explores ways to automate routine tasks, support research, streamline decision-making, and free up time for higher-value work.

Polls and self-assessments throughout the course will help you clarify your goals and identify where AI can amplify your existing strengths. In breakout sessions, you will practice new skills, apply concepts in real time, and receive guidance from faculty. Before the course begins, you will also have the option to complete a writing assignment and receive personalized feedback from Bob Pozen.

You will learn when and when not to rely on AI, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how to incorporate these tools responsibly into your daily routine. The emphasis is on confident, practical use rather than building AI systems or studying the technology behind them. The AI content is best suited to professionals who are beginning to use these tools or seeking to integrate them more effectively into their work; it may be less relevant for executives already using AI at an advanced level.

Pozen is joined by Ben Shields, MIT Sloan Senior Lecturer in Managerial Communication, who leads interactive exercises on effective presentations and communication strategies. The course concludes with personalized feedback from faculty and peers, along with guidance on using AI to support slide design, data visualization, message flow, and audience analysis. You will leave better prepared to communicate clear, confident, and compelling ideas—whether presenting in person or virtually.

If you want to become a dramatically more productive professional and make AI a more natural part of how you read, write, present, and lead, this course was built for you.

"Since the Great Recession, many professionals have been facing more challenging schedules and more daunting to-do lists. This makes it all the more important for professionals to be able to get their work done quickly and effectively." —Bob Pozen, Faculty Director

Please note, this course used to be called Maximizing Your Personal Productivity: How to Become an Efficient and Effective Executive.

Designed for busy, experienced managers, this productivity training course will increase your efficiency by helping you:

• Prioritize your goals and align your time allocation better with your highest priorities
• Learn when and how to rely on AI, how to avoid common pitfalls, and how to integrate this technology responsibly into your daily routine
• Complete your high-priority projects efficiently by focusing early on the final product
• Develop techniques for moving quickly through low priority tasks like emails
• Hold shorter and more productive meetings with clear agendas and outcomes
• Manage your own team by learning how to delegate and set metrics for success
• Manage your boss by communicating regularly and adopting complementary styles
• Read with more speed and comprehension by focusing on what is most important
• Write more effectively by using outlines, the active voice, and strong connectors

Upon successful completion of your course, you will earn a certificate of completion from the MIT Sloan School of Management. This course may also count toward MIT Sloan Executive Certificate requirements.

This productivity course is designed to increase your personal productivity through a series of case studies, practical exercises, and background readings. Encouraging self-evaluation through polls and surveys, you’ll have ample opportunities to explore your work habits and learn through doing. At the conclusion of the course, you’ll be able to immediately implement the best practices and lessons learned.