At Anthropic, we believe that empowering people with AI, and ensuring that AI makes safe contributions to society, requires engaging with a wide range of human perspectives and experiences. Small businesses are uniquely positioned to leverage AI to advance their mission—but only if they can approach it intentionally, with resilience and clear purpose.

This course helps small business staff—whether in customer interactions, back-office management, supply chain operations, or leadership—build practical AI collaboration skills through the 4D Framework (Delegation, Description, Discernment, and Diligence). In this course, we’ll explore how the framework applies to common small business tasks, and consider what it means to implement AI across a small business. This course is the result of a partnership between Anthropic, PayPal, Prospect Butcher, and MAKS Enterprises TIPM Rebuilders, drawing on research with small business professionals about their actual needs, concerns, and aspirations for AI adoption. The work builds on our AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations course, adapted specifically for the small business context where limited resources, business accountabilities, and customer experience create unique considerations for AI collaboration. Recommended prerequisites This course lightly covers the foundational AI Fluency concepts. However, for deeper understanding, participants should complete AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations before beginning this small business-focused curriculum. It is also recommended that learners have access to an AI chat tool for hands-on practice. Examples in this course will use Claude.ai, but any chatbot will work.